-(u)vchi

The One Who Does: -(u)vchi

Level 4

Verb stem + -uvchi / -vchi = the one who does it: yoz- → yozuvchi (writer), hayda- → haydovchi (driver).

How It Works

1. After a consonant: -uvchi

  • yoz- (write) → yozuvchi (writer)
  • sot- (sell) → sotuvchi (seller, shop assistant)
  • kuzat- (watch) → kuzatuvchi (observer)
  • oʻqit- (teach) → oʻqituvchi (teacher)

2. After a vowel: -vchi, with a vowel change
The official spelling rules change the last vowel of the stem before -v:

  • a → o: tingla- (listen) → tinglovchi (listener), hayda- (drive) → haydovchi (driver), ishla- (work) → ishlovchi (working, worker)
  • i → u: oʻqi- (read, study) → oʻquvchi (pupil, reader)

3. oʻquvchi and oʻqituvchi
oʻqi- means to study, and oʻqit- means to make someone study, that is, to teach. So oʻquvchi is the pupil and oʻqituvchi is the teacher. The -t comes from Making Someone Do It: -dir and -t.

4. -(u)vchi or -chi?
People Who Do Something: -chi attaches to a noun: ish (work) → ishchi (worker), baliq (fish) → baliqchi (fisherman). -(u)vchi attaches to a verb stem, so the verb yoz- gives yozuvchi, never yozchi.

5. Also an adjective
A -(u)vchi word can stand before a noun and describe it: yonuvchi gaz (flammable gas), chekuvchi odamlar (people who smoke). It names a lasting role or property. For one action happening now, a participle such as The Present Participle -(a)yotgan fits better: gapirayotgan odam (the man who is speaking).

6. Compound verbs
It also works with two-part verbs: ishlab chiqar- (produce) → ishlab chiqaruvchi (manufacturer).

Examples (6)

  1. Abdulla Qodiriy — mashhur oʻzbek yozuvchisi.

    Abdulla Qodiriy is a famous Uzbek writer.

    Yozuvchi comes from yoz- (write) + -uvchi.

  2. Sotuvchi menga chegirma berdi.

    The seller gave me a discount.

  3. Haydovchi, iltimos, shu yerda toʻxtang.

    Driver, please stop here.

    Hayda- ends in a, which becomes o: haydovchi.

  4. Sinfimizda yigirma besh oʻquvchi bor.

    There are twenty-five pupils in our class.

  5. Konsertga mingdan ortiq tinglovchi keldi.

    More than a thousand listeners came to the concert.

  6. Yonuvchi moddalarni olovdan uzoq saqlang.

    Keep flammable substances away from fire.

    Here the -uvchi word describes a noun, like an adjective.

Common Mistakes

  • Adding -chi to a verb stem.

    U mashhur yozchi.
    U mashhur yozuvchi.

    Yoz- is a verb, so it takes -uvchi. The ending -chi is for nouns, as in ishchi (worker).

  • Keeping the stem vowel a before -vchi.

    Tinglauvchilar qarsak chalishdi.
    Tinglovchilar qarsak chalishdi.

    After a vowel the ending is -vchi, and a stem-final a becomes o: tingla- → tinglovchi.

  • Saying oʻquvchi (pupil) when you mean the teacher, oʻqituvchi.

    Oʻquvchi bizga darsni tushuntirdi.
    Oʻqituvchi bizga darsni tushuntirdi.

    If you mean the teacher, add the causative -t: oʻqit- → oʻqituvchi. Oʻquvchi is the pupil.

How It Connects

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

-(u)vchiLevel 4The One Who Does: -(u)vchi

Learn This First

Builds on People Who Do Something: -chi and The Present Participle -(a)yotgan.