Word Stress

Level 1

Put the beat on the last syllable: ki·tob, ki·tob·lar, ki·tob·la·rim (my books). As you add endings, the stress moves to the new last syllable.

How It Works

In this lesson a raised dot (·) splits a word into syllables and the stressed syllable is in bold. Uzbek spelling never shows stress.

The basic rule. Uzbek stress is not fixed to one syllable of the word. It sits on the last syllable and moves right as the word grows: oʻ·qit (teach), oʻ·qi·tuv·chi (teacher), oʻ·qi·tuv·chi·lik (teaching as a job). Plural, possessive and case endings all pull the stress onto themselves.

Endings that never take the stress. A few endings and particles leave the stress on the syllable before them:

  • The question ending -mi: ta·la·ba·mi·siz? (are you a student?).
  • The negative -ma-: ol·ma! (don't take!) against ol·ma (apple).
  • The am, are, is endings on a noun, such as -miz: ish·chi·miz means we are workers, while ish·chi·miz, with the possessive ending, means our worker.

Exceptions. Some adverbs borrowed from Arabic and Persian, and some names, are stressed before the last syllable: albatta (of course), umuman (in general), baʼzan (sometimes), doimo and hamisha (always). Learn these one at a time as you meet them.

In a whole sentence, the word you want to highlight gets extra stress and usually sits just before the verb. See the focus position.

Examples (5)

  1. Bu mening kitobim.

    This is my book.

    Word by Word: This my book-my.

    Stress: ki·to·bim, on the last syllable of the whole word.

  2. Kitoblarim stolda.

    My books are on the table.

    Word by Word: Books-my table-on.

    Stress moves right with each ending: ki·tob·la·rim, stol·da.

  3. Oʻqituvchi keladi.

    The teacher is coming.

    Word by Word: Teacher comes.

    Stress: oʻ·qi·tuv·chi, on the last syllable.

  4. Siz talabamisiz?

    Are you a student?

    Word by Word: You student-?-you?

    -mi and -siz never take the stress, so it stays on ba, the last syllable of talaba.

  5. Olmani olma!

    Don't take the apple!

    Word by Word: Apple-the take-not!

    The noun is ol·ma·ni, with the beat at the end. The command is ol·ma, with the beat on ol, because -ma- is never stressed.

Common Mistakes

  • Keeping the stress on the root after adding endings. (The accent mark here only shows stress; it is not written in Uzbek.)

    kitóblarim
    kitoblarím

    The stress moves to the last syllable as endings are added. Say ki·tob·la·rim with the beat at the end.

  • Stressing the negative -ma-. (The accent marks here only show stress; they are not written in Uzbek.)

    Olmani olmá!
    Olmani ólma!

    With the stress on -ma, olma is heard as apple, so the command sounds like the word apple. Put the beat on ol when -ma- means not.