kazakhtili қазақ тілі

Greetings — guided

beginner

A guided walk through Kazakh greetings — Kazakh phrases first, English explanation second, with slowed-down pronunciation on the trickier bits.

— — / —
Press play to start.
Show full transcript (51 segments)
  1. en In this lesson we'll go through a handful of common Kazakh greetings — what you'd actually use to start a conversation.
  2. en First: the casual hello, used with friends and family.
  3. kk Сәлем
  4. kk-slow Сәлем
  5. en That's it — just two syllables. Sa - lem. The same word also works for 'hi'.
  6. en When you're meeting someone older or someone you don't know, you switch to the formal greeting. Listen:
  7. kk Сәлеметсіз бе?
  8. en Now the same phrase, slowed down, so you can hear each piece clearly:
  9. kk-slow Сәлеметсіз бе?
  10. en It literally breaks down to: be-healthy-you-formal — question. Notice the little particle at the end:
  11. kk бе
  12. en That's the Kazakh question particle. Without it the phrase would be a statement instead of a greeting.
  13. en If you want to ask 'how are you?' to a friend, you'd say:
  14. kk Қалайсың?
  15. kk-slow Қа лай сың
  16. en Three pieces. The word for 'how' is:
  17. kk қалай
  18. en And the ending that means the informal 'you' is:
  19. kk сың
  20. en So literally: how-you. Same vibe as the English 'how are you?'.
  21. en The polite version, for the same question, is:
  22. kk Қалайсыз?
  23. kk-slow Қа лай сыз
  24. en Same word for 'how', but the ending shifts to:
  25. kk сыз
  26. en That's the formal 'you' — use it with strangers, elders, or anyone you'd address as Mr. or Ms. in English.
  27. en And if someone greets you with one of these, what do you say back? The simplest reply is:
  28. kk Жақсы
  29. kk-slow Жақсы
  30. en Meaning 'good' — or by extension, 'I'm well'. You can also chain it with 'thank you':
  31. kk Жақсы, рақмет
  32. en Good — thank you.
  33. en One more: when you're leaving, the casual goodbye is:
  34. kk Сау бол
  35. kk-slow Сау бол
  36. en It literally means 'be healthy'. The plural — to a group, or formally to one person — adds an honorific ending:
  37. kk Сау болыңыз
  38. kk-slow Сау бо лы ңыз
  39. en That's enough for one session. Quick recap. The casual hello:
  40. kk Сәлем
  41. en The formal greeting:
  42. kk Сәлеметсіз бе?
  43. en How are you, informal:
  44. kk Қалайсың?
  45. en How are you, formal:
  46. kk Қалайсыз?
  47. en The reply:
  48. kk Жақсы, рақмет
  49. en And goodbye:
  50. kk Сау бол
  51. en Listen through this lesson a few times and the rhythms will stick.