dinlemek: to listen

The idea

The stem dinle- ends in the vowel e. Before the present -yor that e narrows to i: dinliyorum, not dinleyorum. Elsewhere the stem stays whole: the past is dinledim, with d after a vowel, and the future takes a buffer y and softens k to ğ: dinleyeceğim. The negative is dinlemiyorum. The object is direct and takes no preposition: a general one stays bare (müzik dinliyorum), a specific one takes the accusative (şarkıyı dinliyorum).

Examples

• Akşamları müzik dinliyorum.In the evenings I listen to music.In the present continuous the final e of dinle- narrows to i: dinliyorum. A general object such as müzik takes no suffix.
• Haberi dikkatle dinledik.We listened carefully to the news.A specific object takes the accusative -i and no preposition: haberi dinledik. Turkish has no word for 'to' here.
• Yarın yolda radyo dinleyeceğim.Tomorrow I will listen to the radio on the way.
• Neden beni dinlemiyorsun?Why aren't you listening to me?
• Müzik çok yüksek, seni duymuyorum.The music is very loud, I can't hear you.Duymak is to hear without trying. Dinlemek would mean that you are choosing not to pay attention.
• Beni dinle, lütfen.Listen to me, please.
• Çocuklar, lütfen dinleyin.Children, please listen.The polite or plural request adds -yin to the stem, with a buffer y: dinleyin. The bare stem dinle is for one friendly person.
• Bu şarkıyı hiç dinledin mi?Have you ever listened to this song?
• Dedem dün gece radyoyu dinledi.My grandfather listened to the radio last night.

Watch out

Dinlemek means listening on purpose. For a sound that simply reaches you, use duymak: Seni dinlemiyorum says that you are not paying attention to someone, while Seni duymuyorum says that the noise or the line is too bad. Keep it apart from dinlenmek, to rest, too: dinleniyorum means I am resting.

Try it yourself

1. Conjugate dinle for you (singular) in the present continuous: you are listening.

   Show answer or example answer

   dinliyorsun

   dinliyorsun: the final e of dinle- narrows to i before -yor, and -sun is the ending for you.

2. Conjugate dinle for we in the simple past: we listened.

   Show answer or example answer

   dinledik

   dinledik: after the vowel e the past starts with d, the front vowel gives -di, and -k marks we.

3. Conjugate dinle for I in the future: I will listen.

   Show answer or example answer

   dinleyeceğim

   dinleyeceğim: a buffer y joins the vowel stem, and the k of -ecek softens to ğ before the vowel of -im.

4. There is noise, I can't hear you. Use duymak (to hear) in the negative present continuous for I.

   Show answer or example answer

   duymuyorum / duyamıyorum

   duymuyorum or duyamıyorum (I am unable to hear): noise does not stop you from trying to listen, it stops you from hearing, so the verb is duymak, not dinlemek.

Use it today

Write four sentences about what you listen to and when: present, past, future and one negative. Check that no verb has the form dinleyorum.