degan
Called, Meaning: Degan
Name + degan + noun = a ... called ...: Nodira degan qiz (a girl called Nodira). Word + degani = it means: Bu soʻz nima degani? (What does this word mean?).
How It Works
degan literally means which says or which is said. It has three everyday jobs.
1. Called, named
Put a name before degan and a noun after it: Nodira degan qiz (a girl called Nodira), Urgut degan shaharcha (a town called Urgut). It often introduces someone or something the listener may not know yet.
2. The news that, the saying that
A whole statement can come before degan: Ertaga dars boʻlmaydi degan xabar keldi (The news came that there will be no class tomorrow). The same shape introduces sayings: ... degan maqol bor (there is a proverb that goes...).
3. It means
With the possessive ending, degani gives the meaning of a word or of a situation:
- Bu soʻz nima degani? (What does this word mean?)
- ... degani emas (... does not mean ...): Kechikdi, bu u kelmaydi degani emas (He is late, but that does not mean he will not come).
Compare yaʼni (that is), which explains something in other words.
4. A look-alike
degan can also be an ordinary -gan past at the end of a sentence: U shunday degan (He said so). Before a noun, it is the linking word described here. deya is a literary word used like deb.
Examples (6)
- Nodira degan qiz sizni soʻradi.
A girl called Nodira asked for you.
Word by Word: Nodira called girl you-(obj.) asked.
- Bu soʻz nima degani?
What does this word mean?
Word by Word: This word what its-saying?
degan + the possessive ending -i means it means.
- Ertaga dars boʻlmaydi degan xabar keldi.
The news came that there will be no class tomorrow.
Word by Word: Tomorrow class won't-be saying news came.
A whole statement comes before degan.
- Samarqand yaqinida Urgut degan shaharcha bor.
Near Samarkand there is a town called Urgut.
Word by Word: Samarkand near Urgut called small-town there-is.
- «Sabr tagi – sariq oltin» degan maqol bor.
There is a proverb that says, “At the bottom of patience lies yellow gold.”
Word by Word: “Patience its-bottom – yellow gold” saying proverb there-is.
- Kechikdi, bu u kelmaydi degani emas.
He is late, but that does not mean he will not come.
Word by Word: He-is-late, this he won't-come its-meaning not.
Common Mistakes
Using deb instead of degan before a noun.
Nodira deb qiz sizni soʻradi.Nodira degan qiz sizni soʻradi.deb connects a quotation to a verb, as in Nodira deb chaqirdi (he called her Nodira). Before a noun, the linking form is degan.
Leaving off -i when you mean it means.
«Kitob» nima degan?«Kitob» nima degani?The speaker is asking what the word kitob means. nima degan? asks what someone said. The meaning of a word is asked with degani.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Builds on Quoting With deb and The Past Participle -gan.
Related Patterns
- -gan (oʻtgan zamon)Past with -gan
The same form used as a past tense at the end of a sentence: U shunday degan.
Level 2 - yaʼniThat Is: Yaʼni
That is: another way to explain a meaning.
Level 3 - Participles as Nouns
Explains the possessive ending in degani.
Level 3 - deyaLiterary Quotation with Deya
A literary quoting word that works like deb.
Level 6
Words in This Pattern
Practice degan in Bubblegum
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