uyma-uy

Place to Place: Uyma-uy

Level 5

Say a noun, add -ma, then say it again: uy (house) → uyma-uy (from house to house), yuz (face) → yuzma-yuz (face to face).

How It Works

1. From one to the next

  • uyma-uy (from house to house)
  • eshikma-eshik (from door to door)
  • koʻchama-koʻcha (from street to street)
  • qoʻlma-qoʻl (from hand to hand)
  • oyma-oy (month by month)

2. One right beside the other

  • yuzma-yuz (face to face)
  • yonma-yon (side by side)

3. One at a time, in order

  • birma-bir (one by one), from the number bir
  • qadamma-qadam (step by step)
  • soʻzma-soʻz (word for word)
  • ketma-ket (one after another, in a row), from the verb ket- (go)

4. Where it goes
Most often the pair comes before the verb: uyma-uy yurmoq (to go from house to house). Some pairs also go before a noun: yuzma-yuz uchrashuv (a face-to-face meeting), soʻzma-soʻz tarjima (a word-for-word translation), ketma-ket uch gʻalaba (three wins in a row).

5. Spelling
The official spelling rules join the two parts with a hyphen: uyma-uy, koʻchama-koʻcha. After a vowel, -ma goes straight on: koʻcha → koʻchama-koʻcha.

6. Similar patterns
A plain repeat without -ma- means something else: repeated words like tez-tez (often). To say from one to another with any noun, use -dan and -ga: shahardan shaharga (from city to city).

Examples (6)

  1. Mahalla raisi uyma-uy yurib, odamlar bilan gaplashdi.

    The head of the neighbourhood went from house to house and talked with people.

    Word by Word: Neighbourhood head-its house-ma-house walking, people with talked.

  2. Surat qoʻlma-qoʻl oʻtdi.

    The photo was passed from hand to hand.

    Word by Word: Photo hand-ma-hand passed.

  3. Keling, bu haqda yuzma-yuz gaplashaylik.

    Let's talk about this face to face.

    Word by Word: Come-(polite), this about face-ma-face talk-let's.

  4. Ikki doʻst oʻrindiqda yonma-yon oʻtirishardi.

    The two friends were sitting side by side on the bench.

    Word by Word: Two friend bench-on side-ma-side were-sitting.

  5. Jamoamiz ketma-ket uch marta gʻalaba qozondi.

    Our team won three times in a row.

    Word by Word: Team-our one-after-another three times victory won.

  6. Bu matnni soʻzma-soʻz tarjima qilmang.

    Don't translate this text word for word.

    Word by Word: This text-(object) word-ma-word translation don't-do.

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving out -ma- (meant: We talked face to face).

    Biz yuz-yuz gaplashdik.
    Biz yuzma-yuz gaplashdik.

    Without -ma-, yuz-yuz reads as a plain repeat, and yuz is also the number a hundred. The fixed pair for face to face is yuzma-yuz.

  • Writing the pair without a hyphen.

    Surat qoʻlma qoʻl oʻtdi.
    Surat qoʻlma-qoʻl oʻtdi.

    The spelling rules join the parts of a -ma- pair with a hyphen: qoʻlma-qoʻl, uyma-uy.

How It Connects

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

uyma-uyLevel 5Place to Place: Uyma-uy

Learn This First

Builds on Repeated Words and From: -dan.