Uzbek lessons (tutorial): #2 Pronouns «men», «sen», «siz», sentences with and without them, with audio

We’ll learn the Uzbek personal pronouns «men», «sen», «siz» (I, you) and how to construct sentences and questions with them or without them. The lesson, like others, uses audio from native Uzbek speakers.

The lesson, like the previous one, is based on my Uzbek language tutorial.

Let’s start with the fact that grammatical problems in the Uzbek language are first of all solved by adding various affixes to the unchangeable stem of the word. To begin with, let’s finish the sentences by entering Men and Siz correctly:

Of course, it will be like this:

Men Sashaman. — I am Sasha.
Siz Alishersiz. — You are Alisher.

However, in the Uzbek language, in this case, you can do without men, and, in the other sentence, without siz.

Sashaman. (I am Sasha.) and «Alishersiz.» (You are Alisher.) — sentences that are self-sufficient and correct from the grammatical point of view of the Uzbek language. More on this below.

Personal pronouns in the Uzbek language

men — I (first-person singular)

sen — you (second-person singular, informal; it is used with people of the same age who have known each other for a long time or is used when people talk to children or a person who is considerably younger)

siz — you (second-person singular; is used for an older person or someone of higher social status)

Affirmative sentences in Uzbek

Personal pronouns function in conjugation in two forms: as personal pronouns and as predicate affixes, undergoing some phonetic changes in the latter case:

men — man

sen — san

siz — siz (we don’t change anything here)

Examples: (Men) Sashaman. (Sen) Lolasan. (Siz) Alishersiz.

However, in such structures, pronouns can be omitted. In other words, you can do without the subject of a simple non-extended sentence when this subject is expressed by a personal pronoun.

Negative sentences in Uzbek

The negative form of the nominal predicate is formed using the word emas — emasman, emassan, emassiz, etc.

Examples: (Men) Sasha emasman. — I’m not Sasha. (Sen) Lola emassan. — You are not Lola. (Siz) Alisher emassiz. — You are not Alisher.

Listen and repeat.

Questions in Uzbek

The interrogative form is formed with the particle affix -mi. This particle is added if there is no interrogative word in the question, i.e. the question requires a yes (ha) or no (yo’q) answer. When conjugating a nominal predicate, -mi is usually placed before the predicate affix (but in the first and third person often after it).

Examples: (Sen) Dashasan. — You are Dasha. (Sen) Dashamisan? — Are you Dasha?

(Siz) Alishersiz. — You are Alisher. (Siz) Alishermisiz? — Are you Alisher?

(Men) ikkinchi sinfdaman. — I’m in my second year. (Men) ikkinchi sinfdamanmi? — Am I in my second year?

-da is a locative affix.

Listen and repeat.

Let’s do some exercises. Let’s insert personal pronouns (where it doesn’t sound very good without them) and predicate affixes.

Exercise 1.

Model: Assalomu alaykum! Anvarman. Ismingiz nima?

1 Salom! Lola______.

2 Assalomu alaykum! _____ sizning o’qituvchingiz______. ______ mening sinfimda______.

My is formed by adding -m (after a vowel) or -im after a consonant to the stem, your by adding -ngiz or -ingiz.

mening — my

sizning — your

o’qituvchi — teacher

3 _____ to’rtinchi sinfda_____.

4 ______ uchinchi xonada______.

xona — room

sinf — class

birinchi — first

ikkinchi — second

uchinchi — third

to’rtinchi — fourth

beshinchi — fifth

oltinchi — sixth

yettinchi — seventh

sakkizinchi — eighth

Exercise 2.

Add negative structures.

Model: Sasha emasman. Dashaman.

1 Siz beshinchi sinfda ________. To’rtinchi sinfdasiz.

2 Sen oltinchi xonada _______. Yettinchi xonadasan.

3 Lola ________. Marinaman.

Exercise 3. Turn affirmative sentences into questions.

Model: Lolasiz. — Lolamisiz?

1 To’rtinchi xonadaman. —

2 Lizsiz. —

3 Uchinchi sinfdaman. —

Exercise 4. Add the missing parts to the dialogues.

Model: A Assalomu alaykum! Violettamisiz? B Yo’q, Violetta emasman. Barbaraman.

1 A Men sakkizinchi xonada_____mi? B Yo’q, siz sakkizinchi xonada _________. Siz oltinchi xonadasiz.

2 A To’rtinchi sinfdami_____?  B Yo’q, to’rtinchi sinfda __________. Beshinchi sinfdaman.

3 A Siz Johnmi_____?  B Ha, men John_____. Tanishganimdan xursandman. 

4 A Men sizning sinfingizda______mi? B Ha, siz mening sinfimda_____. Men sizning o’qituvchingiz_____.

Write your answers in the comments. Check your answers in the next lesson.

The next lesson: Uzbek lessons (tutorial): #3 Grammar, with audio

The first lesson from the Uzbek language tutorial by Marina Kozlova: Uzbek lessons (tutorial): #1 Introduction, with audio

PS The affix -siz, in addition to conjugation and predicate, can also mean the absence of something in the Uzbek language, for example, tuz — salty, tuzsiz — unsalted, without salt. That is, Alishersiz can mean both «You are Alisher» and «without Alisher.»

Do you already know the pronouns men, sen, siz (I, you) of the Uzbek language? Have you learned how to construct simple sentences and questions with or without them?