Past Habitual: -чу

How do you say in Kyrgyz: "Every weekend as a kid I used to go to my grandmother's" or "I didn't used to drink coffee"?

For actions that were a regular habit in the past but no longer happen, Kyrgyz uses Адат өткөн чак (the habitual past tense).

🔄 English equivalent: The exact match is used to: "I used to play football" = «Мен футбол ойночумун».

🧠 The Logic

Адат өткөн чак is the tense of habit and regularity in the past. The speaker emphasizes: "This was repeated, it was the norm — but not anymore."

When to use:

Regular actions: Мен ар күнү чуркачумун — I used to run every day
A former way of life: Ал Бишкекте жашачу — He used to live in Bishkek (but doesn't now)
Old habits: Биз чогуу иштечүбүз — We used to work together

When NOT to use:

A concrete one-time fact → use the definite past (-ды/-ти)
Experience or result → use the indefinite past (-ган/-кан)

🧮 The Formula

Formula: Stem + -чу-чү + personal ending

барчумун
бар
stem
чу
habitual past
мун
I
→ I used to go

This tense suffix has only two variants:

-чу — after back vowels (а, о, у, ы)
-чү — after front vowels (э/е, ө, ү, и)

⚠️ Note: You don't need to choose among four vowel variants as with other suffixes. There is only one pair: -чу / -чү.

Person	Form (бар)	Form (иште)	Translation
мен	барчумун	иштечүмүн	I used to go / I used to work
сен	барчусуң	иштечүсүң	you used to go / work
сиз	барчусуз	иштечүсүз	you (formal) used to go / work
ал	барчу	иштечү	he/she used to go / work
биз	барчубуз	иштечүбүз	we used to go / work
силер	барчусуңар	иштечүсүңөр	you (plural) used to go / work
сиздер	барчусуздар	иштечүсүздөр	you (formal plural) used to go / work
алар	барышчу	иштешчү	they used to go / work

⚠️ Note: The «алар» form is built through the cooperative voice: stem + -ышчу-ишчү-ушчу-үшчү. See cooperative voice for more detail.

Negative form

Negation is formed with the auxiliary word эмес. The verb stays in the -чу/-чү form, and personal endings are attached to эмес.

Formula: Stem + -чу-чү + эмес + personal ending

барчу эмесмин
бар
stem
чу
habitual past
эмес
negation
мин
I
→ I didn't used to go

Person	Form (бар)	Form (иште)	Translation
мен	барчу эмесмин	иштечү эмесмин	I didn't used to go / work
сен	барчу эмессиң	иштечү эмессиң	you didn't used to go / work
сиз	барчу эмессиз	иштечү эмессиз	you (formal) didn't used to go / work
ал	барчу эмес	иштечү эмес	he/she didn't used to go / work
биз	барчу эмеспиз	иштечү эмеспиз	we didn't used to go / work
силер	барчу эмессиңер	иштечү эмессиңер	you (plural) didn't used to go / work
сиздер	барчу эмессиздер	иштечү эмессиздер	you (formal plural) didn't used to go / work
алар	барышчу эмес	иштешчү эмес	they didn't used to go / work

💡 Tip: As with the indefinite past, the personal endings on эмес always come from the э/е/и group: эмесмин, эмессиң, эмеспиз.

Question form

The question suffix -бу-бү is added to the full form.

Formula: Full form + -бу-бү

Person	Form (бар)	Translation
мен	барчумунбу	did I used to go?
сен	барчусуңбу	did you used to go?
сиз	барчусузбу	did you (formal) used to go?
ал	барчубу	did he/she used to go?
биз	барчубузбу	did we used to go?
силер	барчусуңарбу	did you (plural) used to go?
сиздер	барчусуздарбу	did you (formal plural) used to go?
алар	барышчубу	did they used to go?

💡 For negative questions, the suffix is added to эмес: «Сен барчу эмессиңби?» — Didn't you used to go?

⚠️ Important distinctions

1. Don't confuse -чу/-чү with -чы/-чи!

The suffix -чы/-чи is the soft imperative (a gentle request), while -чу/-чү is the habitual past:

Form	Meaning
Келчи!	Come on, come here! (a request)
Ал келчү.	He used to come (often).
Жардам берчи.	Give me a hand.
Ал мага жардам берчү.	She always used to help me.

See imperative mood for more on the soft imperative.

2. БОЛЧУ — "there used to be / it used to be"

The suffix -чу combines with the verb бол- (to be), producing болчу (it used to be / there used to be), which shifts present-tense constructions into the past:

Керек болчу (needed to / had to):

Мага баруу керек. → Мага баруу керек болчу. (I needed to go).

Бар болчу / Жок болчу (there was / there wasn't):

Менде унаа бар. → Менде унаа бар болчу. (I used to have a car).
Акчам жок. → Акчам жок болчу. (I didn't have money).

-мак болчу (was going to):

Мен бармак болчумун. — I was going to go (but it didn't work out).

💡 Examples

Regular actions in the past

Kyrgyz	Translation
Мен жаш кезде көп ойночумун.	When I was young I used to play a lot.
Ал ар күнү эрте турчу.	He used to get up early every day.
Биз жайкысын тоого чыкчубуз.	We used to go to the mountains in summer.
Силер мурун бул жерге келчүсүңөр.	You used to come here before.

A former way of life

Kyrgyz	Translation
Ал мурун Бишкекте жашачу, азыр Ошто.	He used to live in Bishkek, now he's in Osh.
Мен бала кезде ырдачумун.	When I was a child, I used to sing.
Алар мал багышчу.	They used to keep livestock.

Habits that no longer exist

Kyrgyz	Translation
Мен мурун кофе иччү эмесмин.	I didn't used to drink coffee.
Ал тамеки тартчу эмес.	He didn't used to smoke.
Биз бул жерге келчү эмеспиз.	We didn't used to come here.

— Сен студент кезде көп окучусуңбу? — Did you used to study a lot when you were a student? — Ооба, ар күнү китепканага барчумун. — Yes, I used to go to the library every day.

— Кечиресиз, мага бир нерсе керек болчу. — Excuse me, I needed something here.

See also:

Introduction to verbs — the foundation for understanding tenses
Imperative mood — don't confuse -чу with -чы/-чи!
Present-future tense — uses the same personal endings
Have to / Must: -ыш керек — the "керек болчу" construction
Vowel harmony — choosing the right vowel in the suffix
Question suffix — how questions are formed