Word
Uzun zamandır sinemaya gitmiyorum.
Meaning
I haven’t been going to the cinema for a long time.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Uzun zamandır sinemaya gitmiyorum.
gitmek
to go
sinema
the cinema
uzun zamandır
for a long time
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Questions & Answers about Uzun zamandır sinemaya gitmiyorum.
What does uzun zamandır literally mean, and what is the role of -dır?
Uzun zamandır is built from:
- uzun – long
- zaman – time
- -dır – a copular suffix (3rd person “to be”) often used with time expressions
Literally it’s something like “it is a long time (that …)”, but in real usage it functions as an adverbial meaning “for a long time”.
The pattern is:
- [time expression] + -dır/-dir/-dur/-dür → “for [that amount of time]”
Examples:
- İki saattir bekliyorum. – I’ve been waiting for two hours.
- Yıllardır burada yaşıyorum. – I’ve been living here for years.
So Uzun zamandır sinemaya gitmiyorum ≈ “For a long time, I haven’t been going to the cinema.”
Can I just say uzun zaman instead of uzun zamandır?