Shyğar, -sa kerek, ekitalai: how sure you are
He will come and he will probably come are different sentences. In Kazakh the difference is a word, and each such word has its own place. For example: “Ол хабарды көрмеген шығар” — He, probably, has not seen the message. A rule from the Kazakh course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
He will come and he will probably come are different sentences. In Kazakh the difference is a word, and each such word has its own place.
The rule is the reverse of English: words of guessing stand at the end, after the verb. Shyğar is probably: uyqtap qalğan shyğar. Kerek after -sa is must be: ol bilse kerek. Bolar is perhaps: solai bolar. Ekitalai is hardly: bügin ülgeruimiz ekitalai.
Exactly one such word goes at the front, and that is mümkin: mümkin, ol bilmeidi.
The trap: mümkin has a second place, at the end. Bul mümkin is this is possible; bul mümkin emes is this is impossible. And mümkin emes never means I cannot. For that there is almaimyn.
Table
| The shade | The marker | Where it stands | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| possibly | mümkin | at the head of the sentence | mümkin, ol uyiqtap zhatyr |
| probably | shyğar | after the predicate | kelgen shyğar |
| must be | -sa kerek | after the predicate | ol bilse kerek |
| unlikely | ekitalai | after the predicate | ülgerui ekitalai |
| it is possible | mümkin | as the predicate, at the end | bul mümkin |
| it is impossible | mümkin emes | as the predicate, at the end | bul mümkin emes |
| I want | -ğym keledi | the person on the first word | aıtqym keledi |
| I will have to | -uğa tura keledi | the person in the dative | mağan baruğa tura keledi |
By example
- Ол хабарды көрмеген шығарHe, probably, has not seen the message
- Бұл мәселені бір күнде шешу мүмкін емесIt is impossible to solve this issue in one day
- Маған ертең тағы келуге тура келедіI will have to come again tomorrow
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
Shyğar, -sa kerek, ekitalai: how does it work in Kazakh?
He will come and he will probably come are different sentences. In Kazakh the difference is a word, and each such word has its own place.
What does it look like in an example sentence Kazakh?
“Ол хабарды көрмеген шығар” — He, probably, has not seen the message. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.