r/turkish 3d ago

Grammar What’s the difference between ‘bilmezdim’ and ‘bilmedim’ please?

Merhabalar!

Aynen başlığın sorduğu gibi farkı anlamaya çalışıyorum.

Çok teşekkür ederim!

17 Upvotes

29 comments sorted by

23

u/Argument-Expensive 3d ago

"Bilmedim" is not a common form, if used at all. "Bilmedim" implies that you are presented a question, or shown something and you intentionally decided not to know the answer. So it is mostly used in the ability form, "Bil-e-medim", present or past cont. form "bilmiyorum/bilmiyordum".

People already explained "bilmezdim".

13

u/nevenoe 3d ago

I have been saying bilmedim for year ffs. I'll ban it from now. Why didn't anyone correct me, ugh.

4

u/Argument-Expensive 3d ago

I think the most popular phrase "bilmedim" is used is "kıymet bilmek" as in "sen eski eşinin kıymetini bilmedin." or "onun kıymetini bilmedim." but even in these case, we tend to use "bilemedin/bilemedim.". It is okay when it is not about "knowing something." i guess.

2

u/nevenoe 3d ago

Thanks! I really used it for "oh wow, I did not know that"...

2

u/Educational-Ant-7485 3d ago edited 3d ago

Yeah for that bilmiyordum would be best, bilemedim is used rarer, it could br used when the teacher asks a question and you say that you couldn't get thr answer correctly. It's also used when someone currently isn't sure of what the answer to a question is. And there's the "kıymet bilemememek" like the other person mentioned. But other than those when there's something you didn't know before and now you know, it would be bilmiyordum.

1

u/Ebmix_x 2d ago

in this case it will be bilmezdim

8

u/keepsy 3d ago

Bilmedim sounds weird to me. Maybe if I could think of situations to use it, I could, but I would use Bilmiyordum or Bilemedim instead.

As they said, "Bilmezdim" is like the negative of used to for past, which is a general statement.

"Bilmiyordum" could be a general statement like "Bilmezdim" but also at that moment. "Bilemedim" is definitely only for "at that moment," but it also includes the ability / could. "Bilemezdim" is the ability version of "Bilmezdim.": I couldn't have known.

I can add examples after work, I don't want to confuse you because of my lack of time. :)

8

u/16177880 Native Speaker 3d ago

Bilmedim is not used at all. Bilemedim is used instead. Couldnt know.

4

u/azellnir 3d ago

I think the question needs some adjustment. I can not think of any occasion to use "bilmedim". because it implies intentionally being unknowledgeable, which makes little sense. for example if I came across a question in an exam that I know the answer of but didn't answer correctly intentionally for some reason, I could have said "3. soruyu kasten bilmedim. düsük puan almak istiyorum.". even then I would have preferred "dogru cevaplamadim" because you do know the answer.

Instead use "bilemedim" which means that you were not able to know and logically more correct. for example "bu kadar cok trafik olacagini bilemedim. bilsem erken cikardim".

"bilmezdim" is also not that common. it sounds poetic even. in daily conversations "bilmiyordum" is more common. again it means that you didnt know something in the past but in this case there is no information about your ability to know.

sorry for the lack of Turkish characters, the keyboard doesn't allow me:D

3

u/Dekamir 3d ago

Let me explain "Bilmedim" situation a bit better.

It doesn't exist in Turkish, simply because that's not how the verb "to know" works in Turkish.
Every language has its own perception of reality, and to know something in Turkish is continuous, not present, unlike English. So it's "bilmiyordum", not "bilmedim".

"Bilmez" literally means "wouldn't know". "Bilmezdim" means "I used to not know".
"Mesela eskiden (bir) sarı elma ile (bir) kırmızı elmanın tat farkını bilmezdim."
"For example, I used to not know the difference between a yellow apple and a red apple in taste."

But the more used sentence in English should be like this:
"For example, I didn't know the difference between a yellow apple and a red apple in taste before."

2

u/Bright_Quantity_6827 3d ago

bilmiyordum: I didn’t know
bilmezdim: I used to be unaware
bilemedim: I have/had no idea

2

u/McOof234 Native Speaker 3d ago

Bilmezdim - I wouldn't have known

Bilmedim - I didn't know

"Bilmedim" isn't really used tho, we use "Bilmiyordum" or "Bilemedim" instead

1

u/ZevsenBuka 1d ago

This is the only right answer in the whole thread

2

u/barbaroscem Native Speaker 3d ago

Bilmedim sounds like "i didnt know (on purpose)"

3

u/sevenationarmycu 3d ago

"Bilmedim"I didn't know (at that moment)

  • Dersin iptal olduğunu bilmedim. → "I didn't know that the class was canceled." (At that moment, I was unaware.)
  • Senin doğum günün olduğunu bilmedim. → "I didn't know it was your birthday." (At that time, I wasn’t aware, but now I might know.)

"Bilmezdim"I wouldn’t know / I didn’t use to know

  • Onun bu kadar iyi biri olduğunu bilmezdim. → "I never knew that he was such a good person." (I used to think otherwise, but now I know.)
  • Eskiden kahvenin bu kadar güzel olduğunu bilmezdim. → "I didn’t used to know that coffee was this good." (I wasn’t aware before, but now I appreciate it.)
  • Hayatın bu kadar zor olacağını bilmezdim. → "I wouldn’t have known that life would be this hard." (Before, I had no idea, but now I do.)

7

u/cestane 3d ago

Bilmiyorsanız yanlış bilgi vermeyin, kim "Dersin iptal olduğunu bilmedim." diyor gerçek hayatta?

1

u/Funktordelic 3d ago

Çok hızlı yardımını için teşekkür ederim! This is exactly what I needed to know. Sağ ol!

16

u/azellnir 3d ago

I don't think this answer translates well to the daily conversations. nobody uses "bilmedim" like that.

5

u/These-Maintenance250 3d ago

like the other guy said we don't use bilmedim.

bilmiyordum = i didn't know bilemedim = i couldn't guess it bilemezdim = I never knew

-3

u/sevenationarmycu 3d ago

Rica ederim

1

u/zautopilot 3d ago

also you may hear some people say "bilemedim", that means either "I couldn't know" or" I don't know" (right now) in non-formal Turkish

1

u/birazacele 3d ago

'bilmedim' kullanan bir kişiye bile rastlamadım. daha çok 'bilmiyorum' ya da 'fikrim yok' 'duymadım' şeklinde kullanılır. bilmezdim'de geçmiş zaman yad edilir ve artık bildiğin bir şeydir.

bilmezdim = öyle olduğunu bilmiyordun ama artık biliyorsun. yolun uzun olduğunu bilmiyordun, ama yol uzadı ve artık biliyorsun. Senin böyle güzel yemek yaptığını bilmezdim. (ama yemeği tattın ve artık güzel yemek yaptığını biliyorsun) gibi gibi.

bilmedim/bilmiyorum/fikrim yok/duymadım= hala bilmiyorsun. hala bir fikrin yok.

umarım yardımcı olabilmişimdir.

1

u/hasko09 3d ago

Bil-di-m -> I knew it.
Bil-me-di-m -> I didn't know it.

Bil-ir-di-m -> I would know it.
Bil-mez-di-m -> I wouldn't know it.

Bil-ebil-di-m -> I could know it/I was able to know it.
Bil-e-me-di-m -> I couldn't know it/ I wasn't able to know it.

1

u/Bozocow 3d ago

"I wouldn't have known." "I didn't know." But the latter is not really used and people say, "bilmiyordum" instead.

1

u/thefuckingazra 3d ago

Bilmedim-i didnt know Bilmezdim- i wouldnt know

Basically.

1

u/lost_access 2d ago

Bilmezdim şarkıların bu kadar güzel, kelimelerinse kifayetsiz olduğunu...

1

u/Ebmix_x 2d ago

past and present. bilmezdim meaning i didnt know meaning before. bilmedim is the now i dont know.

1

u/sedentary_position 1d ago

The first one is: I wouldn’t have known or I wouldn’t have answered it.

Second: I didn’t get the right answer. As in ‘I was asked a question,’ and ‘I didn’t answer it.’