-cha (kichraytirish)

Little Things with -cha

Level 4

Noun + -cha = a little one: uycha (a little house), qushcha (a little bird), qizcha (a little girl).

How It Works

1. Small and dear
Add -cha to a noun. Its form never changes:

  • uy → uycha (a little house)
  • qush → qushcha (a little bird)
  • qiz → qizcha (a little girl)
  • yurak → yurakcha (a little heart)

The word often sounds cute or dear as well as small, so -cha is common when talking to or about children.

2. Some -cha words have their own meaning
A few have become everyday words: kitobcha (a booklet), daftarcha (a small notebook, a notepad), gulcha (a little flower, also a girl's name). Learn these as words.

3. -cha comes first
-cha goes right after the stem. Plural, possessive and case endings follow it, in the usual The Order of Endings:

  • kitobcha + lar = kitobchalar (booklets)
  • daftarcha + m = daftarcham (my notepad)
  • uycha + da = uychada (in the little house)

4. No softening before -cha
K and q only soften before a vowel, as in K and Q Soften Before Vowels. -cha starts with a consonant, so the stem stays as it is: yurakcha, not yuragcha.

5. Other endings that look alike
Do not mix this up with In a Language or Manner: -cha, as in oʻzbekcha (in Uzbek), or with As ... As: -chalik. Uzbek has other small-and-dear endings too, such as -choq in toychoq (a foal). For people's names, warmth is shown with Warm Name Endings -jon and -xon.

Examples (6)

  1. Togʻ etagida kichkina uycha bor.

    There is a tiny little house at the foot of the mountain.

    Word by Word: mountain foot-its-at small little-house there-is

  2. Derazaga bir qushcha qoʻndi.

    A little bird landed on the window.

  3. Qizcha onasining qoʻlidan ushlab oldi.

    The little girl took hold of her mother's hand.

  4. Muzeydan bepul kitobcha oldim.

    I picked up a free booklet at the museum.

    Kitobcha is a fixed word for a booklet, not just a small book.

  5. Telefon raqamini daftarchamga yozib qoʻydim.

    I wrote the phone number down in my notepad.

    Word by Word: phone number-its-(object) notepad-my-to writing I-put

    The order is daftar + cha + m + ga: -cha first, then my, then the case ending.

  6. Bolalar uychada oʻynayapti.

    The children are playing in the little house.

Common Mistakes

  • Putting the plural ending before -cha.

    Stolda kitoblarcha bor.
    Stolda kitobchalar bor.

    To mean booklets, -cha comes right after the stem and -lar follows it. -larcha is a different ending meaning like, as in bolalarcha (childishly).

  • Putting the possessive ending before -cha.

    Raqamni daftarimchaga yozdim.
    Raqamni daftarchamga yozdim.

    Daftarcha is one noun, so my goes on the end of it: daftarcham, then the case ending: daftarchamga.

  • Softening k to g before -cha.

    Bolaning yuragchasi tez uryapti.
    Bolaning yurakchasi tez uryapti.

    K becomes g only before a vowel. -cha starts with a consonant, so yurak stays yurak: yurakcha.

How It Connects

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

-cha (kichraytirish)Level 4Little Things with -cha

Learn This First

Builds on In a Language or Manner: -cha.