Uzbek Numbers • Numerals and Fractions • audio
bir one (1)
ikki two (2)
uch three (3)
to’rt four (4)
besh five (5)
olti six (6)
etti seven (7)
sakkiz (8) eight
to’qqiz (9) nine
o’n (10) ten
yigirma (20) twenty
o’ttiz (30) thirty
qirq (40) forty
ellik (50) fifty
oltmish (60) sixty
etmish (70) seventy
sakson (80) eighty
to’qson (90) ninety
yuz (100) hundred
ming (1000) thousand
million million
milliard billion


In compound numerals the lower orders of numerals follow the higher. Each numeral is written separately:

 

Uzbek Numbers • Numerals and Fractions • audio
o’n bir eleven (11)
o’n ikki twelve (12)
o’n uch thirteen (13)
o’n to’rt fourteen (14)
o’n besh fifteen (15)
o’n olti sixteen (16)
o’n etti seventeen (17)
o’n sakkiz eighteen (18)
o’n to’qqiz nineteen (19)
yigirma bir twenty-one (21)
o’ttiz ikki thirty-two (32)
qirq uch forty-three (43)
ellik to’rt fifty-four (54)
oltmish besh sixty-five (55)
etmish olta seventy-six (76)
sakson etti eighty-seven (87)
to’qson sakkiz ninety-eight (98)
bir yuz o’n to’qqiz one hundred-nineteen (119)
ikki yuz sakson sakkiz two hundred-eighty-eight (288)
to’qqiz yuz to’qson ikki nine hundred-ninety-two (992)
bir ming to’qqiz yuz to’qson ikki one thousand nine hundred-ninety-two (1992)


The Uzbek ordinal numbers are formed by adding the suffix -nchi (after vowels) or inchi (after consonants) to cardinal numbers:
 

Uzbek Numbers • Numerals and Fractions • audio 
birinchi first
ikkinchi second
uchinchi third
to’rtinchi forth
beshinchi fifth
oltinchi sixth
ettinchi seventh
sakkizinchi eighth
to’qqizinchi ninth
o’ninchi tenth
yigirmanchi twentieth
o’ttizinchi thirtieth
qirqinchi fortieth
ellikinchi fiftieth
oltmishinchi sixtieth
etmishinchi seventieth
saksoninchi eightieth
to’qsoninchi ninetieth
yuzinchi hundredth
minginchi thousandth


 

In Uzbek the denominator of a fraction always takes the ablative suffix while the numerator does not take any suffix:
 

Uzbek Numbers • Numerals and Fractions • audio
Fractions
ikkidan bir one half
to’rtdan uch three-fourths
beshdan to’rt four fifths
o’ndan to’qqiz nine tenths


The decimals are expressed by the word butun (whole) followed by the denominator and the numerator:

 

Uzbek Numbers • Numerals and Fractions • audio
Decimals
o’ttiz sakkiz butun o’ndan olti thirty eight and six tenths (36.6)
bir butun o’ndan to’qqiz one and nine tenths (1.9)
ikki butun o’ndan besh two and five tenths (2.5)


 

In spoken Uzbek the word butun frequently is omitted or replaced by -u or va, both meaning 'and':

 

Uzbek Numbers • Numerals and Fractions • audio
 Decimals (oral)
o’ttiz sakkiz-u o’ndan olti thirty eight and six tenths (36.6)
o’ttiz sakkiz va o’ndan olti thirty eight and six tenths (36.6)
o’ttiz sakkiz o’ndan olti thirty eight and six tenths (36.6)
 
 
 
Uzbek Dialogue • The Alphabet • audio
The Alphabet (Elippe)
A a /a, æ/ As American English a in the word bat.
B be /b/ As American English b in the word book (In the end of a word this letter often sounds like American English p)
D de /d/ As American English d in the word door
E e /e/ As in American English e in the word yes
F ef /ɸ/ As American English f in the word few
G ge /g/ As American English g in the word good
H he /h/ As American English h in the word help
I i /i, ɨ/ As American English i in the word it
J je /dʒ/ For Uzbek words: As American English j in the word just, For borrowed words (mainly from Russian, or international words such as "Televisor"): As English s in the word measure
K ke /k/ As American English k in the word keep, but without aspiration. (the h sound after p)
L el /l/ As American English l in the word look
M em /m/ As American English m in the word mood
N en /n/ As American English n in the word new
O o /ɒ/ As American English o in the word hot.
P pe /p/ As American English p in the word pick, but without aspiration.
Q qe /q/ English doesn't have an equivalent sound. This is a back k, pronounced similar to the English c in the word cost, but pronounced farther back in the mouth.
R er /r/ Like the Scottish rolled r
S es /s/ As American English s in the word see
T te /t/ As American English t in the word top, but without aspiration(fortis).
U u /u, y/ As American English oo in the word root.
V ve /w/ For Uzbek words: As American English w in want, For borrowed words (mainly from Russian, or international ie. "televisor"): As American English v in very.
X xe /χ/ English doesn't have an equivalent sound. This sound is exactly the same as the German pronunciation ch in bach
Y ye /j/ As American English y in the word you
Z ze /z/ As American English z in the word zoo
O’ o’ /o, ø/ As American English o in the word 'row,' but without the w sound.
G’ g’e /ʁ/ English doesn't have an equivalent sound. ғ is close to the English gh in the word yoghurt. It is similar to the sound х, but is pronounced with the quality of voicing. (like a French r)
Sh she /ʃ/ As American English sh in the word show
Ch che /tʃ/ As American English ch in the word child.
' apostrof /ʔ/ In Uzbek words, after a vowel this letter indicates that the vowel is long: ra'no /raano/. After a consonant it indicates that the consonant is followed by a brief breath or no sound: san'at /san#at/. In Russian borrow words it is used to indicate that a consonant does not have a palatable or 'y' quality.


Latin-Cyrillic Chart

Latin Cyrillic IPA
A a А а /a, æ/
B b Б б /b/
D d Д д /d/
E e Е е, Э э /e/
F f Ф ф /ɸ/
Gg Г г /g/
H h Ҳ ҳ /h/
I i И и /i, ɨ/
J j Ж ж /dʒ/
K k К к /k/
L l Л л /l/
M m М м /m/
N n Н н /n/
O o О о /ɒ/
P p П п /p/
Q q Қ қ /q/
R r Р р /r/
S s С с /s/
T t Т т /t/
U u У у /u, y/
V v В в /w/
X x Х х /χ/
Y y Й й /j/
Z z З з /z/
O’ o’ Ў ў /o, ø/
G’ g’ Ғ ғ /ʁ/
Sh sh Ш ш /ʃ/
Ch ch Ч ч /tʃ/
' ъ /ʔ/
 
 
  Don't let it scare you that all this grammatical stuff is supposed to be read before you begin. Really they are all really simple--and shouldn't be something you need to worry about. Also, remember: This will always be a handy reference. Just enjoy it!

To Editors: It might be a good idea to incorporate this section into the main lessons

 

 Nominal and Verbal Words

There are two main types of words in Uzbek: nominals and verbals. Nominals are those words which are equivalent to English nouns and adjectives, or which have a noun-like character; for example, qora, "black" and ko’z 'eye'.

In Uzbek, nominals include classes of words that in English are called nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and some adverbs. An Uzbek "noun" may be equivalent to an English adjective or noun:

qora ko’zlarim (My black eyes...)
Ko’zlarim qora (My eyes are black)
 

Verbals are those words which are equivalent to English verbs and some adverbs; for example, qelmoq 'to come' (infinitive)and bo’lib 'as, being' (gerund).

In addition, there are a small number of particles, conjunctions, and similar words which do not take suffixes; for example uchun 'for' and va 'and'.

The last syllable of an Uzbek word receives the stress. however, certain endings and particles at the end of words are not stressed.

 

 Suffixation

The lexical meanings and grammatical functions of Uzbek words are indicated primarily by adding elements called suffixes to the ends of the words. This process of suffixation (also called agglutation) is regular and clear in the sense that it does not require changing the phonetic shapes of words and suffixes; fo example,

ko’zlarim (eye+s+my = my eyes)

 

 Word Formation Suffixes

Nominals and verbals with new lexical meanings are created in Uzbek through suffixation. Adding a suffix to a nominal root or word results in a nominal or a verbal with a new lexical meaning:

bosh (head - anatomy)
boshliq (chief, foreman)
boshlimoq (to begin -infinitive)

Adding a new suffix to a verbal root or word also produces a nominal or a verbal with a new lexical meaning:

boshlanmoq (to be begun -infinitive)
boshlang’ich (beginning, elementary)

 

 Grammatical Suffixes

The indication of grammatical functions like number, case, mood or tense is accomplished by adding suffixes to words. These grammatical suffixes change the relationship of one word to other words in a sentence; however, they do not change the basic lexical meaning of the word.

Lexical
uy (home)
uylimoq (to marry)
uylanmoq (to get married)
Grammatical
uyda (at home)
uyga keldi (he came home)
uylandi (he got married)

 

Plural Suffix

The Uzbek suffix plural -lar is added to nominals to indicate that there is more than one subject or object, but also to verbals to indicate that there is more than one subject. After numeral, the plural suffix is not added to a nominal:

qiz (daughter)
qizlar (daughters)
uch qiz (three daughters)
keldi (he came)
keldilar (they came)
 

 Case Suffixes

Case suffixes express relationships between nominals and verbals and are equivalent to English 'to', 'in', 'from', and other ideas:

 

o’g’il (son)
xalq (people)
kitob (book)
o’g’ilga (to the son)
xalqdan (from the people)
kitobda (in the book)

 Possession Suffixes

Uzbek has several means of expressing possession. One means requires adding possessive suffixes to a nominal:
 

kitobim (my book)
kitobing (your book - singular)
kitobimiz (our book)
kitobingiz (your book - plural)

A second means requires the possessive relationship construction. In Uzbek, the possessor of an object is placed first, often with the suffix -ning, while the person or the object possessed is placed second, always with the suffix -i/si (plural -lari). The Uzbek equivalent of an English phrase like 'my daughter's book' is the following:

qizimning kitobi
daughter+my+of book+her
(my daughters book)

 

 Infinitive Suffix

The Uzbek equivalent of the English infinitive of verbs ('to enter,' 'to see,' etc.) is created by adding the suffix -moq to the verbal root. Without this or other suffixes, the verbal root expresses the familiar or at times impolite imperative mood:

kirmoq (to enter -infinitive)
kir! (enter! -singular, familiar, impolite)

 

 Mood Suffixes

To express moods like the imperative or the conditional, Uzbek adds suffixes to verbal roots:

kiring! (come in -singular, familiar, polite)
kirsa (if he enters)

 

Tense Suffixes

In Uzbek, tenses like past, present, and future are formed by adding suffixes to a verbal root, including the past tense suffix -di:

kelmoq (to come -infinitive)
keldi (he came)

Uzbek combines the meanings of English present and future tenses into one idea that is expressed by the suffix -a/-i. This present-future tense indicates that an action occurs as a habit in the present and may occur at some point in the future:

o’qimoq (to read -infinitive)
o’qiydi (he reads (as a habit), he will read (tomorrow))

 

 Articles

Uzbek lacks words equivalent to the English articles 'a/an, the'. Instead, a nominal serving as an object of a verb stands without a suffix to express an indefinite quality, while a nominal severing as an object adds the suffix -ni to indicate a definite quality.

kitob o’qiydi (he reads books --indefinite number)
kitobni o’qiydi (he will read the book --definite)

 

 Personal Pronouns

In Uzbek, both singular and plural forms exist for personal pronouns. Besides the first person pronoun men (I) and biz (we), Uzbek has the pronoun sen for singular 'you' (older English 'thou') and the pronoun siz for singular polite and plural 'you'.

Uzbek does not posses separate personal pronouns for 'he', 'she', and 'it.' All of these persons are expressed with the pronoun u. Gender must be determined from other words in the sentence or context.

 

 Postpositions

Where English places words like 'behind' or 'toward' in position before nouns (prepositions), Uzbek uses nominals with the same meanings in position after other nominals (postpositions):

uy orqasida (behind the house)
uy tomonida (toward the house)

 

 Relative Sentences

The formation of relative sentences presents a major difficulty for learners of Uzbek. In English, the word 'who' in the construction 'the sone who entered the house' is expressed by adding the suffix -gan to a verbal root and by reversing the order of elements:

 

Uyga kirgan o’g’il
'house+into enter+who son'
(The son who entered the house)

 

Complex Sentences

Spoken Uzbek makes little use of the conjunction va (and) to link two sentences together. The 'and' in the English sentence 'he came home and read the book' is indicated by adding the suffix -ib to the first verbal stem:

U uyga kelib, kitobni o’qidi
(He came home and read the book)

 

Word Order

The word order in Uzbek sentences normally has the following construction:

Subject + object + predicate
U kitobni o’qidi
He + book + the + read + he = (He read the book.)