Verb Stems & Dictionary Forms

If you've ever tried to look up a Kyrgyz verb in a dictionary, you probably know the pain.

You want to say "I work." You open the dictionary, look up "to work," and see the word иштөө. Your brain says: "Okay, so 'I work' must be мен иштөөймүн?" Nope. The correct form is мен иштеймин. The stem is иште. Where did the "е" come from? Where did the "өө" go? And how are you supposed to conjugate a word when the dictionary gives it to you in that form?

There are clear answers to all these questions — and they're simpler than they seem. The dictionary form иштөө = stem иште + suffix -үү (which merged into -өө). It's the stem that all the tense and person endings attach to.

Let's work through the system.

🧠 The dictionary's main secret

I want to make an important disclaimer upfront. I'm not a linguist and I don't claim academic authority. What's described below is the result of my own experience learning the language, analyzing hundreds of words, and trying to find a coherent system in them — because I never came across this kind of explanation in official textbooks. My goal is to share my perspective and maybe make your life a little easier.

Dictionaries always give verbs in the form of a verbal noun (infinitive): баруу (going/to go), жасоо (doing/to do).

But to build sentences, give commands, make requests, or change tenses, you need the base form (уңгу) — which is also the imperative mood form (бар, жаса).

At first glance it looks like four different suffixes — -уу, -үү, -оо, -өө — get slapped onto the base form in some random order. But if you dig deeper, there are really only two base suffixes: -уу and -үү.

Everything else is the result of sounds merging together. Let's see how this works in practice.

🧮 The transformation from stem to dictionary form

Rule 1. The standard case: stem ends in a consonant

If the verb stem ends in a consonant (or the letter й), you simply add the following suffixes:

Exception: If two consonants appear in a row (a cluster), voicing doesn't happen: корк + уу = коркуу (to be afraid).

Rule 2. Where -оо and -өө come from

What happens when the stem already ends in a broad vowel (а, е, о, ө)? When the suffixes -уу / -үү attach to these stems, the vowels merge into a single long sound:

So -оо/-өө are the result of a merger, not separate suffixes.

Rule 3. Where do narrow vowels disappear? (ы, и, у, ү)

If the stem ends in a narrow vowel (ы, и, у, ү), it simply gets "swallowed" when the suffix is added:

❗ Exceptions (Micro-verbs)

The two-letter verbs же (to eat) and де (to say) form their verbal noun differently — using the suffix -ш: жеш, деш.

💡 How to "unpack" a word from the dictionary

Now that you have this logic in your head, you can try deriving the stem for any dictionary word on your own:

• See -УУ / -ҮҮ? Just drop it: баруу ➔ бар.
• See -ОО? There's most likely an "а" hiding there: суроо ➔ сура, жашоо ➔ жаша, жасоо ➔ жаса. Less commonly, just drop one о.
• See -ӨӨ? There's most likely an "е" hiding there: иштөө ➔ иште, эсептөө ➔ эсепте. Less commonly, drop one ө — e.g., төлөө ➔ төлө.

If you're left with a voiced г or б at the end — apply the assimilation in reverse: тигүү ➔ тик, табуу ➔ тап.

And if the word feels too short, a narrow vowel may have dropped out: окуу ➔ оку.

I hope that after reading this article you'll be able to unpack these words automatically in your head. But if you're still unsure, ran into a tricky exception, or just want to double-check yourself — you can always use the conjugation tool.

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See also:

• Vowel harmony — how vowel harmony works in suffixes
• Sound assimilation — why к/п turn into г/б
• Present-future tense — how the stem is used in conjugation
• Imperative mood — the base form of the verb
• Gerund — the -ып/-ип/-уп/-үп form
• Participle — the -ган/-кан form