Personal pronouns in Uzbek — men (I), sen (you [informal]), siz (you [formal]) — and the predicate suffixes -man, -san, -siz play an important role in forming sentences and questions.
In this lesson, you will get acquainted with the use of personal pronouns and the corresponding affixes (suffixes) in the Uzbek language, and you will also hear examples with audio by native speakers.
This is the second lesson of my Uzbek self-study course.
Let’s start with the fact that in Uzbek grammar, the main grammatical tasks are solved by attaching various suffixes to the unchanging word stem.
But for now, let’s correctly complete the sentences by inserting the pronouns men and siz (see the lesson’s image).
Of course, it will be:
Men Sashaman. — I am Sasha.
Siz Alishersiz. — You are Alisher. (However, you will rarely hear a phrase like this. You’re more likely to hear something like Siz o‘qituvchisiz. — You are a teacher.)
However, in Uzbek, in this case, you can do without men and siz.
Sashaman. (I am Sasha.) and Alishersiz. (You are Alisher.) are self-sufficient and grammatically correct sentences in Uzbek. More on that below.
Personal pronouns in Uzbek with translation
- men — I (first-person singular)
- sen — you (second-person singular, informal); used with people of the same age who have known each other for a long time or when speaking to children or someone considerably younger
- siz — you (second-person singular or plural, formal); used to show respect or politeness to elders, strangers, or in formal situations
Predicate affixes (-man, -san, -siz) and affirmative sentences in Uzbek
There are personal pronouns, and there are predicate affixes derived from them (I’ve simplified this a bit). Below are some of them:
- men → -man
- sen → -san
- siz → -siz (in this case, nothing changes at all)
Examples: (Men) Sashaman. (Sen) Dashasan. (Siz) Alishersiz.
In such structures, the pronouns can be omitted.
In other words — in a simple, short sentence, the subject can be dropped if it’s expressed by a personal pronoun.
| Full form | Short form | |
| + | Men Marinaman. | Marinaman. |
| Sen Anvarsan. | Anvarsan. | |
| Siz Dashasiz. | Dashasiz. | |
| - | Men John emasman. | John emasman. |
| Sen Alisher emassan. | Alisher emassan. | |
| Siz Violetta emassiz. | Violetta emassiz. |
Negative sentences in Uzbek
The negative form of the nominal predicate is formed with the word emas — emasman, emassan, emassiz, etc.
Emas is a separate word, not a suffix.
Examples:
(Men) Sasha emasman. — I am not Sasha.
(Sen) Dasha emassan. — You are not Dasha.
(Siz) Alisher emassiz. — You are not Alisher.
Listen to the audio and repeat.
Questions with -mi in Uzbek
The interrogative form is created using the suffix-particle -mi.
This particle is added when there is no interrogative word in the sentence — that is, when the question requires a “yes” (ha) or “no” (yo‘q) answer.
When conjugating a nominal predicate, -mi is usually placed before the predicate suffix — although in the first person, it often comes after it.
The -mi particle is pronounced separately and is marked by intonation.
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 am in the second grade.
(Men) ikkinchi sinfdamanmi? — Am I in the second grade?
-da is the locative case suffix.
Listen to the audio and repeat.
| ? Questions | + Positive answer | - Negative answer |
| (Men) ikkinchi sinfdamanmi? | Ha, ikkinchi sinfdasiz. | Yo'q, ikkinchi sinfda emassiz. |
| (Sen) Anvarmisan? | Ha, Anvarman. | Yo'q, Anvar emasman. |
| (Siz) Dashamisiz? | Ha, Dashaman. | Yo'q, Dasha emasman. |
Exercises
Insert personal pronouns (if without them it sounds too unusual) and predicate suffixes.
Exercise 1. Insert the missing personal pronouns (if necessary) and the corresponding predicate suffixes to make a correct affirmative sentence.
Example: Assalomu alaykum! Anvarman. Ismingiz nima?
1 Salom! Lola______.
2 Assalomu alaykum! _____ sizning o’qituvchingiz______. ______ mening sinfimda______.
Note on possessives:
“My” is formed by adding -m (after a vowel) or -im (after a consonant) to the base word,
“Your” — by adding -ngiz or -ingiz.
o’qituvchi — teacher
mening — my
sizning — your
3 _____ to’rtinchi sinfda_____.
4 ______ uchinchi xonada______.
xona — room
sinf — class/grade
birinchi — first
ikkinchi — second
uchinchi — third
to’rtinchi — fourth
beshinchi — fifth
oltinchi — sixth
yettinchi — seventh
sakkizinchi — eighth
Exercise 2. Now add negative structures.
Example: Sasha emasman. Dashaman.
1 Siz beshinchi sinfda ________. To’rtinchi sinfdasiz.
2 Sen oltinchi xonada _______. Yettinchi xonadasan.
3 Lola ________. Marinaman.
Exercise 3. Turn the affirmative sentences into questions.
Example: Lolasiz. — Lolamisiz?
1 To’rtinchi xonadaman. —
2 Lizsiz. —
3 Uchinchi sinfdaman. —
Exercise 4. Add the missing parts in the dialogues.
Example: 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_____.
P.S.
The suffix -siz, besides being used in conjugation and predicate formation, can also mean absence of something in Uzbek.
For example: tuz — salty, tuzsiz — unsalted, without salt.
So Alishersiz can mean both “You are Alisher” and “without Alisher”.
Now you are familiar with the personal pronouns men, sen, siz (I, you informal, you formal) in the Uzbek language and the predicate suffixes — -man for men, -san for sen, and -siz for siz.
You have learned how to build correct sentences and ask questions using these pronouns and suffixes.
In the next lesson, the grammar rules will be placed into longer dialogues.
- Previous lesson: Lesson 1. Hello in Uzbek — How to say hi, hello, and greetings in Uzbek Language
- Next lesson: Lesson 3. Questions and answers when meeting someone in Uzbek
- All lessons
Answers to exercises
Show answers
Exercise 1. 1 Salom! Lolaman. 2 Assalomu alaykum! Men sizning o’qituvchingizman. Siz mening sinfimdasiz. (Hello! I’m your teacher. You’re in my class.)
Look carefully at the structures:
o’qituvchi + ngiz + man = I (man) your (ngiz) teacher (o’qituvchi)
sinf + im + da + siz = You (siz) in (da) my (im) class (sinf)
3 Men to’rtinchi sinfdaman. 4 Siz uchinchi xonadasiz.
Exercise 2. 1 Siz beshinchi sinfda emassiz. To’rtinchi sinfdasiz. 2 Sen oltinchi xonada emassan. Yettinchi xonadasan. 3 Lola emasman. Marinaman.
Exercise 3. 1 To’rtinchi xonadamanmi? 2 Lizmisiz? 3 Uchinchi sinfdamanmi?
Exercise 4. 1 A Men sakkizinchi xonadamanmi? B Yo’q, siz sakkizinchi xonada emassiz. Siz oltinchi xonadasiz. 2 A To’rtinchi sinfdamisiz? B Yo’q, to’rtinchi sinfda emasman. Beshinchi sinfdaman. 3 A Siz Johnmisiz? B Ha, men Johnman. Tanishganimdan xursandman. 4 A Men sizning sinfingizdamanmi? B Ha, siz mening sinfimdasiz. Men sizning o’qituvchingizman.
Here’s an interesting structure: the word “sinf” has as many as four affixes attached.
sinf + ingiz + da + man + mi = I (man) in (da) your (ingiz) class (sinf) ? (mi)
The words men, sizning can be omitted.