LingoflyBeriñizşi, bolar ma ediñiz, solai ğoi: what softens speech
A Kazakh conversation rests less on the words for please and sorry than on tails. The same request is an order or a request, depending on the tail. For example: “Мына жерді картадан көрсетіңізші” (Myna zherdi kartadan körsetiñizshi) — Please show this place on the map. A rule from the Kazakh course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
A Kazakh conversation rests less on the words for please and sorry than on tails. The same request is an order or a request, depending on the tail.
The main softener is -shy. It hangs on an order: ber, give; berşi, give me; beriñizşi, give me, please.
The top step is alar ma ediñiz, word for word would you take. It hangs on any verb: kömektese alar ma ediñiz, could you possibly help me? One step below it is bola ma.
The rule is short: politeness grows with the length of the tail. Ait is say; aitshy, do say; aityñyz, please say; aityñyzshy, please do say.
Table
| The means | What it does | Example | In English |
|---|---|---|---|
| -shy / -şi | an order becomes a request | beriñizşi | give me, please |
| bolar ma ediñiz | the politest request | aita bolar ma ediñiz | could you possibly say |
| -mas edim, qoimas | a soft refusal | bola qoimas | I am afraid not |
| ğoi | reminds, softens | bilesiñ ğoi | you do know |
| eken | news, "it turns out" | qymbat eken | it is expensive, it turns out |
By example
- Ökinishke orai, bügin bola qoimasUnfortunately, today it is hardly going to work out
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
Beriñizşi, bolar ma ediñiz, solai ğoi: how does it work in Kazakh?
A Kazakh conversation rests less on the words for please and sorry than on tails. The same request is an order or a request, depending on the tail.
What does it look like in a Kazakh example sentence?
“Мына жерді картадан көрсетіңізші” (Myna zherdi kartadan körsetiñizshi) — Please show this place on the map. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.