Singular Noun After Numbers

Level 1

uchta kitob (three books), ikki kun (two days), koʻp odam (many people): no -lar after a number.

How It Works

English marks the plural twice ("three books"). Uzbek marks it once, with the number.

After numbers

  • uchta kitob (three books), with the counting ending -ta
  • ikki kun (two days)
  • Oʻnta talaba keladi. (Ten students are coming.)

Time and measure words like kun (day), soat (hour) and kilo usually go without -ta: ikki kun, besh daqiqa (five minutes).

After question words
nechta and necha (how many) follow the same rule: Nechta olma olasiz? (How many apples will you take?)

After koʻp and similar words
koʻp (many, a lot of) and bir necha (a few) are usually followed by the singular: Bu yerda koʻp odam bor. (There are a lot of people here.) With koʻp you will also meet the plural, as in koʻp odamlar, especially about people as a group, so it is not an error there. After a number, the plural is always wrong.

The verb
After a subject with a number, the verb is usually singular: Oʻnta talaba keladi. Words like barcha (all) are different: they take the plural, barcha talabalar.

Examples (6)

  1. uchta kitob

    three books

    Word by Word: three-piece book

  2. Ikki kun qolaman.

    I'll stay for two days.

    Word by Word: two day stay-I

  3. Bu yerda koʻp odam bor.

    There are a lot of people here.

    Word by Word: this place-at many person there-is

  4. Oʻnta talaba keladi.

    Ten students are coming.

    Word by Word: ten-piece student comes

  5. Nechta olma olasiz?

    How many apples will you take?

    Word by Word: how-many apple take-you

  6. Men uchta tilda gapiraman.

    I speak three languages.

    Word by Word: I three-piece language-in speak-I

Common Mistakes

  • Adding -lar after a number, as English adds -s.

    ikkita kitoblar
    ikkita kitob

    The number already says there is more than one. The noun stays singular.

  • Using the plural after a number in a sentence.

    Oʻnta talabalar keladi.
    Oʻnta talaba keladi.

    Any number, from ikki up, is followed by the singular noun. The verb is usually singular too.

How It Connects

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

Singular Noun After NumbersLevel 1

Learn This First

Builds on The Plural Suffix -lar.

Words in This Pattern

koʻp