Shyğar, -sa kerek, ekitalai: how sure you are
Wave 2 took apart kerek, tiis and -a alu — that is the modality of duty and ability: must, obliged, can. Here is the other half, without which no opinion exists: how far the speaker vouches for what he is saying. "He will come", "he will probably come", "he is hardly likely to come", "he must have come already" — four different degrees, and Kazakh expresses them not with intonation but with words, each with its own…
How it works
Wave 2 took apart kerek, tiis and -a alu — that is the modality of duty and ability: must, obliged, can. Here is the other half, without which no opinion exists: how far the speaker vouches for what he is saying. "He will come", "he will probably come", "he is hardly likely to come", "he must have come already" — four different degrees, and Kazakh expresses them not with intonation but with words, each with its own place in the sentence.
The main rule, and it is the opposite of English: the markers of assumption stand at the end, after the predicate, not at the head of the phrase. Shyğar — probably: uıyqtap qağan shyğar. -sa kerek — must be, by all signs: ol bilse kerek. Bolar — I daresay: solai bolar. Ekitalai — unlikely: bügin ülgeruimiz ekitalai. Learners habitually put them first — "probably, he is asleep" — and get a phrase that is understood but sounds like a subtitle.
Exactly one word opens the sentence — mümkin, and that is a borrowed scheme, which is why it feels comfortable: mümkin, ol bilmeidi. It also has a second use, at the end: bul mümkin — this is possible, bul mümkin emes — this is impossible. There it is no longer an opener but a predicate, and the two uses must not be confused: mümkin emes never means "I cannot" — for that there is almaimyn. English makes the same split between "maybe he knows" and "it is possible".
And the third layer — desire and intention, without which no opinion is voiced. I want: -ğym/-gim keledi with a possessive tail per person: aıtqym keledi — I feel like saying, barğyñ kele me? — do you feel like going? Notice that the person sits on the first word, and keledi stays third person always. I am going to: -maq/-mek — aıtpaqşy edim, I was about to say; hence also the opener aıtpaqşy (by the way). And "I will have to" — -uğa tura keledi with the person in the dative: mağan qaluğa tura keledi.
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?
Wave 2 took apart kerek, tiis and -a alu — that is the modality of duty and ability: must, obliged, can. Here is the other half, without which no opinion exists: how far the speaker vouches for what he is saying. "He will come", "he will probably come", "he is hardly likely to come", "he must have…
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.