Тау
“Тау” — mountain in Kazakh. Noun, level A1, topic — buildings and premises. For Almaty an everyday word: "we are going to the mountains" means the Medeu skating rink or higher. In a live sentence: “Тауда қар жатыр” — Snow lies in the mountains. You can hear how it sounds right here. One of 29 words in the set “buildings and premises” in the Kazakh course.
In short
| Written in Kazakh | Тау |
| Translation | mountain |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
- Тауmountain
Why it looks that way
For Almaty an everyday word: "we are going to the mountains" means the Medeu skating rink or higher.
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.
- Тауда қар жатырSnow lies in the mountains
Nearby words: buildings and premises
Where to go and what is done there. These words are read off a sign more often than they are spoken.
- Мейрамханаrestaurant"Meiram" is "feast", "khana" is "house": literally "feast house".
- ДүкенstoreFrom the Persian "dukan", a shop. The store is "duken" and the market is "bazar": for Kazakh these are two different places.
- БекетstationOne word for the station and the stop alike: "avtobus beketi" is a bus stop, "temir zhol beketi" is a railway station.
- БазарbazaarA Persian word, the same one you already know. "Bazarlyq" is a treat brought back from the market — a custom with a name of its own.
- БанкbankA loanword that takes cases as its own, with devoicing at the seam: "bankke" is "to the bank", "bankten" is "from the bank".
- ДәріханаpharmacyAgain "-khana", "house": "dari", "medicine", plus house. Like "meiramkhana".
- Азық-түлік дүкеніgrocery store"Azyq-tulik" is a paired word: both halves mean "edibles", together — groceries. "Duken" you know from unit 3.
- АуруханаhospitalThe third "-hana" house after the restaurant and the pharmacy: "illness" plus "house".
- Әуежайairporta midway between "a" and "e", the mouth wider: A-u-e-zhai
- Қонақүйhotelq deep, u rounded: QO-naq-UI
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “buildings and premises”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “mountain” in Kazakh?
For Almaty an everyday word: "we are going to the mountains" means the Medeu skating rink or higher.
- How do you say “grocery store” in Kazakh?
"Azyq-tulik" is a paired word: both halves mean "edibles", together — groceries. "Duken" you know from unit 3.
- How do you say “station” in Kazakh?
One word for the station and the stop alike: "avtobus beketi" is a bus stop, "temir zhol beketi" is a railway station.
- How do you say “hotel” in Kazakh?
"Guest" plus "house" — a guest's house. The word is transparent and has displaced the borrowed one even from signs.
- How do you say “pharmacy” in Kazakh?
Again "-khana", "house": "dari", "medicine", plus house. Like "meiramkhana".
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 “mountain” in Kazakh?
«Тау». In a live sentence: “Тауда қар жатыр” — Snow lies in the mountains. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level A1, from the set “buildings and premises”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
For Almaty an everyday word: "we are going to the mountains" means the Medeu skating rink or higher. 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.