Use duymak when a sound reaches you or you learn news by hearing it. Listening deliberately is dinlemek.

The idea

The stem is duy-: duyuyorum, duydum, duyacağım. A specific thing heard takes the accusative: haberi duymak. An indefinite sound is bir ses. For present inability, use duyamıyorum.

Patterns to compare
PersonPresent continuousPastFuture
benduyuyorumduydumduyacağım
senduyuyorsunduydunduyacaksın
oduyuyorduyduduyacak
bizduyuyoruzduydukduyacağız
sizduyuyorsunuzduydunuzduyacaksınız
onlarduyuyorlarduydularduyacaklar

Examples

  • Şimdi bahçede bir kuş duyuyorum.I can hear a bird in the garden now.
  • Dün gece garip bir ses duyduk.We heard a strange sound last night.
  • Haberi bugün radyoda duydum.I heard the news on the radio today.
  • Seni iyi duyamıyorum.I cannot hear you well.
  • Kapının zilini duydunuz mu?Did you hear the doorbell?
  • Yarın toplantıda yeni planı duyacağız.We will hear the new plan at the meeting tomorrow.

Read-aloud uses a synthetic Turkish voice available on your device. Voice quality and availability vary; it does not assess your pronunciation.

Watch out

Hearing does not necessarily mean paying attention. Use dinlemek for deliberately listening; duymamak means not hearing, while duyamamak emphasizes inability.

Try it yourself

  1. Use the present in -iyor for ben: I hear a bird now.

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    duyuyorum

    duyuyorum: the stem retains its y and takes -uyor plus -um for the speaker.

  2. Use the -di past for biz: we heard a strange sound last night.

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    duyduk

    duyduk: the last stem vowel is u, so the past is -du; -k marks “we”.

  3. Express present inability: the connection is poor; I cannot hear you well.

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    duyamıyorum

    duyamıyorum: the inability form gives the required meaning “I cannot hear”, in the present.

Use it today

Describe one sound you hear now and one you heard yesterday. Then write a sentence explaining that a phone connection prevents you from hearing.