-lari

Their: -lari

Level 2

-lari joins the plural -lar and the possessive -i: uylari can mean their house, their houses or his houses. The owner and the context tell you which.

How It Works

The third-person possessive -(s)i means his, her or its. The spelling rules also give -lari as the third-person plural possessive: bobosi or bobolari (their grandfather). Add the plural -lar in front of -i, and you also get -lari.

1. One form, several meanings

  • uning uylari — his houses (uy + -lar + -i)
  • ularning uylari — their houses
  • ularning uylari — also their house

A form like uylarlari does not exist. The owner, usually a word with -ning, and the context tell you who owns what.

2. Their + one thing
With a plural owner, a single thing often takes plain -(s)i, because ularning already says their: ularning uyi (their house), bolalarning onasi (the children's mother). Both ularning uyi and ularning uylari are correct.

3. Same shape after any stem
-lari is added the same way after a consonant or a vowel: kitoblari, otalari.

4. More endings after it
Case endings come straight after -lari: kitoblarini (their books, as object), uylariga (to their houses). See case endings after a possessive.

5. Respect
In polite speech, -lari on a person can show respect for one person rather than plurality: otalari can mean his father, said respectfully. See the plural of respect.

Examples (5)

  1. Ularning uylari katta.

    Their house is big. / Their houses are big.

    Word by Word: Their house-s-their big.

    Without more context, uylari can mean one house or several.

  2. Bolalarning oʻyinchoqlari polda.

    The children's toys are on the floor.

    Word by Word: Children's toy-s-their floor-on.

    oʻyinchoq + -lar + -i. The toys are plural, and the owners are too.

  3. Doʻstlarimning ismlari Anvar va Aziz.

    My friends' names are Anvar and Aziz.

    Word by Word: Friend-s-my's name-s-their Anvar and Aziz.

    ism + -lar + -i → ismlari.

  4. Talabalar kitoblarini ochdi.

    The students opened their books.

    Word by Word: Students book-s-their-the opened.

    -ni follows -lari directly: kitoblarini.

  5. Ularning uyi Samarqandda.

    Their house is in Samarkand.

    Word by Word: Their house-their Samarkand-in.

    With ularning, one house can take plain -i.

Common Mistakes

  • Adding -lar twice.

    Ularning kitoblarlari stolda.
    Ularning kitoblari stolda.

    A single -lari already covers both the plural thing and the plural owner. Uzbek does not add a second -lar after the plural.

  • Putting the possessive before -lar.

    Ularning uyilari katta.
    Ularning uylari katta.

    The plural comes first and the possessive second: uy + -lar + -i → uylari.

How It Connects

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

-lariLevel 2Their: -lari

Learn This First

Builds on The Possessor Ending -ning and The Plural Suffix -lar.