Breakdown of Uzun zamandır sinemaya gitmiyorum.
Questions & Answers about Uzun zamandır sinemaya gitmiyorum.
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.”
Not in exactly the same structure.
- Uzun zamandır sinemaya gitmiyorum. – natural and common
- ✗ Uzun zaman sinemaya gitmiyorum. – sounds wrong/unusual
If you drop -dır, you normally change the rest of the sentence, for example:
- Uzun zaman sinemaya gitmedim. – “I didn’t go to the cinema for a long time.”
So uzun zamandır is a fixed, very common pattern for “for a long time” in sentences like this. The -dır is part of what makes it sound natural.
Turkish doesn’t have a separate present perfect tense like English. Instead, to express “have been doing / haven’t been doing (for some time)”, Turkish typically uses:
[time expression + -dır] + present continuous (-yor)
So:
- Uzun zamandır sinemaya gitmiyorum.
literally: “For a long time I am-not-going to the cinema.”
functionally: “I haven’t been going to the cinema for a long time.”
Similarly:
- İki saattir seni bekliyorum. – “I’ve been waiting for you for two hours.”
So gitmiyorum is present continuous in form, but with uzun zamandır, it translates as English present perfect (progressive).
Breakdown of gitmiyorum:
- git- – verb root: “go”
- -m- – negative marker
- -iyor – present continuous
- -um – 1st person singular ending “I”
So: git-m-iyor-um → gitmiyorum.
Comparing affirmative and negative:
- gitmek – to go
- gidiyorum – I am going
- git-iyor-um → consonant softening: t → d, plus a buffer vowel i
- gitmiyorum – I am not going
- git-m-iyor-um → no softening of t because it’s now in a consonant cluster (t+m)
So both forms come from gitmek, but sound different because of Turkish sound changes and suffix rules.
Turkish normally drops subject pronouns because the person is already shown by the verb ending:
- gitmiyorum already contains -um, which means “I”.
- So Uzun zamandır sinemaya gitmiyorum clearly means “I haven’t been going …”.
You only add ben for emphasis or contrast:
- Ben uzun zamandır sinemaya gitmiyorum.
→ “I haven’t been going to the cinema for a long time (but maybe others have).”
Without ben, it’s neutral and completely standard.
Sinemaya is in the dative case (-a / -e), which often corresponds to English “to”.
The verb gitmek (“to go”) normally takes the dative:
- okula gitmek – to go to school
- eve gitmek – to go home / to home
- sinemaya gitmek – to go to the cinema
Other cases would mean something else:
- sinemada (locative -da) – “at/in the cinema”
- Sinemada çalışıyorum. – I work at the cinema.
- sinemayı (accusative -ı) – “the cinema” as a direct object
- not used with gitmek; gitmek doesn’t take a direct object here.
So sinemaya gitmiyorum literally = “I am not going to the cinema.”
Yes, Turkish word order is flexible, and all of these are grammatical, but the focus changes slightly.
Uzun zamandır sinemaya gitmiyorum.
– Neutral, very natural. First gives the time frame, then the rest.Sinemaya uzun zamandır gitmiyorum.
– Puts more emphasis on sinemaya (“to the cinema”):
“To the cinema, I haven’t been going for a long time (maybe I go elsewhere).”Sinemaya gitmiyorum uzun zamandır.
– Sounds more colloquial or expressive; the time phrase at the end adds an afterthought-like emphasis:
“I don’t go to the cinema – and it’s been a long time.”
The original version (Uzun zamandır sinemaya gitmiyorum) is the most neutral and typical.
Both can be translated as “I haven’t gone to the cinema for a long time,” but there’s a nuance:
Uzun zamandır sinemaya gitmiyorum.
- Form: present continuous negative
- Focus: a current, ongoing situation / habit
- Implies: I still don’t go now.
Uzun zamandır sinemaya gitmedim.
- Form: simple past negative
- Often sounds like you’re talking about a period (up to now or in the past) during which you didn’t go.
- In many contexts it can still mean “up to now,” but it doesn’t highlight the “ongoing state” as strongly as gitmiyorum.
If you want to express your current habit (you still don’t go), gitmiyorum is usually the more natural choice.
Yes, both are common and very close in meaning.
Uzun süredir sinemaya gitmiyorum.
- uzun süre = a long period
- -dir again marks duration: “for a long time”
- Style: completely natural, maybe slightly more formal/neutral.
Uzun zamandan beri sinemaya gitmiyorum.
- -dan beri = “since (that time)”
- Literally: “Since a long time (ago) I haven’t been going to the cinema.”
- Emphasises the starting point in the past a bit more.
In everyday conversation, uzun zamandır, uzun süredir, and uzun zamandan beri are all very close and interchangeable in most contexts.
You can add words like hiç (“at all / never”) or stress artık (“anymore”) to strengthen the feeling:
Uzun zamandır sinemaya hiç gitmiyorum.
– I haven’t been going to the cinema at all for a long time.Artık sinemaya hiç gitmiyorum.
– I don’t go to the cinema anymore, at all.
(If you also want the “for a long time” idea, you can add a time expression elsewhere.)Uzun zamandır sinemaya gitmiyorum, hiç vaktim olmuyor.
– I haven’t been going to the cinema for a long time, I never have time.
Intonation and context also add a lot of emphasis, but hiç and artık are common ways to strengthen the statement.
Not as a separate word. Instead, Turkish expresses “for/since” using suffixes:
-dır/-dir/-dur/-dür after a time expression → “for …”
- uzun zamandır, iki saattir, yıllardır
-dan/-den beri → “since …”
- uzun zamandan beri, dünden beri, iki haftadan beri
So in Uzun zamandır sinemaya gitmiyorum, the idea of “for” is carried by -dır on zaman, not by a distinct preposition.