Lesson 4. Tushunmayman: negative verbs and verb questions; languages

“I don't”: after the stem comes -ma, then -y- and the personal ending: ishla + ma + y + man = ishlamayman, bil + ma + y + di = bilmaydi. -ma is always followed by -y-, because -ma ends in a vowel. There is no separate word for “don't”: the negative is inside the verb. The syllable -ma itself is unstressed: the voice stresses the syllable before it. A yes/no question: the particle -mi is joined at the very end of the verb, after the personal ending, with no “do” and no change of word order: Gapirasizmi? Tushunasanmi? Ishlaydimi? The voice rises on the syllable before -mi. Compare: on a word that says who or what you are (talaba), the particle goes before the personal ending (talabamisiz?); on a verb, after it (gapirasizmi?). If the question has a question word (nima, qayerda, kim), there is no particle: Kim inglizcha biladi? Common mistakes: • ×Men tushunaman emas → Men tushunmayman • ×Gapiramisiz? → Gapirasizmi? • ×Kim inglizcha biladimi? → Kim inglizcha biladi?

Til is “language” (and also the tongue in your mouth: the same word). A language name is two words, the second with the ending -i: oʻzbek tili, rus tili. There is no -ning here: it is a name. “In Uzbek” is the ending -cha: oʻzbekcha, ruscha, inglizcha. The word oʻzbek alone is the nationality. Gapirmoq is “to speak, to talk”, aytmoq is “to say something”: soʻz aytaman, but oʻzbekcha gapiraman. Learn it as a whole: Men oʻzbek tilini oʻrganaman — “I'm learning the Uzbek language”. You'll find out what -ni is later. A polite request is a question: Takrorlaysizmi? — “Could you repeat that?” Sekinroq gapirasizmi? — “Could you speak more slowly?” Sekinroq is one ready-made word: “more slowly”. faqat — “only”: Men faqat inglizcha gapiraman. An unknown word: Bu soʻz nima degani? — “What does this word mean?” Common mistakes: • ×oʻzbek til → oʻzbek tili • ×Oʻzbekcha aytaman → Oʻzbekcha gapiraman