LingoflyQalaisyz? and Qalaisyñ?: how you are, formal and friendly
Qalai means how. Kazakh puts no separate pronoun after it: the person glues onto the word as a tail. The polite you is -syz, and the familiar you is -syñ. One root therefore gives Qalaisyz and Qalaisyñ, one word each. For example: “Қалайсыз? (Qalaisyz) — Өте жақсы (Öte zhaqsy), рақмет (Raqmet).” — How are you? — Very well, thank you. A rule from the Kazakh course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Qalai means how. Kazakh puts no separate pronoun after it: the person glues onto the word as a tail. The polite you is -syz, and the familiar you is -syñ. One root therefore gives Qalaisyz and Qalaisyñ, one word each.
The tail is not tied to this one question. It stands wherever English would use a pronoun: Qaidansyz, where are you from; bilesiz be, do you know.
Between the hard and the soft shape the choice is made by vowel harmony, not by politeness.
Answers are short: Zhaqsy, fine; Öte zhaqsy, very well; Zhaman, bad. Zhaqsy serves as adverb and adjective at once: zhaqsy adam, a good person. With an elder people often ask Densaulyğyñyz qalai instead.
Table
| The tail | It means | Example | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| -syz / -siz | the polite "you" | Qalaisyz? | how are you |
| -syñ / -siñ | "thou" | Qalaisyñ? | how are you, friendly |
| -syz in another question | the same "you" | Qaidansyz? | where are you from |
| the answer | — | Zhaqsy / Öte zhaqsy / Zhaman | fine / very well / bad |
By example
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
How to ask how are you in Kazakh?
Qalai means how. Kazakh puts no separate pronoun after it: the person glues onto the word as a tail. The polite you is -syz, and the familiar you is -syñ. One root therefore gives Qalaisyz and Qalaisyñ, one word each.
Qalaisyz or qalaisyñ: how are you in Kazakh?
Qalai means how. Kazakh puts no separate pronoun after it: the person glues onto the word as a tail. The polite you is -syz, and the familiar you is -syñ. One root therefore gives Qalaisyz and Qalaisyñ, one word each.
What to answer to qalaisyz?
Answers are short: Zhaqsy, fine; Öte zhaqsy, very well; Zhaman, bad. Zhaqsy serves as adverb and adjective at once: zhaqsy adam, a good person. With an elder people often ask Densaulyğyñyz qalai instead.
What the polite Kazakh ending -syz means?
Qalai means how. Kazakh puts no separate pronoun after it: the person glues onto the word as a tail. The polite you is -syz, and the familiar you is -syñ. One root therefore gives Qalaisyz and Qalaisyñ, one word each.
What does it look like in a Kazakh example sentence?
“Қалайсыз? (Qalaisyz) — Өте жақсы (Öte zhaqsy), рақмет (Raqmet).” (Qalaisyz? — Öte zhaqsy, raqmet.) — How are you? — Very well, thank you. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.