Kazakh Verbs, Infinitives and Commands

Kazakh grammar for beginners · From dictionary forms in {{-у}} to bare stems, commands and polite requests

All previous lessons focused on nouns, pronouns, and cases. This lesson introduces Kazakh verbs: how they appear in dictionaries, how to find their base stem, and how to use that stem to give instructions and make polite requests.

In dictionaries, every Kazakh verb is listed as an action noun ending in -u (-у) (such as baru (бару) "to go", jazu (жазу) "to write", kelu (келу) "to come"). This ending matches Turkish -mak / -mek.

When you remove -u (-у), you are left with the bare verb stem: bar- (бар-), jaz- (жаз-), kel- (кел-). In Kazakh, this bare stem is already a complete word: the informal singular command ("Go!", "Write!", "Come!"), exactly as in Turkish Git!, Yaz!, Gel!.

The infinitive in -u (-у) and the bare stem

The dictionary citation form carries the suffix -u (-у). Removing this suffix isolates the base verb stem, which serves as the informal imperative command addressed to one person.

Plural informal commands: -yñdar / -ıñder (-ыңдар / -іңдер)

When giving a command to several friends, family members, or children, Kazakh adds the plural suffix to the stem: -yñdar / -ıñder (-ыңдар / -іңдер) after consonants, or -ñdar / -ñder (-ңдар / -ңдер) after vowels. Turkish expresses this with -in / -iniz.

The polite imperative endings

Stem ends in	Back vowel	Front vowel
a consonant	-yñyz (-ыңыз)	-ıñız (-іңіз)
a vowel	-ñyz (-ңыз)	-ñız (-ңіз)

To address multiple people politely, add the plural ending: -yñyzdar / -ıñızder (-ыңыздар / -іңіздер) and -ñyzdar / -ñızder (-ңыздар / -ңіздер).

Polite commands: -yñyz / -ıñız (-ыңыз / -іңіз)

For polite or formal requests addressed to an adult, teacher, stranger, or elder, Kazakh attaches -yñyz / -ıñız (-ыңыз / -іңіз) (or -ñyz / -ñız (-ңыз / -ңіз) after vowels). This matches the Turkish polite imperative -ınız / -iniz / -nız / -niz.

Softening requests with -şy / -şı (-шы / -ші)

Attaching the particle -şy (-шы) or -şı (-ші) softens an imperative into a warm request ("please" or "do..."). It attaches to both plain stems and polite imperative forms.

The negative verb suffix

Stem ends in	Back vowel	Front vowel
a vowel, or i, u, r, l (й, у, р, л)	-ma (-ма)	-me (-ме)
a voiced consonant: j, z (ж, з) — or m, n, ñ (м, н, ң)	-ba (-ба)	-be (-бе)
a voiceless consonant: k, q, p, s, t, f, h, ş (к, қ, п, с, т, ф, х, ш) — and also b, v, g, d (б, в, г, д)	-pa (-па)	-pe (-пе)

Turkish uses -ma / -me throughout; Kazakh adapts the initial consonant to match the preceding sound.

Negative commands

Verbal negation attaches directly to the verb stem. When added to a bare root, it forms a negative command ("do not go!", "do not write!").

First-person intentions and suggestions: 'Let me', 'Let us'

To express first-person intentions ("let me do...") or group suggestions ("let us do..."), Kazakh attaches dedicated endings to the verb stem.

Singular uses -aiyn / -eiın (-айын / -ейін) (or -iyn / -iın (-йын / -йін) after vowels), matching Turkish -eyim / -eyim. Plural uses -aiyq / -eiık (-айық / -ейік) (or -iyq / -iık (-йық / -йік) after vowels), matching Turkish -elim / -elim.

Everyday commands and classroom phrases

Commands, prohibitions, and softened requests

Bare stems, negative command suffixes (-ma / -me (-ма / -ме)), and polite request particles (-şy / -şı (-шы / -ші)) frequently feature in expressive dialogue and song lyrics.

In Aldama by Hulan-Aru, the negative imperative -ma (-ма) forms the central refrain, while Telefon by Sadraddin uses the bare informal imperative soq (соқ) ("call / strike"):

Comparing Kazakh commands to Turkish

Both languages use the bare verb stem as the informal singular command: Kazakh Kel! (Кел!) matches Turkish Gel!, and Kazakh Jaz! (Жаз!) matches Turkish Yaz!.

Polite requests share the same ancestral ending: Kazakh -yñyz / -ıñız (-ыңыз / -іңіз) answers directly to Turkish -ınız / -iniz / -nız / -niz (Kazakh Kelıñız (Келіңіз) matches Turkish Geliniz).

The main difference is in the negative suffix: while Turkish uses -ma / -me across all verbs, Kazakh adapts the consonant to three variants: -ma / -me (-ма / -ме) after vowels and sonorants, -ba / -be (-ба / -бе) after voiced consonants and nasals, and -pa / -pe (-па / -пе) after voiceless consonants.

Keep going

← Spatial Postpositions and Relational Nouns · Simple Present Tense →

All Kazakh lessons

• The Alphabet — Read Kazakh without learning Cyrillic
• How the Letters Behave — The things spelling does not tell you
• Turkish ↔ Kazakh Sound Laws — Six rules that unlock hundreds of words for free
• Vowel Harmony — The same system as Turkish — with one simplification
• Numbers — One to a thousand, and what a number does to the word after it
• Days of the Week — Saturday, and the days counted off it
• Months — Twelve names to learn outright
• Seasons — The four, and the weather that comes with them
• The Plural — One suffix, six written shapes
• Body Parts — From the top of the head to the sole of the foot, and the organs in between
• Personal Pronouns — Four ways to say "you", one word for "he" and "she"
• Possessive — The ending goes on the thing owned
• Family and Kinship — Lineages, generational ties, and reciprocal kinship
• The Copula — Saying "I am a teacher" with no verb at all
• Saying What Something Is Not — One extra word, and the personal ending moves onto it
• Asking a Question — One small word at the end, and nothing else moves
• Having and Not Having — No verb "to have" — only "there is" and "there is not"
• Where: the Locative — Location and time: one ending
• Where to: the Dative — Direction, destination, recipient, and purpose
• Where from: the Ablative — Starting points, origins, and standards of comparison
• Whose: the Genitive — Possession, definite noun phrases, and relationships
• What: the Accusative — The thing an action is done to — marked only when it is a particular one
• With: the Instrumental — Who you did it with, and what you did it with
• All Seven Together — What each ending marks, and every shape it takes
• Spatial Postpositions and Relational Nouns — Expressing position, direction and time with postpositions and relational nouns
• Simple Present Tense — Habitual actions, general facts and future intentions in {{-а / -е / -й}}
• Simple Past Tense — Witnessed and completed past actions in {{-ды / -ді / -ты / -ті}}
• Distant Past and Past Participle — Experienced past actions in {{-ған / -ген}} and conversational negation with {{жоқ}}
• Habitual Past and the "Used-To" Aspect — Expressing past routines in {{-атын / -етін / -йтын / -йтін}} and habitual participles
• Reported and Narrative Past — Hearsay, indirect evidence and surprise discoveries in {{-ыпты / -іпті / -пты / -пті}}
• The Present Continuous Tense — Ongoing actions and the four auxiliary verbs of physical stance
• Future Tenses — Definite intentions in {{-мақ / -мек}} and probable futures in {{-ар / -ер / -р}}
• Desires, Intentions and Optatives — Expressing wishes in {{-ғым келеді}} and making proposals in {{-айын / -айық}}
• Ability and Inability — Expressing "can" and "cannot" using converbs in {{-а / -е / -й}} and {{алу}}
• Conditionals and "If" Clauses — Real and hypothetical conditions in {{-са / -се}} and counterfactuals with {{еді}}
• Sequential Converbs and Action Chains — Linking consecutive actions in {{-ып / -іп / -п}} without repeating conjunctions
• Causative, Passive and Reflexive Verb Voices — Grammatical voice derivations in {{-дыр / -қыз / -т}}, {{-ыл / -іл}} and {{-ыс / -іс}}
• Necessity, Obligation and Possibility — Expressing "must", "need to" and "might" with {{керек}}, {{қажет}} and {{мүмкін}}
• Verb Differences & False Friends — How common Kazakh and Turkish verbs parted ways over time

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