Two weeks in Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva does not require Uzbek. It is much better with a little. This page sorts what is worth your time before the flight from what is not, and links to the pages where each phrase is explained in full.
Key points
- About thirty phrases cover most of a trip. Learn them well instead of skimming three hundred.
- Numbers are the highest-value item, because every price is a number followed by ming (thousand).
- Skip grammar study. Learn to pronounce x, q, oʻ and gʻ and to read the alphabet.
- People are patient and generous with visitors who try. Rahmat and a proper greeting go a long way.
The Uzbek for each part of your trip
Each page is one situation, with the phrases, their pronunciation and one piece of grammar.
Arriving and staying - At the hotel: check-in, the Wi-Fi password, breakfast and a room problem. - Help and emergencies: Yordam bering!, the pharmacy, a lost passport.
Getting around - Taxi and directions: Shu yerda toʻxtang and left, right, straight on. - Train tickets: stations, platforms, carriages and seats.
Out and about - At the bazaar: prices, Qimmat and bargaining. - At the restaurant: ordering, the bill and the dishes. - Sightseeing: madrasa, minaret, mausoleum and Rasmga olsam boʻladimi?
The basics - Greetings, thank you and please and numbers 1 to 10.
What is worth learning, by situation
The phrases are not repeated in full here. Each link has pronunciation, replies and common mistakes.
Meeting people (8 phrases). Assalomu alaykum and the reply Va alaykum assalom; Yaxshimisiz? and Yaxshi, rahmat; Xayr (goodbye); Mening ismim …; Men …danman (I am from …). See greetings, hello, how are you, goodbye and I am from. Add Oq yoʻl, “have a safe trip”, said to anyone setting off on a journey.
Politeness (6). Rahmat, Katta rahmat, Iltimos, Kechirasiz, Ha, Yoʻq. Note that iltimos is “please” when you ask, and marhamat is what people say when they hand you something. See thank you, please and sorry and yes and no.
Prices and the bazaar (7). Bu qancha turadi? or simply Qancha?; Qimmat; Arzonroq boʻladimi?; Boʻladi (OK, deal); Karta boʻladimi? (do you take cards?); Bu nima? (what is this?); and the numbers. See at the bazaar, how much is it, what is this and numbers.
Getting around (7). The destination plus -ga (Aeroportga, iltimos); Qancha boʻladi?; Toʻgʻriga, Oʻngga, Chapga; Shu yerda toʻxtang; and … qayerda? for anything you need to find, including Hojatxona qayerda? See taxi and directions and where is the toilet.
When it goes wrong (4). Tushunmadim (I did not understand); Sekinroq gapiring, iltimos (please speak more slowly); Inglizcha bilasizmi?; Yordam bering! See I don’t understand, do you speak English, help and the full help and emergencies page.
At the table (4). Choy (you will be asked Choy ichasizmi?, will you have tea?); Suv, with gazsiz for still and gazli for sparkling; Juda mazali!; and Rahmat, toʻydim (thanks, I am full), which is the only way to stop a host refilling your plate. See tea, water, delicious and enjoy your meal.
Numbers first
If you learn one thing properly, learn the numbers. Prices are quoted in thousands of soʻm, and the word soʻm is often dropped, so a seller says yigirma besh ming and means 25,000. Learn one to ten, the tens and ming, then listen for the number that comes before ming. When counting things, the number takes -ta and the noun stays singular: ikkita non (two breads), bitta choy (one tea).
What is not worth learning for two weeks
- Grammar tables. Uzbek grammar is regular and interesting, and two weeks is not enough to use it. Whole phrases serve you better.
- Cyrillic. You will see it on older signs. For a short visit, recognising that it exists is enough.
- Long vocabulary lists. Pointing and Bu nima? will teach you the fruit names at the stall, and you will remember them better.
- Perfect pronunciation of q. If you say a normal “k”, people will still understand you.
What is worth ten minutes: four sounds
Reading a phrase off a page with English sounds is the main way travellers fail to be understood. Four letters matter:
- x is the sound in Scottish “loch”, not “ks”. Xayr and Xayrli kun start with it.
- q is a “k” made further back in the throat, as in qancha.
- oʻ is a closed, rounded “o” as in “go” without the glide. Plain o is open, like British “hot”. Oʻn (ten) has the first; non (bread) has the second.
- gʻ is like a Parisian “r”, as in toʻgʻriga.
Stress falls on the last syllable almost every time: rah-MAT, qan-CHA. Listen to a native speaker before you travel if you can, and say each phrase aloud a few times. Silent reading does not prepare you to be understood.
Reading signs
Uzbek is written in a 29-letter Latin alphabet in which every letter has one sound, so you can read signs aloud from the first day. The alphabet post is a short read. A few things you will see:
- Xush kelibsiz: welcome, on airport and shop signs.
- -xona means a room or place: choyxona (teahouse), oshxona (kitchen), dorixona (pharmacy), hojatxona (toilet).
- bozor (bazaar), metro bekati (metro station), bank, aeroport.
- The ʻ in oʻ and gʻ is part of the letter, not punctuation.
A two-week preparation plan
- Two weeks before. Read the alphabet post. Learn the meeting and politeness phrases aloud.
- One week before. Numbers to ten, the tens, ming. Then the bazaar and taxi phrases.
- On the trip. Use Assalomu alaykum and rahmat with everyone from the first hour. Tell people Men oʻzbekcha oʻrganyapman (I am learning Uzbek); they slow down and help.
If the trip makes you want more, basic conversational Uzbek (A1) takes four to eight weeks of daily practice.
Where Uzbekcha fits
Uzbekcha is the app we make. It is on Android through Google Play as a paid subscription, and coming soon to iPhone. It has audio on every word and “travel” as one of the reasons you can choose. For this trip, the free phrasebook and how-to-say pages also cover the phrases you need.