The six Kyrgyz cases: endings and examples

Kyrgyz has six commonly taught noun cases: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, locative, and ablative. Endings follow vowel harmony and may change their first consonant; the table below shows the complete beginner pattern.

Written by Emirbek Busurmankulov, Founder of Söz

In short

Cases
6
Names
Атооч, илик, барыш, табыш, жатыш, чыгыш
Endings follow
Vowel harmony
01

All six cases at a glance

  • Атооч жөндөмө · nominative · no ending · ким? эмне? (who? what?)
  • Илик жөндөмө · genitive · -нын/-нин/-нун/-нүн; -дын/-дин/-дун/-дүн; -тын/-тин/-тун/-түн · кимдин? эмненин? (whose? of what?)
  • Барыш жөндөмө · dative · -га/-ге/-го/-гө; -ка/-ке/-ко/-кө · кимге? эмнеге? кайда? (to whom? to what? where to?)
  • Табыш жөндөмө · accusative · -ны/-ни/-ну/-нү; -ды/-ди/-ду/-дү; -ты/-ти/-ту/-тү · кимди? эмнени? (whom? what?)
  • Жатыш жөндөмө · locative · -да/-де/-до/-дө; -та/-те/-то/-тө · кимде? эмнеде? кайда? (at/in whom or what? where?)
  • Чыгыш жөндөмө · ablative · -дан/-ден/-дон/-дөн; -тан/-тен/-тон/-төн · кимден? эмнеден? кайдан? (from whom? from what? from where?)
02

One noun through all cases

үй
üyhouse / home – nominative
үйдүн
üydünof the house – genitive
үйгө
üygöto the house / home – dative
үйдү
üydüthe house – definite accusative
үйдө
üydöin the house / at home – locative
үйдөн
üydönfrom the house / from home – ablative
03

What each case does

Бул үй чоң.
Bul üy chong.This house is large. – nominative subject
Үйдүн эшиги ачык.
Üydün eshigi achyk.The door of the house is open. – possession
Мен үйгө барам.
Men üygö baram.I am going home. – destination
Мен үйдү көрдүм.
Men üydü kördüm.I saw the house. – definite object
Мен үйдө отурам.
Men üydö oturam.I am sitting at home. – location
Мен үйдөн келдим.
Men üydön keldim.I came from home. – source
04

Why the ending changes

The vowel changes to agree with the final vowel of the word: үйгө but шаарга, көлдө but базарда. The first consonant also adapts to the final sound: шаардан, мектептен, Бишкектен. Learn the family of endings, not one fixed suffix.

шаарга / мектепке
shaarga / mektepketo the city / to school
көлдө / автобуста
köldö / avtobustaat the lake / on the bus
айылдан / Бишкектен
ayyldan / Bishkektenfrom the village / from Bishkek
05

The definite accusative

A specific, identifiable direct object normally takes the accusative: Мен китепти окудум means “I read the book.” A general or nonspecific object can remain unmarked: Мен китеп окудум means “I read a book / did some book-reading.” This contrast is one of the most useful case choices to notice early.

06

A practical way to learn cases

  • Memorize one six-form chain such as үй, үйдүн, үйгө, үйдү, үйдө, үйдөн.
  • Attach each form to a question: кайда? (where), кайдан? (from where), эмнени? (what as an object).
  • Practice case and verb together: үйгө баруу, үйдө жашоо, үйдөн келүү.
  • Expect possessive endings to affect the form; master the basic unpossessed pattern first.
FAQ

Common questions

How many cases does Kyrgyz have?
Six are commonly taught: nominative (атооч), genitive (илик), dative (барыш), accusative (табыш), locative (жатыш) and ablative (чыгыш). Six sounds like a lot until you notice how regular they are.
Why does the same case ending have so many forms?
Two things dress it. Vowel harmony picks the vowel, and the last sound of the stem picks the first consonant. That is how the dative shows up as -га, -ге, -го, -гө, -ка, -ке, -ко and -кө and is still, throughout, one ending.
Do Kyrgyz cases work like Russian cases?
The idea will feel familiar; the division of labour will not. Russian splits the job between a preposition and an ending. Kyrgyz puts the whole thing on the noun – so where Russian needs ‘в доме’, Kyrgyz needs one word.

Use the six cases inside reusable sentence patterns.

Build Kyrgyz sentences