The Suffix System
Uzbek is an agglutinative language — meaning is built by adding suffixes to word stems. One word can carry several suffixes at once.
How Suffixes Work
Instead of using prepositions like English ('to', 'from', 'in'), Uzbek adds suffixes directly to nouns:
uy → uyda
house → in the house
Literal: uy + -da (in)
maktab → maktabga
school → to school
Literal: maktab + -ga (to)
shahar → shahardan
city → from the city
Literal: shahar + -dan (from)
Common Suffixes
Here are the most important suffixes to know:
-da / -de
in, at (location)
Literal: uyda = in the house
-ga / -ge / -ka / -ke
to (direction)
Literal: maktabga = to school
-dan / -den
from
Literal: shahardan = from the city
-ning
of (possession)
Literal: kitobning = of the book
-ni
the (definite object)
Literal: kitobni = the book (as object)
-lar / -ler
plural
Literal: kitoblar = books