-ning

The Possessor Ending -ning

Level 2

Owner + -ning, then the owned thing + its possessive ending: Azizning kitobi (Aziz's book), onamning ismi (my mother's name).

How It Works

The ending -ning marks who or what something belongs to. It has one shape after every word: Azizning, onamning, maktabning.

1. Both halves are marked
The owned noun needs a possessive ending that agrees with the owner. For a noun owner, that is the third-person -(s)i:

  • Azizning kitobi — Aziz's book (kitob + -i)
  • onamning ismi — my mother's name (ism + -i)
  • Toshkentning koʻchalari — the streets of Tashkent

2. Pronoun owners
Pronouns take -ning too, and the owned noun takes the matching person ending:

  • mening kitobim — my book
  • sening kitobing — your book (familiar)
  • uning kitobi — his or her book
  • bizning kitobimiz — our book
  • sizning kitobingiz — your book (polite or plural)
  • ularning kitobi or kitoblari — their book

men and sen keep only one n: mening, sening, never menning. Because the possessive ending already shows the owner, the pronoun is often left out: kitobim alone means my book. Keep mening when you want to stress whose it is.

3. Whose?
The question word is kimning: Bu kimning sumkasi? (Whose bag is this?).

4. Speech and writing
In casual speech -ning is often shortened to -ni. In writing, always use -ning, which keeps the owner apart from the object ending -ni.

5. Longer phrases
Owners can be chained, as in Anvarning akasining uyi (Anvar's older brother's house). When the first noun is a general type rather than a specific owner, -ning is left out: oʻzbek tili (the Uzbek language).

Examples (6)

  1. Azizning kitobi stolda.

    Aziz's book is on the table.

    Word by Word: Aziz's book-his table-on.

    Aziz takes -ning, and kitob takes -i.

  2. Onamning ismi Dilnoza.

    My mother's name is Dilnoza.

    Word by Word: Mother-my's name-her Dilnoza.

    ona + -m + -ning → onamning. The possessive comes before -ning.

  3. Bu mening uyim.

    This is my house.

    Word by Word: This my house-my.

    mening and the ending -im both point to me.

  4. Sizning telefoningiz qayerda?

    Where is your phone?

    Word by Word: Your phone-your where?

    sizning goes with the ending -ingiz.

  5. Bu kimning sumkasi?

    Whose bag is this?

    Word by Word: This whose bag-its?

    kim + -ning → kimning (whose). sumka ends in a vowel, so it takes -si.

  6. Toshkentning koʻchalari keng.

    The streets of Tashkent are wide.

    Word by Word: Tashkent's streets-its wide.

    A place can be the owner too.

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving the possessive ending off the owned noun.

    Azizning kitob stolda.
    Azizning kitobi stolda.

    -ning on the owner is only half of the phrase. The owned noun also needs its possessive ending.

  • Using the plain pronoun instead of its -ning form.

    Bu men uyim.
    Bu mening uyim.

    Men means I. To say my, use mening, or leave the pronoun out and keep only uyim.

  • Doubling the n after men or sen.

    Bu menning kitobim.
    Bu mening kitobim.

    The spelling rules drop the ending's n after men and sen: mening, sening.

How It Connects

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

-ningLevel 2The Possessor Ending -ning

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Builds on His, Her or Its: -(s)i and The Definite Object Ending -ni.

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Words in This Pattern

meningubizular