Lingoflyсатып алу
“сатып алу” (satyp alu) — to buy in Kazakh. Verb, level A1, topic — shopping and money. Literally "to take by selling" — through the seller's act. Used where "alu" would be ambiguous. In a live sentence: “Нан мен сүт сатып алғым келеді” (Nan men süt satyp alğym keledi) — I want to buy bread and milk. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters с, а, т, ы, п, а, л, у.
In short
| Written in Kazakh | сатып алу (Satyp alu) |
| Read in Latin letters | satyp alu |
| Translation | to buy |
| Part of speech | verb |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
Literally "to take by selling" — through the seller's act. Used where "alu" would be ambiguous.
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.
Nearby words: shopping and money
How much it costs, whether there is a smaller one, whether cards are accepted. A shop forgives mistakes: miss a word and they will show you the thing with their hands anyway.
- Қанша тұрады?Qansha tūrady?how much does it cost?Literally "how much does it stand". "Turu" means both "to stand" and "to cost".
- ТеңгеTeñgetengeThe ng is a nasal n, like the last sound of English "sing". From the Turkic "tenge" — coin, balance.
- ДүкенDükenstoreFrom the Persian "dukan", a shop. The store is "duken" and the market is "bazar": for Kazakh these are two different places.
- БазарBazarbazaarA Persian word — the same one as English "bazaar". "Bazarlyq" is a treat brought back from the market — a custom with a name of its own.
- СөреSörestallo as in "her", lips rounded and pushed forward: so-re
- СатушыSatushyseller"Satu" is "to sell", "-shy" is "the one who does it": satu-shy. The same piece in "zhurgizushi", "driver".
- Сатып алушыSatyp alushybuyer"Satyp alu" is "to buy", literally "to take by selling". Plus the same "-shy": satyp alu-shy.
- ТаразыTarazyscalesAlso the constellation Libra and the zodiac sign — one word for all of it.
- КеліKelikilogram (market unit)At the bazaar people count in "keli", not kilograms: "bir keli alma" is a kilo of apples.
- БалғынBalğynfreshgh is a voiced g made deep in the throat: bal-GHYN
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “shopping and money”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “to buy” in Kazakh?
Literally "to take by selling" — through the seller's act. Used where "alu" would be ambiguous.
- How do you say “buyer” in Kazakh?
"Satyp alu" is "to buy", literally "to take by selling". Plus the same "-shy": satyp alu-shy.
- How do you say “store” in Kazakh?
From the Persian "dukan", a shop. The store is "duken" and the market is "bazar": for Kazakh these are two different places.
- How do you say “fresh” in Kazakh?
About herbs and vegetables. About bread one would rather say "zhan piskin" — "freshly baked".
- How do you say “seller” in Kazakh?
"Satu" is "to sell", "-shy" is "the one who does it": satu-shy. The same piece in "zhurgizushi", "driver".
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 buy” in Kazakh?
«сатып алу» (Satyp alu), read “satyp alu”. In a live sentence: “Нан мен сүт сатып алғым келеді” (Nan men süt satyp alğym keledi) — I want to buy bread and milk. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Verb, level A1, from the set “shopping and money”; written with the characters с, а, т, ы, п, а, л, у.
How is “сатып алу” (Satyp alu) written in Latin letters?
satyp alu. This is a practical spelling — you need it to read aloud and be understood, not to meet an academic standard.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Literally "to take by selling" — through the seller's act. Used where "alu" would be ambiguous. 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 this 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.