Yürürken müzik dinlemeyi seviyorum, ama koşarken dinlemiyorum.

I like listening to music while walking, but I don’t while running.

Breakdown of Yürürken müzik dinlemeyi seviyorum, ama koşarken dinlemiyorum.

• sevmek: to love
• ama: but
• koşmak: to run
• yürümek: to walk
• müzik: the music
• dinlemek: to listen
• -ken: while

Questions & Answers about Yürürken müzik dinlemeyi seviyorum, ama koşarken dinlemiyorum.

What does the suffix -ken in yürürken and koşarken mean?

The suffix -ken forms an adverbial clause meaning “while …ing / when …”.

• yürümek = to walk
• yürürken = while (I’m) walking / when (I) walk
• koşmak = to run
• koşarken = while (I’m) running / when (I) run

So the first part Yürürken müzik dinlemeyi seviyorum literally means “I like listening to music while walking.”

How is yürürken formed? Why not just yürüken?

Under the hood, yürürken comes from the simple present (aorist) form plus -ken:

• yürümek → yürür (aorist: “(I) walk / (one) walks”) → yürürken (“while walking”)

You don’t say yürüken; native speakers use the yürür- base before -ken.

In practice, you usually just memorize verb + -ken as “while doing X”:

• yemek → yerken (while eating)
• okumak → okurken (while reading)
• yürümek → yürürken (while walking)

Can I say yürüyorken or koşuyorken instead? Is there a difference?

Yes, yürüyorken and koşuyorken are also grammatical.

Nuance:

• yürürken / koşarken (with the aorist) sounds a bit more general / habitual:

  • Yürürken müzik dinlemeyi seviyorum.
    ≈ “I like listening to music when I walk (as a habit).”

• yürüyorken / koşuyorken (with the present continuous -yor) is more specific / in-progress:

  • Yürüyorken müzik dinlemeyi seviyorum.
    ≈ “I like listening to music while I’m walking (at that time).”

In many everyday contexts both are possible; the original sentence with yürürken feels like a general preference.

Why is there no ben in the sentence? How do we know it means “I”?

Turkish is a pro‑drop language: subject pronouns are usually left out because the verb ending shows the person.

• seviyorum
  
  • stem: sev- (to like/love)
  • tense: -iyor- (present continuous)
  • person: -um (1st person singular “I”)

So seviyorum already means “I like / I love”, and dinlemiyorum means “I’m not listening”.

You would only add ben for emphasis or contrast:

• Ben yürürken müzik dinlemeyi seviyorum, ama koşarken dinlemiyorum.
  “I like listening to music while walking, but (I) don’t when running.”

Why is it dinlemeyi and not dinlemek?

Dinlemeyi is a verbal noun (like “listening”) in the accusative case; it functions as the object of seviyorum.

Steps:

1. Infinitive: dinlemek = to listen
2. Verbal noun: dinleme = listening (the act of listening)
3. Add accusative -i (with buffer -y-): dinleme + yi → dinlemeyi

So:

• müzik dinlemeyi seviyorum
  literally: “I like the listening (to) music.”

With verbs like sevmek (to like/love), istemek (to want), beklemek (to wait for), etc., it’s very common to use this -meyi / -mayı / -meyi form:

• Okumayı seviyorum. – I like reading.
• Yüzmeyi sevmiyorum. – I don’t like swimming.

Why is there a -y- in dinlemeyi?

The -y- is a buffer consonant used to avoid two vowels crashing into each other.

• base: dinleme (ends with a vowel -e)
• accusative: -i (begins with a vowel i)

If you just stuck them together, you would get dinlemei, which is hard to pronounce. Turkish inserts -y-:

• dinleme + i → dinlemeyi

This happens in many words:

• köpeği (from köpek + i) – the dog (object)
• arabayı (from araba + yı) – the car (object)
• yapmayı (from yapma + yı) – (the act of) doing (as object)

Why is müzik not müziği (with -i)?

Müzik here is indefinite / general: “music in general,” not some specific, known music.

In Turkish:

• müzik dinlemek = to listen to music (in general)
• müziği dinlemek = to listen to the music / that music (specific, known music)

In the sentence:

• müzik belongs inside the verbal noun phrase müzik dinlemeyi.
• The thing functioning as the object of the main verb (seviyorum) is the whole activity müzik dinlemeyi, so that gets the accusative -i, not müzik itself.

If you said müziği dinlemeyi seviyorum, it would suggest “I like listening to that particular music (we both know about).”

Why is the word order müzik dinlemeyi seviyorum and not seviyorum müzik dinlemeyi?

Turkish is basically S–O–V (Subject–Object–Verb):

• Subject (often dropped): (Ben)
• Object: müzik dinlemeyi
• Verb: seviyorum

So the neutral, most common order is:

• (Ben) müzik dinlemeyi seviyorum.

You can move things for emphasis:

• Ben müzik dinlemeyi seviyorum. – stressing ben (“I like listening to music”).
• Müzik dinlemeyi ben seviyorum. – focusing ben as opposed to others.
• Müzik dinlemeyi seviyorum ben. – very colloquial, end‑focus on ben.

But seviyorum müzik dinlemeyi is unusual and sounds marked; normally the main verb stays at (or very near) the end.

Why is it seviyorum / dinlemiyorum and not severim / dinlemem?

Both pairs are correct, but the nuance changes:

• seviyorum / dinlemiyorum → present continuous

  • sounds like a current state or usual behavior, very normal in everyday speech.
  • Yürürken müzik dinlemeyi seviyorum.
    ≈ “I (generally) like listening to music when I’m walking.”

• severim / dinlemem → aorist (simple present)

  • sounds a bit more timeless, habitual, or generic, sometimes more formal.
  • Yürürken müzik dinlemeyi severim.
    ≈ “I (tend to) like listening to music when I walk.” (stated as a general fact)

Both are possible; with -ken clauses and everyday preferences, seviyorum / dinlemiyorum feels very natural.

Why is it koşarken dinlemiyorum instead of repeating seviyorum in the negative?

The speaker is changing what is being said about the second situation:

• First: Yürürken müzik dinlemeyi seviyorum – “I like listening to music while walking.”
• Second: ama koşarken dinlemiyorum – “but while running I don’t listen.”

So the contrast is:

• While walking → I like to listen and I (do) listen.
• While running → I simply don’t listen (maybe not because I dislike it, but I just don’t do it).

If you said:

• … ama koşarken dinlemeyi sevmiyorum.
  → “but while running I don’t like listening (to music).”

This changes the meaning: now you’re saying that you dislike listening to music while running, not just that you don’t do it.

Does yürürken / koşarken always share the same subject as the main verb? How would I say “When you walk, I listen to music”?

By default, a -ken clause shares its subject with the main clause. In your sentence:

• Yürürken müzik dinlemeyi seviyorum…
  “While I’m walking, I like listening to music…”
  Subject of yürürken and seviyorum is the same (ben).

To give the -ken clause a different subject, you use GENITIVE + possessive:

• Sen yürürken ben müzik dinliyorum.
  “When you walk, I listen to music.”

You can also be more explicit:

• Sen yürürken, ben müzik dinliyorum.
  (comma shows the clause boundary; still the same structure)

Could I say Yürürken müzik dinlemeyi seviyorum, ama koşarken dinlemeyi sevmiyorum? What would that mean?

Yes, it’s grammatical, and its meaning shifts slightly:

• Yürürken müzik dinlemeyi seviyorum, ama koşarken dinlemeyi sevmiyorum.
  = “I like listening to music while walking, but I don’t like listening (to music) while running.”

Now you explicitly state a preference difference:

• Walking + music: positive feeling.
• Running + music: negative feeling / you dislike it.

In the original sentence (ama koşarken dinlemiyorum), we only know that you don’t listen while running; maybe you dislike it, or maybe it’s just impractical. The emotional attitude is left unstated.