Estuimşe, tüsingendei, -mys: other people's words without quotation marks
The syllabus flags the phrases of this lesson as "phrase", and for English that is right: "as I understand it", "I heard that", "according to an eyewitness" — combinations of words. In Kazakh single word forms stand in their place, and what you memorize is the form. For example: “Естуімше, олар көшіп кеткен” — As far as I heard, they have moved away. A rule from the Kazakh course: worked out on examples, not…
How it works
The syllabus flags the phrases of this lesson as "phrase", and for English that is right: "as I understand it", "I heard that", "according to an eyewitness" — combinations of words. In Kazakh single word forms stand in their place, and what you memorize is the form.
-ymsha / -imşe — "in my opinion, as far as I...". Estuimşe — by my hearing, biluimşe — as far as I know, köruiimşe — as far as I can see. The tail hangs on a noun of action with a possessive: estu + -im + -şe. In the third person it comes out aituinşa — according to him, kuägerdiñ aituinşa — according to an eyewitness.
-gendei / -ğandai — "as, the way". Men tüsingendei — as I understand it, aıtğandai — as was said, kütgendei — as expected. It is a participle with the tail of comparison, and it is always a reservation: the speaker does not vouch for exactness.
An indirect question is assembled with the word eken. "She asked where the book is" — kitap qaida ekenin surady. The question word stays in place, eken takes a possessive tail and the accusative, and the whole thing becomes an object at the verb. There is no "that", no quotation marks, and the word order does not change.
-mys / -mis — all that remains of "allegedly". The tail hangs on a verb in the past tense and means: I am passing on someone else's words and doubt them myself. Barıpty-mys — allegedly he went, körgen-mis — allegedly he saw. Kazakh has no separate adverb "allegedly" at all, which is why the slot of the wave took the phrase aitui boiynsha — according to him. That is more honest than inventing a word, but also weaker: the suffix carries distrust, while the phrase carries only a reference.
A retelling instead of a quote. Where English puts quotation marks, Kazakh moves the verb into the needed person: ol ötindi, ol tüsindirdi, ol surady. Direct speech in letters exists too, but in conversation there is almost none — and that is a noticeable difference in the sound of a story.
Table
| in English | in Kazakh | what the form is |
|---|---|---|
| I heard that | estuimşe | a noun of action + possessive + -şe |
| as far as I know | biluimşe | the same make-up |
| according to an eyewitness | kuägerdiñ aituinşa | the same, the third person |
| as I understand it | men tüsingendei | a participle + -dei |
| she asked where | qaida ekenin surady | eken + possessive + the accusative |
| he explained | ol tüsindirdi | a whole form of the verb |
| allegedly (in speech) | -mys / -mis | a suffix, not a word |
| allegedly (in a phrase) | aitui boiynsha | a detour: a reference instead of distrust |
By example
- Естуімше, олар көшіп кеткенAs far as I heard, they have moved away
- Ол кітап қайда екенін сұрадыShe asked where the book is
- Мен түсінгендей, жиналыс кейінге қалдыAs I understand it, the meeting was postponed
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
Estuimşe, tüsingendei, -mys: how does it work in Kazakh?
The syllabus flags the phrases of this lesson as "phrase", and for English that is right: "as I understand it", "I heard that", "according to an eyewitness" — combinations of words. In Kazakh single word forms stand in their place, and what you memorize is the form.
What does it look like in an example sentence Kazakh?
“Естуімше, олар көшіп кеткен” — As far as I heard, they have moved away. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.