Opposite the bank, behind the house: the postposition stands after the noun
The syllabus flagged "opposite" and "behind" as prepositions. For Kazakh that is a wrong label, and the mistake is not cosmetic: an English preposition stands BEFORE its noun and demands nothing from it, while a Kazakh postposition stands AFTER and demands a case. Put the word in the English place and you get not an accent but nonsense. For example: “Дүкен банктің қарсысында, бағдаршамның қасында” — The shop is…
How it works
The syllabus flagged "opposite" and "behind" as prepositions. For Kazakh that is a wrong label, and the mistake is not cosmetic: an English preposition stands BEFORE its noun and demands nothing from it, while a Kazakh postposition stands AFTER and demands a case. Put the word in the English place and you get not an accent but nonsense.
The first group — former nouns: qarsysynda (opposite), artynda (behind), aldynda (in front of), qasynda and zhannda (next to), işinde (inside), üstinde (on). All of them demand the genitive: banktiñ qarsysynda, üidiñ artynda, bağdarşamnyñ qasynda. They are built transparently: art — the back, -y — its, -nda — the locative; word for word "in its back". English keeps the same trick fossilized in "in front of" and "on top of".
The second group demands the dative: deiin — until (köşeniñ soñına deiin), qarai — toward (keshke qarai, üyge qarai), taman — closer to. The third demands the ablative: keiin — after (bir zhildan keiin), beri — since (keshten beri), buryñ — before (besten buryñ). The fourth — the instrumental: boiymen — along (köshe boiymen), birge — together (dosymmen birge).
Hence the rule that saves half of the mistakes: the English preposition does not predict the Kazakh case. "In a year" — the ablative (bir zhildan keiin), "toward evening" — the dative (keshke qarai), "opposite the school" — the genitive (mekteptiñ qarsysynda). Learn the pair, aloud and whole.
And about motion. Whither — the dative: qalağa bardym. Where at — the locative: qalada turamyn. Whence — the ablative: qaladan keldim. These three questions cover almost the whole conversation about the road, and you should interrogate yourself with them, not with the English preposition.
Table
| The postposition | The case of the noun | Example | In English |
|---|---|---|---|
| qarsysynda, artynda, qasynda | the genitive (-nyñ/-niñ) | üidiñ artynda | behind the house |
| deiin, qarai, taman | the dative (-ğa/-ge) | keshke qarai | toward evening |
| keiin, beri, buryñ | the ablative (-dan/-den) | bir zhildan keiin | in a year |
| boiymen, birge | the instrumental (-men/-ben) | köshe boiymen | along the street |
| whither / where at / whence | dat. / loc. / abl. | qalağa, qalada, qaladan | to the city, in the city, from the city |
By example
- Дүкен банктің қарсысында, бағдаршамның қасындаThe shop is opposite the bank, next to the traffic light
- Көше бойымен жүріп, соңына дейін барыңызWalk along the street and reach its end
- Аялдамадан кейін оңға бұрылыңызAfter the stop, turn right
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
Kazakh postpositions and the case they take?
The syllabus flagged "opposite" and "behind" as prepositions. For Kazakh that is a wrong label, and the mistake is not cosmetic: an English preposition stands BEFORE its noun and demands nothing from it, while a Kazakh postposition stands AFTER and demands a case. Put the word in the English place…
How to say opposite the bank in Kazakh?
The first group — former nouns: qarsysynda (opposite), artynda (behind), aldynda (in front of), qasynda and zhannda (next to), işinde (inside), üstinde (on). All of them demand the genitive: banktiñ qarsysynda, üidiñ artynda, bağdarşamnyñ qasynda. They are built transparently: art — the back, -y…
Keiin vs deiin in Kazakh?
The second group demands the dative: deiin — until (köşeniñ soñına deiin), qarai — toward (keshke qarai, üyge qarai), taman — closer to. The third demands the ablative: keiin — after (bir zhildan keiin), beri — since (keshten beri), buryñ — before (besten buryñ). The fourth — the instrumental…
Why the Kazakh postposition stands after the noun?
Hence the rule that saves half of the mistakes: the English preposition does not predict the Kazakh case. "In a year" — the ablative (bir zhildan keiin), "toward evening" — the dative (keshke qarai), "opposite the school" — the genitive (mekteptiñ qarsysynda). Learn the pair, aloud and whole.
What does it look like in an example sentence Kazakh?
“Дүкен банктің қарсысында, бағдаршамның қасында” — The shop is opposite the bank, next to the traffic light. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.