#tt_newbie
Adjectives
Adjectives describe or define a noun. This week, we’re going back to the basics and taking a look at everything you need to know about how adjectives work in the Tatar language. Some of the most commonly used adjectives in Tatar are:
küp (many, much) – az, əz (few, little)
yaña (new) – iske (old)
zur (big) – keçkenə (small)
yaxşı (good) – naçar (bad)
yəş (young) – qart (old)
matur (beautiful) – yəmsez (ugly)
ozın (long) – qısqa (short)
yıraq (far) – yaqın (close)
irtə (early) – soñ (late)
qaynar, esse (hot) – cılı (warm) – salqın, suwıq (cold)
Some adjectives are commonly expressed by a compound adjective in Tatar:
ozın buylı keşe (a tall person) – qısqa/təbənək buylı keşe (a short person)
isən-saw (healthy)
In today’s Tatar literary language, predicate endings in adjectives are uncommon and are only used for emphasis. Compare the first form (common) and the second one (uncommon):
min şat – min şatmın – I am happy
sin şat – sin şatsıñ – you are happy
ul şat – he (she, it) is happy
bez şat – bez şatbız – we are happy
sez şat – sez şatsız – you are happy
alar şat – alar şatlar – they are happy
❗️Emphatic Forms
Min bik (ütə, ğəyət) köçle. – I’m very strong.
... məs’ələ artıq citdi, ütə qatlawlı. (Ayaz Ğiləcev, “Tınıçlanu zararlı”)
… the matter is extremely serious, very complex.
bigrək matur – especially beautiful
➕ Comparative degree
If you want to say that one thing is bigger, better, or more interesting than another, the formula is very simple: just add -raq/-rək!
zur (big) – zurraq (bigger)
yaxşı (good) – yaxşıraq (better)
qızıq (interesting) – qızığraq (more interesting)
şəp (good) – şəbrək (better)
biyek (high) – biyegrək (higher)
Aznaqay Qazannan keçkenərək. / Qazanğa qarağanda Aznaqay keçkenərək. – Aznaqay is smaller than Kazan.
Sin minnən olıraq. / Sin miña qarağanda olıraq. – You are older than me.
Borçaqta isə aqsım, boday belən çağıştırğanda, ikelətə kübrək ... (Marsel Zaripov, “Otışlı əyləneş.)
But compared to wheat, peas have twice as much protein, ...
💡 It might sound unusual, but the comparative -raq/-rək is often attached to other parts of speech, e.g. nouns or pronouns, to express “more”, “more or less”, “somewhat.”
Mondaraq kil, mondaraq! (Fətxi Burnaş, “Kamali qart”) – Come closer, closer! (lit. “more over here”)
Ul şulayraq uylıy. – He thinks more or less like that.
👑 Superlative degree
To express that something or someone is, for example, the most beautiful in the world, you can say:
(dönyada) iñ matur – the most beautiful (in the world)
iñ zur qazanışlar – the greatest achievements
iñ qart keşe – the oldest person
💡 İñ can be used with many different adjectives. Döm and ör can only be used with certain adjectives:
döm qarañğı (very dark), döm suqır (completely blind), döm iserek (very drunk)
ör-yaña (brand new)
💡 Some adjectives can become more emphatic by partial reduplication of the first syllable and replacing the last consonant with -p or -m. It is very common in adjectives representing colors (e.g. yəm-yəşel), but we will cover it more extensively when we cover this topic later. For now, here are some other examples:
tüm-tügərək or tüp-tügərək – perfectly round
bup-buş – absolutely empty
tıp-tın – completely quiet, silent
qıp-qısqa – very short
tup-turı – perfectly straight
ap-ayaz – completely clear, cloudless
yap-yaqtı – very bright
What if you want to compare two people or things that possess the quality to the same degree? We will cover that in a future post. (I promise, it will be as informative as this one!)
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1June 6, 2026 769 1 5
