Past, through, across: Kazakh has no prepositions
In English past and across stand before the noun and demand nothing from it. In Kazakh such a word stands after the noun and demands a tail. For example: “Автобус мектептің жанынан өтті” — The bus drove past the school. A rule from the Kazakh course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
In English past and across stand before the noun and demand nothing from it. In Kazakh such a word stands after the noun and demands a tail.
The commonest device is a service noun. Take an ordinary word for a part of space: üst, the top; ast, the bottom; ish, the inside; orta, the middle. Hang the his tail on it, then add the tail for where, whither or whence.
That gives a grid: üstinde, on top; üstine, onto; üstinen, over. The noun in front takes the whose tail: bölmeniñ ortasynda, in the middle of the room; üidiñ zhanynan, past the house.
The trap: past has no word of its own at all. The sense is carried by zhanynan ötu, to pass along the side of something.
Table
| the English word | the Kazakh one | what it demands | example |
|---|---|---|---|
| in the middle of | ortasynda | the whose-tail | bölmeniñ ortasynda |
| past | zhannynan (+ ötu) | the whose-tail | üidiñ zhannynan ötti |
| toward | qarsy aldymnan | the whose-tail | meniñ qarsy aldymnan |
| through | arqyly | the bare stem, no tail | tereze arqyly |
| across | köldeneñ | the -ny tail | zholdy köldeneñ |
| toward | qarai | the -ğa tail | üyge qarai |
| from above | üstinen | the whose-tail | köilektiñ üstinen |
| far away / from afar | alysta / alystan | case instead of a word | alystan keldi |
By example
- Автобус мектептің жанынан өттіThe bus drove past the school
- Бөлменің ортасында үлкен үстел тұрA big table stands in the middle of the room
- Күн перде арқылы түсіп тұрThe sun shines through the curtain
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 say past the house in Kazakh?
In English past and across stand before the noun and demand nothing from it. In Kazakh such a word stands after the noun and demands a tail.
How to say in the middle of the room in Kazakh?
The commonest device is a service noun. Take an ordinary word for a part of space: üst, the top; ast, the bottom; ish, the inside; orta, the middle. Hang the his tail on it, then add the tail for where, whither or whence.
Kazakh service nouns üst, ast and ish?
That gives a grid: üstinde, on top; üstine, onto; üstinen, over. The noun in front takes the whose tail: bölmeniñ ortasynda, in the middle of the room; üidiñ zhanynan, past the house.
What does it look like in an example sentence Kazakh?
“Автобус мектептің жанынан өтті” — The bus drove past the school. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.