Use inanmak to say whose words you believe or what you have faith in. The table gives six persons in four tenses; the examples add disbelief and questions.
The idea
İnanmak takes a dative complement in the patterns taught here: sana inanıyorum means “I believe you”, while şansa inanmak means “believe in luck”. The stem stays inan-; compare inanıyorum, inandım, inanacağım and inanırım. Notice the dotless ı after the stem. In inanacağım, the future ending softens its k to ğ. A general attitude can use the aorist; a current belief can use the present continuous.
| Person | Present continuous | Past | Future | Aorist |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ben | inanıyorum | inandım | inanacağım | inanırım |
| sen | inanıyorsun | inandın | inanacaksın | inanırsın |
| o | inanıyor | inandı | inanacak | inanır |
| biz | inanıyoruz | inandık | inanacağız | inanırız |
| siz | inanıyorsunuz | inandınız | inanacaksınız | inanırsınız |
| onlar | inanıyorlar | inandılar | inanacaklar | inanırlar |
Examples
- Ben sana gerçekten inanıyorum.I really believe you.
- Biz bu habere inanmadık.We did not believe this news.
- Artık bu söylentiye inanmıyorum.I no longer believe this rumour.
- Küçük kardeşim şansa inanır.My younger sibling believes in luck.
- Bana neden inanmıyorsun?Why don’t you believe me?
- Kanıtı görünce sana inanacaklar.They will believe you when they see the evidence.
- Lütfen her reklama inanma.Please don’t believe every advertisement.
- Sen de bu açıklamaya inanıyor musun?Do you believe this explanation too?
Read-aloud uses a synthetic Turkish voice available on your device. Voice quality and availability vary; it does not assess your pronunciation.
No Turkish device voice is available. You can still read the text.
Watch out
Do not transfer an accusative object from your language: use sana inanıyorum, not seni inanıyorum. Also, sana güveniyorum concerns trust in you or your reliability; sana inanıyorum can simply mean accepting what you say. The meanings overlap, but the verbs are not interchangeable in every context.
Try it yourself
Complete with the dative of “you”: I believe you.
Show answer or example answer
sana
sana: the person whose words you accept is “you”; the dative of sen is the special form sana, not sene.
Use the first-person singular aorist: I generally believe people.
Show answer or example answer
inanırım
inanırım: genellikle frames a general attitude. The two-syllable stem takes -ır, then the first-person ending -ım.
Use the first-person singular future: I will believe you when I see the evidence.
Show answer or example answer
inanacağım
inanacağım: the speaker expects to believe after seeing the evidence. The future form inanacak becomes inanacağım before the vowel of the personal ending.
Use the negative first-person singular present continuous: this rumour does not sound true to me; I do not believe it.
Show answer or example answer
inanmıyorum
inanmıyorum: the claim does not sound true to the speaker now. Negating inanıyorum gives inanmıyorum, with -mı- before -yor.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Turkish sentences and words where available. We keep your score.
Complete with the dative of “you”: I believe you.
Use the first-person singular aorist: I generally believe people.
Use the first-person singular future: I will believe you when I see the evidence.
Use the negative first-person singular present continuous: this rumour does not sound true to me; I do not believe it.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Keep your progress
Sign up for free to save your practice results in your account.
Sign up to saveI already have an accountUse it today
Write one sentence about a claim you believe, one about a rumour you reject, and one question to a friend. Check the dative complement and keep de and mi separate.