How do you say “how much,” “who,” “what,” “where,” “how,” and “when” in Uzbek? In this lesson, we will learn how to ask questions in Uzbek using common interrogative words such as kim, nima, qayerda, necha, qalay, qachon and others. You will learn how to ask:
- what someone’s name is in Uzbek,
- how old someone is,
- where a person is from,
- where a city is located,
- what time a concert will be,
- what your e-mail address is.
The lesson includes exercises and audio by native Uzbek speakers so that you can not only read but also hear correct pronunciation.
Exercises on interrogative words
Exercise 1. Listen to and repeat these Uzbek interrogative words in Uzbek.
kim, nima, qayerdan, qayerda, necha, qalay
Exercise 2. Insert the interrogative words from the previous exercise into the dialogues.
1 A Siz qayerdansiz? B Men Xitoydanman.
2 A _________siz? B Yaxshiman, rahmat.
3 A U ___________? B U do’stim.
4 A Sizning ismingiz _________? B Rustam.
5 A Qohira ___________? B Misrda.
6 A Siz __________ yoshdasiz? B Yigirma beshdaman.
7 A Sizning telefon raqamingiz ________________? B 543 162 55 42.
Exercise 3. Listen and check.
Exercise 4. Learn the questions from Exercise 2. Cover them, look at the answers, and say the questions from memory.
Exercise 5. Listen to and repeat the examples. Then memorize the rule.
Anvar kim? Do’stim.
Sizning elektron pochta manzilingiz nima? bel35@gmail.com
Siz qayerdansiz? Men O’zbekistoning Samarqand shahridanman.
Qalaysiz? Yaxshiman, rahmat.
U necha yoshda? U to’qqiz yoshda.
Konsert qachon bo’ladi? Chorshanba kuni bo’ladi.
O’zbekistoning is written both with one n and with two n: O’zbekistonning.
-ning is the possessive case suffix.
manzil — address
do’st — friend
The interrogative word is placed in the position where the word it replaces used to be. Let’s take a closer look at questions and interrogative words in the Uzbek language.
Questions and interrogative words in the Uzbek language
The most commonly used Uzbek interrogative words
kim? — who? (referring to a person)
kimlar? — who? (referring to a group of people)
nima? — what? (referring to an object or an animal)
nimalar? — what? (referring to a group of objects or animals)
qanday? — what kind of? how? what?
qanaqa? (colloquial form of qanday?) — what kind of? how?
qandoq? (colloquial form of qanday?) — what kind of? how?
qaysi? — which?
qancha? — how much? / how many? / how long?
necha? — how much? / how many?
That is, “how much / how many” in Uzbek can be qancha, necha, or nechchi. The simplest way to ask how much something costs in Uzbek when approaching a seller is to say Nechchi? or Qancha bo’ladi?
qachon? — when?
qalay? — how? what is it like?
qani? — so where is it? (in colloquial speech, often used to prompt someone)
The words qayer, qayoq
Qayer and qayoq are compound words. Here is how they are formed:
qay (which) + yer (land) = qayer
qay + yoq (side) = qayoq
Note: qayer is more common in the literary norm; qayoq is a colloquial, regional variant.
qayerda? — where?
qayerga? — where to?
qayoqda? — where? in which direction?
qayoqqa? — where to?
Groups of interrogative words
For nouns:
kim? nima?
Note that sometimes the pronoun kim is used instead of nima. For example, instead of Oting nima? (What is your name?), people say Oting kim?
For adjectives:
qanday? qanaqa? qandoq? qaysi? qalay?
For numerals:
qancha? necha? nechanchi?
Questions about place:
qayerda? qani? qayda? qayoqda?
Questions about time:
qachon?
Questions about cause
Nima uchun? (Nechun?) Nimaga? (Nega?)
It is difficult to memorize all these Uzbek interrogative words at once. Therefore, first of all, learn the ones that appear in our dialogues and examples. And of course, do the exercises.
If there is an interrogative word, the suffix -mi is not used.
Table: Frequently used interrogative words in Uzbek
| Uzbek word | Translation | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| kim | who | person |
| nima | what | object, animal |
| qayerda | where | place |
| qayerga | where to | direction |
| necha | how many, how much | numeral |
| qancha | how many, how much, how long | incl. price |
| qachon | when | time |
| qalay | how | state |
| qanday / qanaqa | what kind of, how | quality, description |
| qaysi | which | choice from a group |
| kimlar / nimalar | who / what (plural) | group of people / objects |
| qayerdan | where from | origin |
| nechanchi | which number | ordinal number |
| nima uchun / nega / nimaga | why | reason |
| qayoqda / qayda | where (colloquial) | often in spoken speech |
Additional exercises on questions in Uzbek
Exercise 6. Insert the missing interrogative words.
qalay, qayerlik, nima (2 times), necha yoshda, qayerda, kim (2 times), qachon
1 A Konsert ______ boshlanadi?
B Payshanba kuni soat 6.30da.
A _________?
B Turkiston saroyida.
2 A ____________siz?
B Yaxshiman, rahmat. Siz-chi?
3 A Ismingiz _________?
B Anvar.
4 A U ______?
B Mening dugonam Aziza.
A U ________?
B U Turkiyadan.
5 A U ______?
B Mening akam Alisher.
A U _______________?
B Uning yoshi yigirma oltida.
6 A Sizning elektron pochta manzilingiz ________?
B anvar35@gmail.com
saroy — palace
dugona — female friend
Exercise 7. Put the words in the questions in the correct order.
1 necha yoshdasiz siz ?
2 nima telefon sizning raqamingiz ?
3 kim u?
4 xona qayerda uchinchi?
5 qachon o’zbek darsi boshlanadi tili ?
6 5675526mi sizning raqamingiz telefon?
7 yoshda Lola necha ?
8 manzili uning pochta nima elektron ?
9 turmushga u chiqqanmi ?
turmushga chiqmoq — to get married
turmushga chiqqan — married (about a woman)
uylangan — married (about a man)
Exercise 8. Write the questions. The answers serve as prompts.
1 A ______________?
B Lola Karimova.
2 A _____________?
B Buxorodanman.
3 A Buxoro _____________?
B U O’zbekistonda.
4 A _________________?
B Men 18 yoshdaman.
5 A Rahmat. ______________________?
B 55 956 57 78
6 A _________________________?
B lkarimova@gmail.com.
Now you know how questions are formed in Uzbek and how to use interrogative words kim, nima, necha, qayerda, qachon, qalay and others. Repeat the exercises with audio, memorize the basic structures, and it will become easier for you to hold a conversation in Uzbek.
- Previous lesson: Lesson 27. How to ask and answer about age in Uzbek
- Next lesson: Lesson 29. Exercises on Uzbek interrogative words and questions
- All lessons
Answers to exercises
Show answers
Exercise 2. 2 Qalay 3 kim 4 nima 5 qayerda 6 necha 7 nima
Exercise 6. 1 qachon, qayerda 2 qalay 3 nima 4 kim, qayerlik 5 kim, necha yoshda 6 nima
Exercise 7. 1 Siz necha yoshdasiz?
2 Sizning telefon raqamingiz nima?
3 U kim?
4 Uchinchi xona qayerda?
5 O’zbek tili darsi qachon boshlanadi?
6 Sizning telefon raqamingiz 5675526mi?
7 Lola necha yoshda?
8 Uning elektron pochta manzili nima?
9 U turmushga chiqqanmi?
Exercise 8. 1 Ismingiz nima?
2 Siz qayerdansiz?
3 Buxoro qayerda?
4 Siz necha yoshdasiz?
5 Telefon raqamingiz nima?
6 Sizning elektron pochta manzilingiz nima?