A Handbook of Kyrgyz Grammar/Simple Sentences

Simple Sentences

Equational Sentences (e.g., "She is a doctor")

In English, to say that one thing is another thing (for example, "Alex is a parrot"), we use the verb "to be." In Kyrgyz (as in many other languages), we don't have to use a verb. Two nouns (both in the nominative) can form a complete sentence, without any word specifically translating the English "is." For example:

ал       доктор.     “(S)he is a doctor.”
(S)he   "doctor"

However, Kyrgyz also uses a number of personal endings to reinforce the relationship of the second noun to the first. These endings appear in the first and second person.

Мен доктормун     “I am a doctor.” "I"    “doctor”+personal ending
Here is the set of endings required for making these sorts of sentences:

Pronoun	Ending
мен	м→н
сен	с→н
сиз	с→з
ал	none
биз	б→з
силер	с→ӊ←р
сиздер	с→зд←р
алар	none

So:

мугалим: “teacher”

Мен мугалиммин: “I am a teacher.”

Сен мугалимсин: “You are a teacher.”

Сиз мугалимсиз: “You (formal) are a teacher.”

Ал мугалим: “(S)he is a teacher.”

Биз мугалимбиз: “We are teachers.”

Силер мугалимсиӊер: “You are teachers.”

Сиздер мугалимсиздер: “You (formal plural) are teachers.”

Алар мугалим: “They are teachers.”

The plural sense is carried by the personal ending alone, so the suffix д←р is unnecessary. However, it may still be seen in the case of the third person plural. (“Алар мугалимдер”)

The only personal ending that changes its first letter is б→з. If it is added to a noun that ends in a voiceless consonant, the б becomes is voiceless counterpart п.

Биз конокпуз.       “We are guests.”
we “guest”+personal ending

Negation of Equational Sentences

These sentences are negated with the particle эмес, which follows the predicate noun. (that is, the second noun in the sentence.)

Ал мугалим эмес: “(S)he is not a teacher.”

In these cases, the negative particle takes the personal ending.

Мен мугалим эмесмин: “I am not a teacher.”

Similar constructions can be formed with adjectives, and function in much the same way.

Бул жакшы: “This one is good.”
Мен кытай эмесмин, мен кыргызмын “I‘m not Chinese, I‘m Kyrgyz.”
"I" “Chinese”  not        "I"   "Kyrgyz"

Past Tense of Equational Sentences

The past tense of sorts of sentences given above is formed by following the predicate noun with the verb "бол", to which are added past-tense and personal endings:

Мен мугалиммин.    "I am a teacher."
"I"   "teacher" + м→н

Мен мугалим болчумун.    "I was a teacher."
"I"   "teacher"  бол + чу + м→н

Мен мугалим болгон жокмун.    "I was not a teacher."
"I"   "teacher"  бол + (past tense)гон жок+мун

Ал мугалим болчу.     "He was a teacher."
"He" "teacher" болчу

There is/There are/There is not/There are not

“There is”/ “There are” is usually rendered in Kyrgyz by the verb-particle “бар.”

Столдо   ручка     бар.       “There is a pen on the table.”
"table"(loc)  "pen"  "there is"

Анын бөлмөсүндө эки стүл бар.     “There are two chairs in his/her room.”
"his/her" (gen) "room" possessive(loc) "two" "chair" "there are"

This construction is negated by жок.
Столдо    ручка   жок.      “There is not a pen on the table.”
"table"(loc) "pen" "there is not"

This construction is also used with the genitive or the locative to translate the English “to have.” That is covered more thoroughly in the section on translating "to have."

Here is/Here are

The particle мына can be used to translate the English “here is, here are.”

Мына   пасспортум    "Here is my passport."
"Here is"  "passport" my
It can also carry a sense like “right here.” Generally, it can be used in many of the senses of the Russian вот.

“To Have”

There are two ways of expressing “to have” in Kyrgyz. Both use the words бар (“there is, there are”) or in the negative, жок (“there is not, there are not”).

One way is to use the genitive case and a possessive ending.

   Менин       ручкам      бар      “I have a pen.”
1st pers. gen  “my pen”  "there is"

Анын        ручкасы         жок.        "(S)he does not have a pen.”
3rd gen  "his/her pen"  "there is not"

Another way to do it is by using the locative without any personal endings.

   Менде       ручка      бар       "I have a pen."
1st pers. loc.   "pen"    "there is"

   Ceнде      ручка       жок.       "You don’t have a pen."
2nd pers loc  "pen"    "there is not"