balki / ehtimol

Uzbek grammar calls balki and ehtimol modal words: they show how sure the speaker is. Both turn a statement into a guess:

• Balki ertaga kelar. (Maybe he'll come tomorrow.)
• Ehtimol, u uydadir. (He is probably at home.)

They mean almost the same. Balki is the everyday word; ehtimol sounds a little more careful and is common in writing and the news. Other guessing words are shekilli (it seems), aftidan (apparently) and hoynahoy (most likely).

Verb forms that fit. A guess often uses a verb form that is itself unsure:

• the probable future -(a)r: kelar (he may come), kelmas (he may not come)
• the guessing ending -dir: uydadir (is probably at home), haqdir (is probably right)

The ordinary present-future works too: Balki ertaga yomgʻir yogʻadi. (Maybe it will rain tomorrow.)

Position and commas. These words usually open the sentence. The spelling rules set modal words off with a comma: Ehtimol, u uydadir, and in careful writing also Balki, ertaga kelar. In everyday writing the comma after balki is often left out, as in most examples here.

Careful with emas, balki. After emas, the same word balki means but rather, not maybe: Bu choy emas, balki qahva (This is not tea, but coffee). See emas, balki.

Another way. The verb pattern -ishi mumkin also says might: U kelishi mumkin (He might come). Ehtimol is also a noun meaning possibility.