Repeated Words

Level 4

Word + hyphen + the same word: tez-tez (often), sekin-sekin (little by little), katta-katta uylar (lots of big houses).

How It Works

Repeating a word is a normal part of Uzbek grammar, not baby talk. What the repeat adds depends on the kind of word you repeat.

1. Nouns: lots of them
savat-savat non (basket after basket of bread), togʻ-togʻ paxta (mountains of cotton). Before a noun, a repeated noun can also describe a pattern: yoʻl-yoʻl koʻylak (a striped shirt, from yoʻl, a line or stripe).

2. Adjectives: many of them, each one like that
katta-katta uylar (lots of big houses), uzun-uzun xatlar (long, long letters). The adjective still comes before the noun and never takes -lar itself.

3. Adverbs: more strongly or more often
tez-tez (often), sekin-sekin (slowly, little by little), asta-asta (gently, bit by bit).

4. Numbers: one group at a time
bitta-bitta (one by one), ikki-ikki (two at a time). Compare -tadan, which gives each person a share: bittadan (one each).

5. Verb forms: on and on
The -a/-y form of a verb, repeated, means doing something again and again until a result comes: chopa-chopa (running and running), oʻqiy-oʻqiy (reading over and over): Oʻqiy-oʻqiy yodlab oldim (I read it over and over until I knew it by heart).

6. With endings
Possessive and case endings go on the second copy only: uy-uyiga (each to their own home), ich-ichidan (from deep inside). A repeated verb form is different: both copies keep the verb ending, as in chopa-chopa.

7. Spelling
The official spelling rules write every repeated word with a hyphen: tez-tez, not tez tez.

Other patterns look similar but work differently: word pairs join two different words, echo words change the first sound, qip-qizil intensifies an adjective with a short syllable in front, and uyma-uy puts -ma- between the copies.

Examples (6)

  1. U bizga tez-tez keladi.

    He often comes to see us.

    Word by Word: He us-to often-often comes.

  2. Oʻzbek tilini sekin-sekin oʻrganyapman.

    I am learning Uzbek little by little.

    Word by Word: Uzbek language-(obj.) slowly-slowly I-am-learning.

  3. Bu koʻchada katta-katta uylar bor.

    There are lots of big houses on this street.

    Word by Word: This street-on big-big houses there-are.

    The repeated adjective suggests many houses, and each one is big.

  4. Oʻquvchilar sinfga bitta-bitta kirishdi.

    The pupils came into the classroom one by one.

    Word by Word: Pupils classroom-to one-one entered.

  5. Kechqurun mehmonlar uy-uyiga tarqalishdi.

    In the evening the guests went off, each to their own home.

    Word by Word: Evening guests home-home-its-to dispersed.

    Only the second copy takes the endings -iga.

  6. Chopa-chopa bekatga yetib keldim.

    I ran and ran and made it to the bus stop.

    Word by Word: Running-running stop-to reaching came-I.

    The repeated -a form means the running went on until the result came.

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving out the hyphen.

    U bizga tez tez keladi.
    U bizga tez-tez keladi.

    A repeated word is written as one word with a hyphen: tez-tez, sekin-sekin, bitta-bitta.

  • Adding the plural to the repeated adjective.

    Bu koʻchada katta-kattalar uylar bor.
    Bu koʻchada katta-katta uylar bor.

    An adjective before a noun never takes -lar, repeated or not. The plural goes on the noun: katta-katta uylar.

How It Connects

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

Repeated WordsLevel 4

Learn This First

Builds on Word Pairs.