Breakdown of Günüm iyi geçmedi ama sonunda güldüm.
gülmek
to laugh
gün
day
ama
but
sonunda
finally, in the end
Questions & Answers about Günüm iyi geçmedi ama sonunda güldüm.
How is the negative past tense formed in the word geçmedi?
The root verb is geç (to pass). First, we add the negative suffix -me. Then, we add the past tense suffix -di. Because the subject is günüm (my day, which acts as 'it'), we don't need a personal suffix at the end. Notice that the past tense suffix -di harmonizes with the e in the negative suffix -me.
Why does the Turkish sentence use geçmedi (did not pass) instead of a word for 'did not go'?
In English, we say a day 'goes' well or badly. In Turkish, periods of time, days, or events 'pass' (geçmek). So Günüm iyi geçmedi literally means 'My day did not pass well.' You will use geçmek often when talking about how an experience was.
Both geçmedi and güldüm are in the past tense. Why does one use -di and the other use -dü?
This is because of 4-way vowel harmony. In geçmedi, the past tense suffix looks at the vowel right before it. That vowel is the e in the negative suffix -me, so the past tense becomes -di. In güldüm, the root verb is gül (to laugh). Because its vowel is ü, the past tense suffix must also be formed with ü, making it -dü. Finally, we add -m for 'I'.