LingoflyÜşten bir, eki eselep, odan tömen: arithmetic inside out
Counting in Kazakh is put together inside out, and it breaks more than one English habit. For example: “Топтың (Toptyñ) үштен (üshten) бірі (biri) емтихан (Emtikhan) тапсырмады” — A third of the group did not pass the exam. A rule from the Kazakh course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Counting in Kazakh is put together inside out, and it breaks more than one English habit.
A fraction is read backwards. English names the top number first. Kazakh names the bottom one first and hangs the out-of tail on it: üşten bir, word for word out of three, one. The pattern holds: törtten üş, three quarters.
How many times over is carried by the word ese, not by a tail: eki ese, twice; üsh ese, three times. Beside a verb it changes shape: eki eselep östi, it doubled.
The trap: comparison does without than. The thing compared with takes -dan: menen biik, taller than me; ötken zhyldan tömen, lower than last year.
Table
| in English | in Kazakh | what happens |
|---|---|---|
| one third | üşten bir | the bottom number first, with the -dan tail |
| three quarters | törtten üş | the same make-up |
| one and a half | bir zharım | two words, no single word |
| twice as much | eki ese | the multiple by the word "ese" |
| twofold (at a verb) | eki eselep | an adverbial form of "eseleu" |
| lower than last year | ötken zhildan tömen | the -dan tail instead of "than" |
| a hundred meters long | uzynuğy zhuz metr | a possessive tail instead of a preposition |
| one by one | danamen | the -men tail instead of an adverb |
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
Üşten bir, eki eselep, odan tömen: how does it work in Kazakh?
Counting in Kazakh is put together inside out, and it breaks more than one English habit.
What does it look like in a Kazakh example sentence?
“Топтың (Toptyñ) үштен (üshten) бірі (biri) емтихан (Emtikhan) тапсырмады” (Toptyñ üshten biri emtikhan tapsyrmady) — A third of the group did not pass the exam. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.