I can ask where a bus is going and where the subway station is, give a taxi driver an address and ask them to stop, understand the signs “Entrance” and “Exit”, and say where tourists walk in Baku.
Baku for a visitor: walking and getting around
Baku for a visitor: walking and getting around
Tourist Baku is the seaside Boulevard (Dənizkənarı bulvar) and the Old City, İçərişəhər, with Qız qalası (the Maiden Tower). “To walk around” is gəzmək; where you walk takes the locative: parkda gəzmək. But baxmaq “to look at” takes the dative, whatever the English preposition: televizora baxır. “Many” and “few” are çox and az; after them the word has no -lar (module 1): çox maşın, az yer.
On the subway and the bus you pay with a BakıKart: you buy it from a machine at the station and tap it on the turnstile at the entrance, Giriş. The exit is Çıxış. Before each stop the next station is announced: növbəti, “next”. The shared minibus in Baku is the marşrut. Where the bus goes takes the dative (module 4): “Bu avtobus … gedir?”
You give a taxi driver the address in the dative too: “… küçəsinə, zəhmət olmasa”. “Stop” comes from saxlamaq; to the driver, use siz: saxlayın.
Common mistakes:
• ×çox turistlər → çox turist.
• ×bulvara gəzmək → bulvarda gəzmək (where: the locative).
• ×Taksi, Nizami küçəsi! → … küçəsinə (where to: the dative).
The city and transportation
Giriş and Çıxış are the signs on the doors of the subway, stores, and museums.
| In Azerbaijani | In English |
|---|---|
| bulvar | boulevard |
| dəniz | sea |
| teatr | theater |
| məscid | mosque |
| muzey | museum |
| metro stansiyası | subway station |
| marşrut | shared minibus |
| giriş | entrance |
| çıxış | exit |
| növbəti | next |
Lesson notes
Baku for a visitor: walking and getting around
Tourist Baku is the seaside Boulevard (Dənizkənarı bulvar) and the Old City, İçərişəhər, with Qız qalası (the Maiden Tower). “To walk around” is gəzmək; where you walk takes the locative: parkda gəzmək. But baxmaq “to look at” takes the dative, whatever the English preposition: televizora baxır. “Many” and “few” are çox and az; after them the word has no -lar (module 1): çox maşın, az yer.
On the subway and the bus you pay with a BakıKart: you buy it from a machine at the station and tap it on the turnstile at the entrance, Giriş. The exit is Çıxış. Before each stop the next station is announced: növbəti, “next”. The shared minibus in Baku is the marşrut. Where the bus goes takes the dative (module 4): “Bu avtobus … gedir?”
You give a taxi driver the address in the dative too: “… küçəsinə, zəhmət olmasa”. “Stop” comes from saxlamaq; to the driver, use siz: saxlayın.
Common mistakes:
• ×çox turistlər → çox turist.
• ×bulvara gəzmək → bulvarda gəzmək (where: the locative).
• ×Taksi, Nizami küçəsi! → … küçəsinə (where to: the dative).