-ımız/-imiz/-umuz/-ümüz

First-person Plural Possessive

Level 2

The first-person plural possessive suffix attaches to nouns to indicate that something belongs to 'us'. It follows 4-way vowel harmony and changes slightly if the word ends in a vowel.

How It Works

To express 'our' in Azerbaijani, you must attach a suffix to the noun being possessed. The choice of suffix depends on the last vowel and the last letter of the noun.

1. Vowel Harmony Rules:

  • If the last vowel is a or ı, use -ımız (e.g., kitabımız - our book).
  • If the last vowel is e, ə, or i, use -imiz (e.g., evimiz - our house).
  • If the last vowel is o or u, use -umuz (e.g., dostumuz - our friend).
  • If the last vowel is ö or ü, use -ümüz (e.g., gülümüz - our flower).

2. Nouns Ending in a Vowel:
If the noun ends in a vowel, the initial vowel of the suffix is dropped to avoid two vowels meeting. The forms become -mız, -miz, -muz, -müz.
Example: ata (father) + -ımız → atamız (our father).

Exceptions: The words su (water) and nə (what) do not drop the suffix vowel. Instead, they use a 'y' buffer: suyumuz (our water) and nəyimiz (what of ours).

3. Consonant Changes:
When adding these suffixes to nouns ending in q or k, the final consonant usually softens:

  • q → ğ: uşaq (child) → uşağımız (our child).
  • k → y: çörək (bread) → çörəyimiz (our bread).

Note: These changes typically do not occur in monosyllabic words (e.g., kök → kökümüz) or in many loanwords. Specifically, Arabic/Persian loanwords ending in 'q' (e.g., hüquq → hüququmuz) and European loanwords ending in 'k' (e.g., park → parkımız, mexanik → mexanikimiz) resist this softening.

4. Usage with Pronouns:
The pronoun bizim (our) is often omitted unless you want to emphasize that the object belongs to us specifically and not someone else.

Examples (4)

  1. Bizim evimiz çox böyükdür.

    Our house is very big.

    Word by Word: Our house-our very big-is.

    Here, 'ev' (house) takes '-imiz' because 'e' is a front unrounded vowel.

  2. Uşağımız bu gün məktəbə getmir.

    Our child is not going to school today.

    Word by Word: Child-our this day school-to go-not-does.

    Notice the 'q' in 'uşaq' changes to 'ğ' before the possessive suffix.

  3. Bu, bizim ümumi qələbəmizdir.

    This is our common victory.

    Word by Word: This, our common victory-our-is.

    The word 'qələbə' ends in a vowel, so we only add '-miz' instead of '-imiz'.

  4. Dostumuz Bakıda yaşayır.

    Our friend lives in Baku.

    Word by Word: Friend-our Baku-in lives.

    'Dost' ends in 'o', so it follows the 'u' harmony group, taking '-umuz'.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the wrong vowel harmony form.

    Bizim evımız.
    Bizim evimiz.

    Azerbaijani requires strict vowel harmony. Since 'ev' has a front vowel (e), the suffix must also contain a front vowel (i).

  • Keeping the double vowel when the noun ends in a vowel.

    Ataımız.
    Atamız.

    When a noun ends in a vowel, you must drop the first vowel of the possessive suffix.

  • Confusing the possessive suffix with the 'we are' (predicative) suffix.

    Biz müəllimimiz.
    Biz müəllimik.

    '-imiz' means 'our', while '-ik' means 'we are'. 'Müəllimimiz' means 'our teacher', but 'Müəllimik' means 'We are teachers'.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

-ımız/-imiz/-umuz/-ümüzLevel 2First-person Plural Possessive

Learn This First

To learn the first-person plural possessive suffix, learners must understand four-way vowel harmony to correctly attach the suffix variants. They also need to be familiar with the pronoun 'biz' (we) and the general concept of how Azerbaijani marks possession on nouns through suffixes.