-(a)y / -(a)yin

Let Me: -(a)y

Level 2

-(a)y is how you say let me or decide something for yourself: Men ham boray (Let me go too). Add -mi to offer: Yordam beraymi? (Shall I help?).

How It Works

This is the command form for I. You use it to announce what you will do, to ask for permission, or to offer help.

  • After a consonant: -ay or -ayin. bor- → boray, borayin (let me go), ayt- → aytay, aytayin (let me tell you).
  • After a vowel: -y or -yin. oʻqi- → oʻqiy, oʻqiyin (let me read), ishla- → ishlay (let me work).

The short and long forms mean the same thing. In everyday speech the short -ay is more common; -ayin sounds a little more careful or decided.

Offers and permission with -mi. Adding -mi turns it into a very common polite question: Yordam beraymi? (Shall I help?), Kiraymi? (May I come in?), Derazani ochaymi? (Shall I open the window?).

Do not mix it up with the present tense. Boray (let me go) looks like the start of boraman (I go, I will go). The difference is the ending: boraman states a fact, while boray offers or decides. So Yordam beraymi? offers help, but Yordam beramanmi? asks am I going to help?

Saying let me not. Put -ma- after the stem: bormay (let me not go).

For we, use -(a)ylik; for he or she, use -sin.

Examples (6)

  1. Men ham boray.

    Let me go too.

    Word by Word: I also go-AY.

  2. Yordam beraymi?

    Shall I help?

    Word by Word: Help give-AY-Q?

    -mi after -ay makes a polite offer.

  3. Kiraymi?

    May I come in?

    Word by Word: Come.in-AY-Q?

  4. Derazani ochaymi?

    Shall I open the window?

    Word by Word: Window-ACC open-AY-Q?

  5. Sizga bir narsa aytayin.

    Let me tell you something.

    Word by Word: You-to one thing tell-AYIN.

    The long form -ayin sounds a little more deliberate.

  6. Menga bering, men oʻqiy.

    Give it to me, let me read it.

    Word by Word: Me-to give, I read-Y.

    oʻqi- ends in a vowel, so only -y is added.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the present tense to offer help (meant: Shall I help?).

    Yordam beramanmi?
    Yordam beraymi?

    Beramanmi? is a real question, but it asks am I going to help? To offer, use -ay plus -mi: beraymi?

  • Adding -ay after a vowel.

    Men oʻqiay.
    Men oʻqiy.

    After a vowel only -y (or -yin) is added: oʻqi- → oʻqiy, ishla- → ishlay.

  • Using the we form for I.

    Men boraylik.
    Men boray.

    -aylik means let's and includes other people. For I alone, use -ay.

How It Connects

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

-(a)y / -(a)yinLevel 2Let Me: -(a)y

Learn This First

Builds on Present-Future Tense and Let Him or Her: -sin.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.