отыру
“отыру” — to sit down in Kazakh. Verb, level A1, topic — everyday life and routine. Also "to sit". As an auxiliary it marks an ongoing action: "oqyp otyrmin", "I am sitting and reading". In a live sentence: “Мұнда отырыңыз” — Sit down here. You can hear how it sounds right here. One of 12 words in the set “everyday life and routine” in the Kazakh course.
In short
| Written in Kazakh | отыру |
| Translation | to sit down |
| Part of speech | verb |
| Level | A1 |
- отыруto sit down
Why it looks that way
Also "to sit". As an auxiliary it marks an ongoing action: "oqyp otyrmin", "I am sitting and reading".
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.
- Мұнда отырыңызSit down here
Nearby words: everyday life and routine
Work, home, rest, errands. The words the answer to “how are things?” is made of.
- ЖұмысworkBoth the workplace and the thing being done. To work is "isteu" or "zhumys isteu", literally "to do work".
- Істеуto workThe same word says "to do": "ne istep zhaturshyn?" is "what are you doing?". About the workplace: "bankte isteimin", "I work at a bank".
- оянуto wake upTo wake someone else is the causative "oyatu". One tail apart are "wake up" and "wake someone".
- тұруto get upAlso "to stand" and "to live somewhere": "Almatyda turamyn" is "I live in Almaty".
- бет жууto wash one's faceLiterally "to wash the face" — the language names what is washed, as Turkish does.
- тарануto comb one's hairThe reflexive of "tarau", "to comb". The tail "-n" turns the action onto oneself.
- сақал алуto shaveLiterally "to take the beard". There is no separate verb for shaving.
- киінуto get dressedThe reflexive of "kiyu", "to put on". "Kiyu" demands a thing to put on, "kiinu" does not.
- шешінуto undressFrom "sheshu" — to take off, to untie, to solve. Three senses on one root.
- жатуto lie downAlso "to lie". As an auxiliary it marks an ongoing action too.
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “everyday life and routine”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “to sit down” in Kazakh?
Also "to sit". As an auxiliary it marks an ongoing action: "oqyp otyrmin", "I am sitting and reading".
- How do you say “to shave” in Kazakh?
Literally "to take the beard". There is no separate verb for shaving.
- How do you say “to wake up” in Kazakh?
To wake someone else is the causative "oyatu". One tail apart are "wake up" and "wake someone".
- How do you say “to lie down” in Kazakh?
Also "to lie". As an auxiliary it marks an ongoing action too.
- How do you say “to comb one's hair” in Kazakh?
The reflexive of "tarau", "to comb". The tail "-n" turns the action onto oneself.
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 “to sit down” in Kazakh?
«отыру». In a live sentence: “Мұнда отырыңыз” — Sit down here. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Verb, level A1, from the set “everyday life and routine”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Also "to sit". As an auxiliary it marks an ongoing action: "oqyp otyrmin", "I am sitting and reading". 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.