Zhylyna bir ret, qarsaunda, kidirmesten: time without prepositions
The unit about time rests on three devices, and none of them resembles an English preposition. Having taken them apart, you will stop looking up the words "in", "until" and "after". For example: “Дәрігерге жылына бір рет барамын” — I go to the doctor once a year. A rule from the Kazakh course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
The unit about time rests on three devices, and none of them resembles an English preposition. Having taken them apart, you will stop looking up the words "in", "until" and "after".
Frequency is counted with a possessive tail and the dative. "Once a year" — zhylyna bir ret, word for word "in its year, one time". The unit of time takes the tail -y/-i/-sy/-si and the dative -na/-ne/-ğa/-ge: aptasyña eki ret, aiyna üş ret, künine bes ret. The English "a" in "once a year" is not translated by anything.
Repeatability is carried by the plural. "On weekdays" — zhumys künderi, "in those years" — sol zhylary, "on weekends" — demalys künderi. There is no separate adverb: the plural itself means "every time when". The same device in Osy künderi — the other day.
The order of events is held by postpositions and service nouns, each with its own case. Deiin (until) demands the dative: sol uaqytğa deiin. Keiin (after) and beri (since) — the ablative: sabaqtan keiin, ezhelden beri. Qarsaunda (on the eve of) and aldynda (before) — the genitive: merekeniñ qarsaunda. The case is memorized together with the word, not derived.
The negative adverbial form makes adverbs of manner. The tail -mastan/-mesten gives "without doing": kidirmesten — without delay, aitpastan — without saying, toqtamastan — without stopping. English builds "without delay" from a noun; Kazakh builds it from a verb, which is why you will not find it in the dictionary as a separate word.
The tail -geli/-ğali sets the reference point. Men bilgeli — ever since I found out, körgeli — since I saw it, kelgeli — since I arrived. The whole phrase answers the question "since which moment", and English renders it with a subordinate clause.
Table
| in English | in Kazakh | how it is made |
|---|---|---|
| once a year | zhylyna bir ret | a possessive tail + the dative |
| twice a week | aptasyña eki ret | the same make-up |
| on weekdays | zhumys künderi | the plural instead of an adverb |
| in those years | sol zhylary | the plural instead of an adverb |
| until then | sol uaqytğa deiin | the postposition "deiin" + the dative |
| on the eve of | qarsaunda | a service noun + the genitive |
| without delay | kidirmesten | a negative adverbial form |
| as far as I remember | men bilgeli | the tail -geli, a reference point |
By example
- Дәрігерге жылына бір рет барамынI go to the doctor once a year
- Емтихан қарсаңында ұйықтамадымOn the eve of the exam I did not sleep
- Мен білгелі мұнда су тасқыны болған емесAs far as I remember, there has been no flood here
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
Zhylyna bir ret, qarsaunda, kidirmesten: how does it work in Kazakh?
The unit about time rests on three devices, and none of them resembles an English preposition. Having taken them apart, you will stop looking up the words "in", "until" and "after".
What does it look like in an example sentence Kazakh?
“Дәрігерге жылына бір рет барамын” — I go to the doctor once a year. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.