learn kyrgyz

lesson 001 / Kyrgyz Pronouns

• I = Мен (pronounced “men”)
• You (singular, informal) = Сен (pronounced “sen”)
• You (singular, formal) = Сиз (pronounced “seize”)
• He / She / It = Ал (pronounced “all”)
• We = Биз (pronounced “bees”)
• You (plural, informal) = Силер (pronounced “see-ler”)
• You (plural, formal) = Сиздер (pronounced “seize-der”)
• They = Алар (pronounced “a-lar”)

• There no differentiation between ‘he’, ‘she’, and ‘it’ in Kyrgyz - they are all one and the same pronoun (Ал)
• Kyrgyz has an informal and formal ‘you’. In general, use informal pronouns with people younger than and the same age as you, and use formal pronouns with people older than you. However, pronoun usage varies within Kyrgyzstan. Generally, people in the southern oblasts (Osh, Jalal-Abad, Batken) tend to be more formal than those in the north. Speaking from my experience living in Naryn (considered the north), people rarely use “Сиздер”. Sometimes they use “Сиз”. However, the most common way to address older people and people around your own age is “Силер”, even if you are only speaking to one person. For example, my 11 year old host sister uses Силер with her 70 year old grandma
• Verbs are conjugated depending on the pronoun that fits the subject of the sentence. This means that you can figure out what pronoun is being referred to, even if a person doesn’t actually say the pronoun. Therefore, the direct mention or usage of pronouns is often omitted
  Example: Мен чай ичем. = I drink tea. (Мен = I; чай = tea; ичем = I drink)

                     Чай ичем. = I drink tea. (This sentence is also possible and grammatically correct since ‘to drink’ (ич) is conjugated for the pronoun I (ичем)