Üşten 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 үштен бірі емтихан 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
- Топтың үштен бірі емтихан тапсырмадыA third of the group did not pass the exam
- Биылғы шығын өткен жылдан төменThis year's expenses are lower than last year's
- Көпірдің ұзындығы жүз метрThe length of the bridge is a hundred meters
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 an example sentence Kazakh?
“Топтың үштен бірі емтихан тапсырмады” — 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.