-a/-y boshlamoq

Beginning: -a Boshlamoq

Level 3

-a or -y + boshlamoq = start doing: Yomgʻir yogʻa boshladi (It started raining).

How It Works

1. Building it

  • yoz (write) → yoza boshladi (he started writing)
  • gapir (speak) → gapira boshladi (she started speaking)
  • oʻrgan (learn) → oʻrgana boshladim (I started learning)
  • oʻqi (read) → oʻqiy boshladi (he started reading)
  • ishla (work) → ishlay boshladi (she started working)

This is the same -a/-y form you see in Present-Future Tense (yozaman, oʻqiyman) and in Can: -a olmoq.

2. Endings go on boshlamoq
yoza boshlayman (I will start writing), yoza boshladik (we started writing), yoza boshlang (start writing). The negative goes there too: Hali yoza boshlamadim. (I haven't started writing yet.)

3. Changes that begin on their own
It is very common for weather, growth and slow changes:

  • Qor yogʻa boshladi. (It started snowing.)
  • Havo isiy boshladi. (It has started to get warm.)
  • Bola yura boshladi. (The child started walking.)

4. Another way: -ishni boshlamoq
You can also make the action a verb noun and use it as the object of boshlamoq: Yangi kitob yozishni boshladi. (He started writing a new book.) See The Verb Noun -(i)sh. Never use the -moq form here.

5. Something began: boshlanmoq
When the thing itself begins, Uzbek uses the passive form boshlanmoq: Dars boshlandi. (The lesson began.) See The Passive Voice.

Examples (6)

  1. Yomgʻir yogʻa boshladi.

    It started raining.

    Word by Word: rain raining began

  2. U oʻzbekcha gapira boshladi.

    She began to speak Uzbek.

  3. Men oʻzbek tilini oʻrgana boshladim.

    I have started learning Uzbek.

  4. Bola yura boshladi.

    The child started walking.

  5. Havo isiy boshladi.

    It has started to get warm.

    Word by Word: air warming began

    Isi ends in a vowel, so it takes -y: isiy.

  6. Hali yoza boshlamadim.

    I haven't started writing yet.

    The negative -ma- goes on boshlamoq.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the -(i)b form instead of -a.

    Yomgʻir yogʻib boshladi.
    Yomgʻir yogʻa boshladi.

    Boshlamoq follows the -a or -y form, not -(i)b: yogʻa boshladi.

  • Adding -a to a verb that ends in a vowel.

    U kitob oʻqia boshladi.
    U kitob oʻqiy boshladi.

    After a vowel the form is -y: oʻqi becomes oʻqiy, and ishla becomes ishlay.

  • Using the -moq form as the object of boshlamoq.

    Men ishlamoq boshladim.
    Men ishlay boshladim.

    The -moq form is the dictionary form and cannot go before boshlamoq. Use the -a/-y form, or the verb noun with -ni: ishlashni boshladim.

How It Connects

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

-a/-y boshlamoqLevel 3Beginning: -a Boshlamoq

Learn This First

Builds on Helper Verbs After -(i)b and -a and Can: -a olmoq.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

boshlamoq