I can ask a yes/no question, answer “no, I'm not …”, and ask back “and you?”: Siz oʻzbekmisiz? — Yoʻq, men oʻzbek emasman. Siz-chi?
Questions with -mi, and “not”: emas
Questions with -mi, and “not”: emas
Why: ask a yes/no question, answer “no, I'm not …”, and ask back “and you?”
English inverts (“Are you…?”); Uzbek keeps the order and adds the particle -mi. It is joined and goes before the personal ending: Siz talabamisiz? Sen bandmisan? In the third person there is no ending: U sayyohmi? With “I” and “we” it goes at the very end: Biz tayyormizmi? People also say Siz talabasizmi? — that's correct too.
The particle is unstressed: the voice rises on the syllable before it. With kim or nima there is no particle: Bu kim? In such a question the voice falls at the end, as in English.
“Not” is a separate word, emas, placed after the word, and the personal ending moves onto it: talaba emasman, band emassiz. In the third person, just emas: U oʻzbek emas.
Answers: Ha, talabaman. — Yoʻq, men talaba emasman. Agreeing: Albatta! — “of course”, Mayli — “OK”.
“And you?” — Siz-chi? (with a hyphen: -chi goes after any pronoun or name, e.g. Anna-chi? — “and Anna?”). -chi, like -mi, is unstressed. “Too” is ham, right after the word it adds to: Men ham amerikalikman.
Common mistakes:
• NOT “Siz talaba misiz?” → talabamisiz (joined).
• NOT “Mi siz talaba?” → the particle never goes first.
• NOT “Bu kimmi?” → Bu kim?
• NOT “Men talaba yoʻq” → talaba emasman.
Questions with -mi, and “not”: emas
The particle is joined to the word; emas is a separate word, and the personal ending goes on it.
| Who | Question | No, not … |
|---|---|---|
| I | Men talabamanmi? | talaba emasman |
| you (informal) | Sen talabamisan? | talaba emassan |
| you (to one person) | Siz talabamisiz? | talaba emassiz |
| he, she | U talabami? | talaba emas |
| we | Biz talabamizmi? | talaba emasmiz |
| you (to several people) | Sizlar talabamisizlar? | talaba emassizlar |
| they | Ular talabami? | talaba emas |
Lesson notes
Questions with -mi, and “not”: emas
Why: ask a yes/no question, answer “no, I'm not …”, and ask back “and you?”
English inverts (“Are you…?”); Uzbek keeps the order and adds the particle -mi. It is joined and goes before the personal ending: Siz talabamisiz? Sen bandmisan? In the third person there is no ending: U sayyohmi? With “I” and “we” it goes at the very end: Biz tayyormizmi? People also say Siz talabasizmi? — that's correct too.
The particle is unstressed: the voice rises on the syllable before it. With kim or nima there is no particle: Bu kim? In such a question the voice falls at the end, as in English.
“Not” is a separate word, emas, placed after the word, and the personal ending moves onto it: talaba emasman, band emassiz. In the third person, just emas: U oʻzbek emas.
Answers: Ha, talabaman. — Yoʻq, men talaba emasman. Agreeing: Albatta! — “of course”, Mayli — “OK”.
“And you?” — Siz-chi? (with a hyphen: -chi goes after any pronoun or name, e.g. Anna-chi? — “and Anna?”). -chi, like -mi, is unstressed. “Too” is ham, right after the word it adds to: Men ham amerikalikman.
Common mistakes:
• NOT “Siz talaba misiz?” → talabamisiz (joined).
• NOT “Mi siz talaba?” → the particle never goes first.
• NOT “Bu kimmi?” → Bu kim?
• NOT “Men talaba yoʻq” → talaba emasman.