екі қадам жерде
“екі қадам жерде” — two steps away in Kazakh. Phrase, level A1, topic — asking the way. Literally "at the ground of two steps": "zher" here measures distance, and without it the phrase does not sound. In a live sentence: “Мектеп үйден екі қадам жерде” — The school is two steps away from home. You can hear how it sounds right here. One of 18 words in the set “asking the way” in the Kazakh course.
In short
| Written in Kazakh | екі қадам жерде |
| Translation | two steps away |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | A1 |
- екі қадам жердеtwo steps away
Why it looks that way
Literally "at the ground of two steps": "zher" here measures distance, and without it the phrase does not sound.
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- Мектеп үйден екі қадам жердеThe school is two steps away from home
Nearby words: asking the way
Right, left, straight on, how far. You ask the way rarely — and always at the moment when there is no time to work it out.
- Қайда?where?Both "where" and "where to": the verb tells you the direction. "Qaidan" is "from where" — the same root with the ablative tail.
- МұндаhereThe ending "-da" does the job of the preposition "in": Kazakh has no prepositions.
- АндаthereThe far "there", from the demonstrative "ana". The near "here" is "munda", from "myna": the pair is built on the pair of demonstratives.
- Оңғаto the right"On" is "right", "-gha" is direction. The same piece as in "uige", "home(ward)".
- Солғаto the left"Sol" is "left" plus the directional tail "-gha": literally "to the left one". "Ongha" is built exactly the same way.
- Тураstraight ahead"Straight" about a road, and "straight, honest" about a person: "tura soz" is a word said looking you in the eye.
- ЖақынcloseAbout distance and about people alike: "zhaqyn adam" is a close person, "zhaqyndar" are your kin.
- АлысfarThe partner of "zhaqyn". With the ablative tail it gives "alystan", "from afar", where "-tan" went voiceless after the s.
- қалай жетуге боладыhow do I get there?Literally "how can one reach". The goal always takes the directional case: "vokzalgha qalai zhetuge bolady".
- жетіп баруto get toThe bare "zhetu" the course keeps for "to reach"; "zhetip baru" adds that the way was seen through to the end. Only the second verb is conjugated.
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “asking the way”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “two steps away” in Kazakh?
Literally "at the ground of two steps": "zher" here measures distance, and without it the phrase does not sound.
- How do you say “close” in Kazakh?
About distance and about people alike: "zhaqyn adam" is a close person, "zhaqyndar" are your kin.
- How do you say “there” in Kazakh?
The far "there", from the demonstrative "ana". The near "here" is "munda", from "myna": the pair is built on the pair of demonstratives.
- How do you say “to get to” in Kazakh?
The bare "zhetu" the course keeps for "to reach"; "zhetip baru" adds that the way was seen through to the end. Only the second verb is conjugated.
- How do you say “straight ahead” in Kazakh?
"Straight" about a road, and "straight, honest" about a person: "tura soz" is a word said looking you in the eye.
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “two steps away” in Kazakh?
«екі қадам жерде». In a live sentence: “Мектеп үйден екі қадам жерде” — The school is two steps away from home. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Phrase, level A1, from the set “asking the way”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Literally "at the ground of two steps": "zher" here measures distance, and without it the phrase does not sound. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
Can I hear how it sounds?
Yes, right on this page: click the word and it will play. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.