ekan

English shows this with tone, or with words like "oh", "so", "it turns out" and "apparently". Uzbek uses ekan. The news may come from someone else, from a clue, or from something you see right now that surprises you.

1. After a noun or adjective
U shifokor ekan (So he is a doctor). Bu restoran juda qimmat ekan (This restaurant is really expensive, I see). Person endings join ekan: ekanman, ekansan, ekanmiz, ekansiz, and the third person has none: Siz shu yerda ekansiz! (Oh, you're here!)

2. With bor and yoʻq
Uyda non bor ekan (There is bread at home, I see). Uyda hech kim yoʻq ekan (Nobody is at home, it turns out).

3. After verb forms

• -gan ekan: a past event you have just found out about: U kelgan ekan (It turns out he had come).
• -(a)digan ekan: a plan or habit you have just heard about: Ular ertaga keladigan ekan (They are coming tomorrow, I hear).
• -(a)yotgan ekan: something that was going on: U uxlayotgan ekan (He was asleep, it turned out).

4. Negative
Put emas before ekan: U shifokor emas ekan (So he isn't a doctor). With a verb, make the verb itself negative: U kelmagan ekan (He hadn't come, it turns out).

5. Fairy tales
Uzbek stories begin Bir bor ekan, bir yoʻq ekan (Once upon a time), and they often go on with -gan ekan, because the teller did not see the events.

6. Since
Ekan can also join two clauses with the meaning since: Kelgan ekansiz, choy iching (Since you have come, have some tea).

7. In speech
People often shorten ekan to -kan and attach it: shifokorkan. The spelling rules write ekan as a separate word, shifokor ekan, and join it only when its e drops, as in bilarkan (bilar ekan). Joining it while keeping the e is always a mistake.

For a past event you learned about, -(i)bdi gives a similar meaning in a single verb: kelibdi.