Lingoflyтұрғын жай
- тұрғын жайtūrğyn zhairesidential building
“тұрғын жай” (tūrğyn zhai) — residential building in Kazakh. Noun, level A1, topic — the city and its places. "Turgyn ui" is housing in general; "turgyn zhai" is the building itself, the one people live in. In a live sentence: “Бұл көшеде тек тұрғын жай бар” (Būl köshede tek tūrğyn zhai bar) — On this street there are only residential buildings. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters т, ұ, р, ғ, ы, н, ж, а, й.
In short
| Written in Kazakh | тұрғын жай (tūrğyn zhai) |
| Read in Latin letters | tūrğyn zhai |
| Translation | residential building |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
"Turgyn ui" is housing in general; "turgyn zhai" is the building itself, the one people live in.
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: the city and its places
Street, square, pharmacy, bank. An address is built out of these, and an address is something you have to both say and understand.
- ҚалаQalacityHence "qalalyq", "urban". The village is "auyl", and that word means far more in Kazakh than a mere address.
- КөшеKöshestreetIn addresses it stands after the name and takes the possessive tail: "Abai koshesi" is "Abai Street".
- БанкBankbankA loanword that takes cases as its own, with devoicing at the seam: "bankke" is "to the bank", "bankten" is "from the bank".
- ДәріханаDärikhanapharmacyAgain "-khana", "house": "dari", "medicine", plus house. Like "meiramkhana".
- ТобырTobyrcrowdA disorderly crowd, with a shade of "rabble". Simply many people is "kopshilik", and "top" is a group gathered on purpose.
- БағдаршамBağdarshamtraffic lightgh voiced, a g gargled deep in the throat: ba-ghdar-SHAM
- ВелосипедVelosipedbicycleThe dictionaries carry an old jesting name — "the devil's cart"; it is a real historical name. In the city only the borrowed word is said.
- Автобус аялдамасыAvtobus ayaldamasybus stop signThe word for "stop" comes from "to linger". The sign on the pole in Almaty is labeled exactly with this phrase.
- Жол жүру картасыZhol zhüru kartasytransit passu rounded: zu-RU
- БағытBağytroutegh voiced throaty: ba-GHYT
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “the city and its places”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “residential building” in Kazakh?
"Turgyn ui" is housing in general; "turgyn zhai" is the building itself, the one people live in.
- How do you say “bicycle” in Kazakh?
The dictionaries carry an old jesting name — "the devil's cart"; it is a real historical name. In the city only the borrowed word is said.
- How do you say “bank” in Kazakh?
A loanword that takes cases as its own, with devoicing at the seam: "bankke" is "to the bank", "bankten" is "from the bank".
- How do you say “route” in Kazakh?
A bus route and a direction in general.
- How do you say “traffic light” in Kazakh?
"Direction" plus "lamp": a lamp of direction. The word was coined in the twentieth century and fully displaced the borrowed one.
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 “residential building” in Kazakh?
«тұрғын жай» (tūrğyn zhai), read “tūrğyn zhai”. In a live sentence: “Бұл көшеде тек тұрғын жай бар” (Būl köshede tek tūrğyn zhai bar) — On this street there are only residential buildings. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level A1, from the set “the city and its places”; written with the characters т, ұ, р, ғ, ы, н, ж, а, й.
How is “тұрғын жай” (tūrğyn zhai) written in Latin letters?
tūrğyn zhai. 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?
"Turgyn ui" is housing in general; "turgyn zhai" is the building itself, the one people live in. 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.