-guncha

Until and Before: -guncha

Level 3

Verb stem + -guncha means until: Men kelguncha kuting (Wait until I come). It also covers English "before": Qorongʻi tushguncha uyga qayting (Come home before it gets dark).

How It Works

1. Building the form

  • kel- + -guncha → kelguncha (until coming)
  • oʻqi- + -guncha → oʻqiguncha (until reading)
  • chiq- + -quncha → chiqquncha (until going out)
  • zerik- + -kuncha → zerikkuncha (until getting bored)

After k and q, the first letter changes, following the k and q rule.

2. Until and before
English chooses "until" or "before" depending on the sentence, but Uzbek uses the same positive -guncha for both:

  • Men kelguncha kuting. (Wait until I come.)
  • Qorongʻi tushguncha uyga qayting. (Come home before it gets dark.)
  • Poyezd kelguncha hali yarim soat bor. (There is still half an hour before the train comes.)

3. Not until
With a negative main verb, -maguncha means not until: Sen kelmaguncha, men ketmayman (I won't leave until you come).

4. Rather than
-guncha can also compare two choices: Uyda zerikib oʻtirguncha, sayrga chiqaylik (Rather than sit at home bored, let's go for a walk).

5. Koʻrishguncha!
The everyday goodbye Koʻrishguncha! means "until we see each other", much like "See you!"

6. -guncha or -gacha?
-gacha goes on nouns and time words: soat beshgacha (until five o'clock). -guncha goes on verb stems: u kelguncha (until he comes).

Examples (6)

  1. Men kelguncha kuting.

    Wait until I come.

    Word by Word: I coming-until wait.

    kel- + -guncha. The subject men stands before it.

  2. Qorongʻi tushguncha uyga qayting.

    Come home before it gets dark.

    Word by Word: Darkness falling-until home-to return.

    English says before here, but Uzbek still uses -guncha.

  3. Poyezd kelguncha hali yarim soat bor.

    There's still half an hour before the train comes.

    Word by Word: Train coming-until still half hour there-is.

    The time left before an event.

  4. Sen kelmaguncha, men ketmayman.

    I won't leave until you come.

    Word by Word: You not-coming-until, I leave-not-I.

    -maguncha with a negative main verb: not until.

  5. Uyda zerikib oʻtirguncha, sayrga chiqaylik.

    Rather than sit at home bored, let's go for a walk.

    Word by Word: Home-at bored sitting-until, walk-to go-out-let's.

    -guncha comparing two choices.

  6. Koʻrishguncha!

    See you!

    Word by Word: Seeing-each-other-until!

    A fixed goodbye.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the noun ending -gacha on a verb.

    Men kelgacha kuting.
    Men kelguncha kuting.

    -gacha goes on nouns: soat beshgacha. A verb stem takes -guncha.

  • Keeping g after q.

    Quyosh chiqguncha uxladim.
    Quyosh chiqquncha uxladim.

    After q, the spelling rules turn -guncha into -quncha, and after k into -kuncha.

How It Connects

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

-gunchaLevel 3Until and Before: -guncha

Learn This First

Builds on Until, As Far As: -gacha and After Doing: -gach.