Learn Turkish: Köpek kulübede sızlanmışsa onu bulmak için bahçeye gidelim. - If the dog whined in the kennel, let's go to the garden to find it.

sızlanmışsa combines the inferential past (-mış) with the conditional (-sa). You use this when you didn't hear the dog whining yourself, but you are basing the condition on a report or evidence (for example, a neighbor told you). If you had heard the whining directly, you would use the definite past conditional sızlandıysa.

Is the verb sızlanmak mostly used for animals whining?

Not at all! sızlanmak is very commonly used for people. It means to complain, groan, or grumble in a persistent, annoying way. When applied to a dog, it translates perfectly to whining or whimpering.

Why is the pronoun 'it' written as onu and not just o?

The verb bulmak (to find) takes the accusative case because the object being found is specific and definite (the specific dog we were just talking about). So, the pronoun o gets the accusative suffix -u, with the buffer consonant -n- in between, making onu.

Why is bahçeye in the dative case?