-yp zhür, -yp qoi, -a bastady: not what was done but how it went

How it works

The tenses the course has passed: past, present, future. But a story about a trip breaks not on the tenses but on something else: "I am waiting" and "I have been standing here waiting for an hour" are different things, and "I lost it" against "I went and lost it" is too. English shows this with its tense system and little adverbs; Kazakh — with a helper verb after the -yp form. This is the most frequent construction of living speech, and without it Kazakh sounds like a sentence from a phrasebook.

The scheme is one: the main verb takes "-yp/-ip/-p", and a service verb follows, which carries the tense and the person. There are about six service verbs, and each brings its own shade. Zhür — has been going on for some time, regularly: izdep zhürmın — I have been looking (and still am). Tur — right now, this minute: kütip turmyn — I am waiting. Otyr and zhatyr — the same present, but sitting and lying; in speech all four have long detached from the postures and simply mean "in progress". Qal — suddenly and irreversibly: umytyap qaldym — I went and forgot. Ket — gone, slipped away: zhoğalyp ketti — it got lost. Qoi — in advance, for good: brondap qoidym — I booked it (and the question is closed). Al — for oneself: satyp aldym — I bought it for myself.

Memorize the pairs together, because the difference inside them is the whole meaning. Umttym — I forgot, a fact. Umytyp qaldym — I forgot, oops. Bilet aldym — I took a ticket. Bilet alyp qoidym — the ticket is already in hand, no need to worry. Äuezhaida qaldym — I stayed at the airport. Äuezhaida qalyv qoidym — I got stuck, and it was a bother. A learner who does not know these tails speaks grammatically correct Kazakh and sounds flat: all his verbs are equally neutral, where English would vary "I lost / I went and lost / I managed to lose".

Separately — the beginning and the end. Beginning: the adverbial form in -a/-e/-y plus bastau: zhañbyr zhaua bastady — the rain began, oqi bastadym — I began to read. End: -yp bolu — aityp boldym, I finished saying, or -yp bitiru — saw through to the end. And very frequent: -a beru — go on, keep doing: aita beriñiz — go on, keep talking. Note that beru here is not "give": the service verbs lose almost all of their literal sense.

Table

By example

• ▶
  Екі сағаттан бері әуежайда күтіп тұрмыз

  We have been waiting at the airport for two hours
• ▶
  Нөмірді алдын ала брондап қойдым

  I booked the room in advance
• ▶
  Жол ережесін оқи бастадым

  I started reading the traffic rules

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.

Next

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