Kazakh Grammar
Welcome to the 8th lesson about Kazakh grammar. We will first learn about prepositions, negation, questions, adverbs, and pronouns including: personal, object and possessive pronouns.
We will start with prepositions. In general, they are used to link words to other words. For example: I speak Kazakh and English the preposition is [and] because it connects both words Kazakh and English. The following is a list of the most used prepositions in Kazakh.
| Prepositions | Kazakh |
|---|---|
| and | және  |
| above | жоғарыда |
| under | төменде |
| before | дейін |
| after | кейін |
| in front of | алдында |
| behind | артында |
| far from | алыста |
| near | жақында |
| in | |
| inside | ішінде |
| outside | сыртында |
| with | бірге |
| without | |
| about | |
| between | арасында |
| but | бірақ |
| for | үшін |
| from | |
| to | |
Preposition Grammar Rules
The following examples use prepositions in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.
| Prepositions + Rules | Kazakh |
|---|---|
| I eat without a knife [preposition + noun] | мен тамақты пышақсыз жеймін |
| she lives near the church [verb + preposition] | ол шіркеу жанында тұрады |
| he is taller than her [adjective + preposition] | оның бойын одан ұзынырақ |
| he came with his small dog [preposition + pronoun] | ол өзінің кішкентай итімен келді |
| can you come with me? [preposition + pronoun] | сіз менімен бірге бара аласыз ба? |
Negation in Kazakh
Now let's learn how to make a negative sentence (negation). For example: Saying no, I can't, I don't ... The following examples use negation in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.
| Negation + Rules | Kazakh |
|---|---|
| I understand you [affirmative form] | мен сізді түсіндім |
| I don't understand you [negation + verb] | мен сізді түсінбедім |
| this is not the correct word [negation + adjective] | бұл сөз дұрыс емес |
| don't leave me [imperative negation] | мені жалғыз тастап кетпеңізші |
| no problem [negation + noun] | |
| Negative Sentences | Kazakh |
|---|---|
| I don't speak French [negation + present tense] | мен французша сөйлемеймін |
| she didn't visit Germany [negation + past tense] | ол Германияға барған емес |
| he cannot see us [negative modal verb] | ол бізді көрмей тұр |
| can't she play chess? [interrogative negation] | ол шахмат ойнай алады ма? |
| we will not come late [negation + future tense] | біз кеш келмейміз |
Questions in Kazakh
Now let's learn how to ask questions (interrogative). Such as: what, why, can you ...? Here are some common examples:
| English | Kazakh |
|---|---|
| how? | қалай? |
| what? | не? |
| who? | кім? |
| why? | неге? |
| where? | қайда? |
More of the interrogative form, now in a sentence:
| Questions + Rules | Kazakh |
|---|---|
| where do you live? [interrogative + verb] | сіз қай жерде тұрасыз? |
| does she speak Chinese? [interrogative verb] | ол қытайша сөйлейді ме? |
| how much is this? [interrogative preposition] | бұл қанша тұрады? |
| can I help you? [interrogative modal verb] | сізге көмектесейін бе? |
| what is your name? [interrogative preposition] | есіміңіз кім? |
Adverbs in Kazakh
It's time to learn the adverbs in Kazakh. But what is an adverb? In general, adverbs modify verbs and adjectives. For example: You speak fast. The adverb is [fast] because it describes the verb and answers the question how do you speak?. Here is a list of the most common ones:
| Adverbs | Kazakh |
|---|---|
| now | қазір |
| yesterday | кеше |
| today | бүгін |
| tonight | бүгін кешке |
| tomorrow | ертең |
| soon | жақын арада |
| quickly | тез |
| slowly | баяу |
| together | бірге |
| very | өте |
| almost | |
| always | әрқашан |
| usually | әдетте |
| sometimes | кейде |
| rarely | сирек |
| never | ешқашан |
The following examples use the adverbs in different ways and places to demonstrate how it behaves in a sentence.
| Adverbs + Rules | Kazakh |
|---|---|
| do you understand me now? [pronoun + adverb] | сіз мені түсіндіңіз бе? |
| I need help immediately [noun + adverb] | маған көмек дәл қазір қажет |
| she is very intelligent [adverb + adjective] | ол өте ақылды |
| I will always love you [verb + adverb] | мен сізді әрқашан жақсы көретін боламын |
| can we learn German together? [adverb in a question] | біз неміс тілін бірге оқуымызға болады ма? |
Pronouns in Kazakh
We're almost done! This time we will learn the pronouns in Kazakh. In general, a pronoun can be used instead of a noun. For example instead of saying my teacher speaks 3 languages, you can use the pronoun he, and say he speaks 3 languages. Here is a list of the most common ones:
| Personal Pronouns | Kazakh |
|---|---|
| I | мен |
| you | сен |
| he | ол |
| she | ол |
| we | біз |
| they | олар |
| Object Pronouns | Kazakh |
|---|---|
| me | мені |
| you | сені |
| him | оны |
| her | оны |
| us | бізді |
| them | оларды |
| Possessive Pronouns | Kazakh |
|---|---|
| my | менің |
| your | сенің |
| his | оның |
| her | оның |
| our | біздің |
| their | олардың |
I think it's better to put the above example in a sentence to better assist you. The following examples use pronouns in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence. We will start with the personal pronouns.
| Personal Pronouns | Kazakh |
|---|---|
| I am your friend [1st pronoun + verb] | мен сіздің досыңызбын |
| you speak very fast [2nd pronoun + adverb] | сіз өте тез сөйлейсіз |
| he has three dogs [3rd pronoun + verb] | оның үш иті бар |
| she can speak German [3rd pronoun + verb] | ол неміс тілінде сөйлей алады |
| we will not come late [1st plural pronoun] | біз кеш келмейміз |
| they bought milk and bread [3rd plural pronoun] | олар сүт пен нан сатып алды |
The object pronoun is used as a target by a verb, and usually come after that verb. For example: I gave him my book. The object pronoun here is him. Here are more examples:
| Object Pronouns | Kazakh |
|---|---|
| can you tell me your name? [1st object pronoun] | есіміңіз қалай? |
| I will give you money [2nd object pronoun] | мен сізге ақша беремін |
| she wrote him a letter [3rd object pronoun] | ол оған хат жазды |
| they visited her yesterday [3rd object pronoun] | олар кеше оған барып келді |
| can she help us? [1st pl. object pronoun] | ол бізге көмектесе алады ма? |
| he gave them food [3rd pl. object pronoun] | ол оларға тамақ берді |
| Possessive Pronouns | Kazakh |
|---|---|
| my name is Maya [1st possessive pronoun] | менің есімім Мая |
| your brother lives here [2nd possessive pronoun] | бұл жерде сіздің ағаңыз тұрады |
| her mother cooks for us [3rd possessive pronoun] | оның анасы бізге тамақ істейді |
| his hobby is reading books [3rd possessive pronoun] | кітап оқу оның ермегі |
| our dream is to visit Paris [1st pl. possessive pronoun] | Парижге бару біздің арманымыз |
| their house is not far [3rd pl. possessive pronoun] | олардың үйі алыс емес |
One more thing you need to know is the demonstrative pronouns. They're very easy to learn.
| Demonstrative Pronouns | Kazakh |
|---|---|
| this is my house | бұл менің үйім |
| that restaurant is far | ол ресторан алыс |
| these apples are delicious | бұл алмалар дәмді екен |
| those stars are shiny | ана жұлдыздар жарқырап тұр |
I hope you learned a lot about the Kazakh grammar in this lesson. If you have any question about this lesson please contact me here. The next lesson is below, have fun!
| Kazakh Vocabulary |
Inspirational Quote: First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do. Epictetus |