emas

Saying Something Is Not

Level 1

emas means is not / am not / are not: Bu qimmat emas. (This is not expensive.) Men talaba emasman. (I am not a student.)

How It Works

Uzbek has no separate word for "am, is, are". A noun or adjective becomes a sentence by itself or with a person ending: Men talabaman. (I am a student.) To say the opposite, add the separate word emas (is not).

The person ending moves to emas

  • emas + -man → emasman: Men talaba emasman. (I am not a student.)
  • emas + -san → emassan: Sen kasal emassan. (You are not ill.)
  • emas + -miz → emasmiz: Biz tayyor emasmiz. (We are not ready.)
  • emas + -siz → emassiz: Siz aybdor emassiz. (You are not to blame.)
  • He, she, it, they: just emas, because the third person takes no ending: Bu qimmat emas. (This is not expensive.)

The noun itself stays in its plain form: talaba emasman, never talabaman emas. Note the double s in emassan and emassiz: the word ends in s and the ending starts with one.

What emas can negate

  • a noun: Bu choy emas, qahva. (This isn't tea, it's coffee.)
  • an adjective: Havo sovuq emas. (The weather is not cold.)
  • a place: Anvar hozir uyda emas. (Anvar isn't at home right now.)
  • one word you want to correct: Men emas, Aziz boradi. (Not me, Aziz is going.)

Questions and tags
With -mi, you get emasmi (isn't it?), and for polite you emasmisiz (aren't you?): Siz oʻzbek emasmisiz? (Aren't you Uzbek?) After a remark, shunday emasmi? works like "isn't it?": Qiziq, shunday emasmi? (Interesting, isn't it?)

emas, yoʻq or -ma-?

  • emas says something is not a certain thing or is not somewhere.
  • yoʻq says something does not exist or is not there at all: Uyda non yoʻq. (There is no bread at home.)
  • A verb is made negative inside the word with -ma-: Men choy ichmayman. (I don't drink tea.) emas does not go after a verb such as ichaman.

In the past, emas is followed by edi: Havo sovuq emas edi. (The weather was not cold.) Always write emas as its own word.

Examples (6)

  1. Men talaba emasman.

    I am not a student.

    Word by Word: I student not-am

  2. Bu qimmat emas.

    This is not expensive.

    Word by Word: this expensive not

    For he, she, it and they, emas takes no ending.

  3. Anvar hozir uyda emas.

    Anvar isn't at home right now.

    Word by Word: Anvar now home-at not

  4. Biz tayyor emasmiz.

    We aren't ready.

    Word by Word: we ready not-are(we)

  5. Siz oʻzbek emasmisiz?

    Aren't you Uzbek?

    Word by Word: you Uzbek not-QUESTION-are(you)

    The question particle -mi comes between emas and the ending -siz.

  6. Bu choy emas, qahva.

    This isn't tea, it's coffee.

    Word by Word: this tea not, coffee

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving the person ending on the noun and adding emas after it.

    Men talabaman emas.
    Men talaba emasman.

    The person ending goes on the last word of the "am, is, are" part. When emas is there, the noun goes back to its plain form and the ending moves to emas.

  • Putting emas after a verb.

    Men choy ichaman emas.
    Men choy ichmayman.

    emas negates nouns, adjectives and places. A present-future verb is negated with -ma- inside the word: ich- + -ma- + -y- + -man → ichmayman.

  • Using yoʻq to say that something is not a certain thing.

    Bu kitob yoʻq.
    Bu kitob emas.

    To say "This is not a book", use emas. Bu kitob yoʻq means something different: "This book is not here / not available".

How It Connects

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

emasLevel 1Saying Something Is Not

Learn This First

Builds on Third Person Takes No Ending.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

emasemas