-gi / -ki / -qi

Time and Place Adjectives

Level 3

-gi turns a time word into a describing word: bugun (today) → bugungi gazeta (today's newspaper), yoz (summer) → yozgi taʼtil (the summer holidays).

How It Works

To say yesterday's lesson or summer clothes, Uzbek adds -gi to the time word and puts it before the noun.

Days and times of day:

  • kecha (yesterday) → kechagi (yesterday's)
  • bugun (today) → bugungi (today's)
  • ertaga (tomorrow) → ertangi (tomorrow's). Note the n.
  • hozir (now) → hozirgi (current)
  • kech (evening) → kechki (evening)
  • ertalab (morning) → ertalabki (morning)

Seasons: yozgi (summer), kuzgi (autumn), bahorgi (spring), qishki (winter).

Order and position: oldingi (previous), keyingi (next), ichki (inner), tashqi (outer; foreign).

Which shape? Most words take -gi. After some consonants many take -ki: qishki, ichki, kechki, ertalabki. A few back-vowel words take -qi: tashqi, sirtqi (external). This is not the same rule as the k/q forms of g-endings, which depend on a final k or q, so learn these words one by one. The standard spellings are bugungi and ertangi.

Watch kechagi and kechki. They look alike but come from different words: kechagi from kecha (yesterday), and kechki from kech (evening). Kechagi ovqat is yesterday's food; kechki ovqat is dinner.

Places. For a named place or an ordinary noun of place, use -dagi instead: Toshkentdagi (in Tashkent), uydagi (at home). In fact -dagi is -da plus this same -gi.

Like other adjectives, these words come before the noun (sifat + ot). The base time words are in bugun, ertaga, kecha.

Examples (6)

  1. Kechagi darsni tushundingizmi?

    Did you understand yesterday's lesson?

    Word by Word: Yesterday's lesson-ACC understood-you-?

    kecha (yesterday) + -gi.

  2. Bugungi gazetani oʻqidim.

    I read today's newspaper.

    Word by Word: Today's newspaper-ACC read-I.

    bugun + -gi = bugungi.

  3. Ertangi uchrashuv soat nechada?

    What time is tomorrow's meeting?

    Word by Word: Tomorrow's meeting hour what-at?

    ertaga becomes ertangi.

  4. Yozgi taʼtilda buvimnikiga boraman.

    In the summer holidays I will go to my grandmother's.

    Word by Word: Summer holiday-in grandmother-my's-place-to go-I.

    yoz (summer) + -gi.

  5. Qishki kiyimlarni olib chiqdim.

    I took out the winter clothes.

    Word by Word: Winter clothes-ACC taking went-out-I.

    qish takes -ki: qishki.

  6. Kechki ovqatga nima pishiramiz?

    What shall we cook for dinner?

    Word by Word: Evening meal-to what cook-we?

    kech (evening) + -ki; kechki ovqat is dinner.

Common Mistakes

  • Writing bugunki instead of bugungi.

    Bugunki gazetani oʻqidim.
    Bugungi gazetani oʻqidim.

    The standard form is bugungi, with g. Bugunki is a common misspelling.

  • Mixing up kechagi and kechki.

    Kechki darsni tushundingizmi?
    Kechagi darsni tushundingizmi?

    If you mean yesterday's lesson, the first sentence is wrong: kechki means evening, so it asks about the evening class. Yesterday's is kechagi.

  • Forgetting the n in ertangi.

    Ertagi uchrashuv soat nechada?
    Ertangi uchrashuv soat nechada?

    Ertaga (tomorrow) becomes ertangi, with n.

How It Connects

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

-gi / -ki / -qiLevel 3Time and Place Adjectives

Learn This First

Builds on The One In: -dagi and Today, Tomorrow, Yesterday.