Bul, ol, anau: this, that and that one over there
To point at a thing Kazakh has three distances, not two. Bul is this, here in my hands. Osy is this same one, already named or standing near you. Anau is that one over there, far off but still in sight. For example: “Бұл телефон менікі, ал анау сенікі” — This phone is mine, and that one over there is yours. A rule from the Kazakh course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
To point at a thing Kazakh has three distances, not two. Bul is this, here in my hands. Osy is this same one, already named or standing near you. Anau is that one over there, far off but still in sight.
There is also sol, that one we spoke of.
The busiest word is ol. It is he, she and that all at once. Ol keldi is he came. Ol kitap qyzyq is that book is interesting. Only the noun after it tells the two apart.
The trap: a book in your own hands is bul kitap. Ol kitap sends the book far away, or back into an earlier conversation.
Table
| The word | Where the thing is | With a noun | On its own |
|---|---|---|---|
| bul | right here, with me | bul surät — this photo | bul — this is |
| osy | nearby, already named | osy apta — this week | osynda — right here |
| sol | that same one, from the talk | sol kitap — that book | sonda — then, there |
| ol | farther; he, she | ol üy — that house | ol — he, she |
| anau | over there, in view | anau köshe — that street over there | anau — that one over there |
| myna | this one here, I am pointing | myna tüyme — this button here | mynau — this here |
By example
- Бұл телефон менікі, ал анау сенікіThis phone is mine, and that one over there is yours
- Ол қосымшаны жүктеп алдың ба?Is it that app you downloaded?
- Сол себепті мен кешіктімThat is the reason I was late
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
Bul, ol, anau: how does it work in Kazakh?
To point at a thing Kazakh has three distances, not two. Bul is this, here in my hands. Osy is this same one, already named or standing near you. Anau is that one over there, far off but still in sight.
What does it look like in an example sentence Kazakh?
“Бұл телефон менікі, ал анау сенікі” — This phone is mine, and that one over there is yours. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.