-ot

Arabic Plural Ending -ot

Level 6

-ot is an Arabic plural ending frozen inside some words: hayvon (animal) → hayvonot (animal life), mahsul → mahsulot (product). Use these words like any Uzbek noun.

How It Works

Where -ot comes from. Arabic makes many plurals with a long -āt. Uzbek spells that long ā as o, so the ending shows up as -ot. Persian used it too, which gave sabzavot (vegetables) from sabza (greens).

Common words with -ot.

  • groups and fields: adabiyot (literature), sabzavot (vegetables), hayvonot (animal life), mavjudot (living beings), hasharot (insects)
  • everyday and office words: maʼlumot (information; education), mahsulot (product), hisobot (report), tadqiqot (research), tashkilot (organization), islohot (reforms), taassurot (impression)

Base word, new meaning. Sometimes the shorter word is also used, with its own meaning: hisob (count, account) → hisobot (report), hayvon (an animal) → hayvonot (the animal world), maʼlum (known) → maʼlumot (information). Learn each pair as vocabulary.

Uzbek grammar from here on. These words take possessives, cases and -lar like any noun: maʼlumotingiz (your information), maʼlumotlar (data), mahsulotlarimiz (our products). Oliy maʼlumot means higher education. A group word such as sabzavot often needs no -lar: Sabzavot arzonlashdi (Vegetables got cheaper).

What about -at? Some grammar books name this ending -ot/-at, but in today's spelling the frozen plural words end in -ot. Many other Arabic loans end in -at: davlat (state), soat (hour), sanʼat (art), madaniyat (culture). These are ordinary singular nouns, so read their -at as part of the word, not as a plural. Their plurals use -lar: davlatlar (states).

Not a living ending. Neither -ot nor -at can be added to new words. To make a plural, always use -lar.

Examples (6)

  1. Bu haqda qoʻshimcha maʼlumot kerak.

    More information about this is needed.

    Word by Word: This about additional information needed.

  2. Men oʻzbek adabiyotini yaxshi koʻraman.

    I love Uzbek literature.

    Word by Word: I Uzbek literature-its-(obj) good see-I.

  3. Bozorda sabzavot arzonlashdi.

    Vegetables have become cheaper at the market.

    Word by Word: Market-in vegetables became-cheap.

    A group word like sabzavot often needs no -lar.

  4. Maʼlumotlarni jadvalga kiriting.

    Enter the data into the table.

    Word by Word: Information-plural-(obj) table-to enter.

    Maʼlumot takes the Uzbek plural -lar like any noun.

  5. Oʻrmonning hayvonot dunyosi juda boy.

    The forest's animal life is very rich.

    Word by Word: Forest-of animal-life world-its very rich.

  6. Hisobotni ertagacha topshiring.

    Submit the report by tomorrow.

    Word by Word: Report-(obj) tomorrow-until submit.

    Hisobot (report) comes from hisob (count, account).

Common Mistakes

  • Adding -ot to an ordinary word to make a plural.

    Javonda kitobot bor.
    Javonda kitoblar bor.

    -ot is frozen inside borrowed words. The Uzbek plural ending is always -lar.

  • Using the base word where the -ot word is needed.

    Bu haqda qoʻshimcha maʼlum kerak.
    Bu haqda qoʻshimcha maʼlumot kerak.

    Maʼlum is an adjective meaning known. The noun for information is maʼlumot.

How It Connects

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-otLevel 6Arabic Plural Ending -ot

Learn This First

Builds on The Plural Suffix -lar.