Tushunmadim.
- Tushunmadim.I did not understand
“Tushunmadim.” — I did not understand in Uzbek. Phrase, level A0, topic — phrases that save you. A sh sound in the middle of the word. In a live sentence: “Kechirasiz, tushunmadim.” — Excuse me, I did not understand. One of 17 words in the set “phrases that save you” in the Uzbek course.
In short
| Written in Uzbek | Tushunmadim. |
| Translation | I did not understand |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | A0 |
How to pronounce it
a sh sound in the middle of the word
Why it looks that way
Literally "did not understand": the negation -ma- sits inside the word, not beside it. What follows is the request "sekinroq" — slower.
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.
- Kechirasiz, tushunmadim.Excuse me, I did not understand.
Nearby words: phrases that save you
“I don't understand”, “say that again”, “slower, please”, “help”. They are learned first for a reason: they bring back a conversation that has already gone wrong.
- Yana bir marta, iltimosagain, pleaseLiterally "one more time": yana — again, marta — time. The request ends with iltimos.
- Sekinroq, iltimos.slower"sekin" — slow, -roq — the comparative: "slower". The second useful word of the first week, right after tushunmadim.
- Inglizcha gapirasizmi?do you speak English?Literally "in-English do you speak?". Languages are spoken about without a preposition: "oʻzbekcha gapiraman" — "I speak Uzbek".
- Men adashdim.I got lostLiterally "I mistook the road": adashmoq — to lose one's way. The polite opening is "kechirasiz".
- ishlamaydidoes not workFrom "ishlamoq" — to work, with the negation -ma- inside. About devices and people alike; only context tells them apart.
- bir daqiqa kutingwait a minutetwo deep q in one word
- ocholmaymanI cannot opench is the ch of chair
- tez yordamambulancey is the y of yes
- Menga shifokor kerak.I need a doctorLiterally "to me a doctor is needed": "menga" — to me, "kerak" — needed. A constructor phrase: swap the word and ask for anything.
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “phrases that save you”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “I did not understand” in Uzbek?
Literally "did not understand": the negation -ma- sits inside the word, not beside it. What follows is the request "sekinroq" — slower.
- How do you say “wait a minute” in Uzbek?
Literally "one minute wait": "daqiqa" — a minute, "kutmoq" — to wait. Softer and shorter is "bir lahza" — "one moment".
- How do you say “do you speak English?” in Uzbek?
Literally "in-English do you speak?". Languages are spoken about without a preposition: "oʻzbekcha gapiraman" — "I speak Uzbek".
- How do you say “I need a doctor” in Uzbek?
Literally "to me a doctor is needed": "menga" — to me, "kerak" — needed. A constructor phrase: swap the word and ask for anything.
- How do you say “does not work” in Uzbek?
From "ishlamoq" — to work, with the negation -ma- inside. About devices and people alike; only context tells them apart.
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 “I did not understand” in Uzbek?
«Tushunmadim.» A sh sound in the middle of the word. In a live sentence: “Kechirasiz, tushunmadim.” — Excuse me, I did not understand. Phrase, level A0, from the set “phrases that save you”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Literally "did not understand": the negation -ma- sits inside the word, not beside it. What follows is the request "sekinroq" — slower. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.