biliniyordu

Biliniyordu is a Turkish verb form that expresses that something was known at a past time. It is the past continuous tense in the passive voice of the verb bilinmek, which means “to be known.” In Turkish, bilinmek forms the passive of bilin- “to know.” The form biliniyordu is used when the subject of the sentence is the thing that was known or that information was known about, and the action is described as ongoing or in a state during the past.

Formation and use: It is created by attaching the present continuous stem -iyor to the passive root bilin-, then adding the past tense suffix -du with the harmonic vowel. In practice, Turkish speakers use biliniyordu to indicate a period in the past during which information was recognized or accepted, often in narrative or descriptive contexts. The corresponding simple past tense in active voice is biliyordu (he/she knew), and the simple past passive bilindi means “it was known” as a completed state; biliniyordu emphasizes ongoing or habitual knowledge in the past.

Examples: Bu olay hakkında bilgiler o dönemde biliniyordu. (Information about this event was known at that time.) O kişinin kim olduğu uzun süre biliniyordu. (What that person was known as was known for a long time.)

Notes: In modern Turkish, the past continuous passive is more common in written narration than in everyday speech, and speakers may substitute other constructions for emphasis.