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#tt_newbie What's your profession? When you meet someone, one of the first questions may be about your work: Sineñ hönəreñ nindi? – What's your profession? Sin qayda eşliseñ? – Where do you work? Sin kem bulıp eşliseñ? – Who do you work as? You can answer with either: Min eşsez. – I'm unemployed Min pensiyədə / layıqlı yalda. – I’m retired Eş ezlim. – I'm looking for a job. Or if you do work, you may say: Min… tabib - doctor şəfqət tutaşı - nurse uqıtuçı - teacher tərbiyəçe - nursery-school teacher peşekçe - cook IT belgeç - IT specialist citəkçe - manager, boss eşməkər - businessman / businesswoman satuçı - seller xisapçı - accountant terkəwçe - receptionist sərqatib - secretary xoquqçı - lawyer xakim - judge saqçı - security guard yörtüçe - driver yanğın sünderüçe - firefighter oçuçı - pilot ğəskəri - soldier möhəndis - engineer miğmar - architect rəssam - painter sınçı - sculptor zərkən - juweller tegüçe - tailor cırçı - singer xəbərçe - reporter səyəsətçe - politician sportçı - sportsman eşçe - worker tözüçe - construction worker tərceməçe - translator/interpreter möxərrir - editor yazuçı - writer şağir - poet ...or: Min ... bulıp eşlim. A: Səlam, bez tanışmadıq buğay. Min Murat. B: Səlam Murat, min Nailə. Tanışuwınızğa şatmın. A: Min də. Sin qayda eşliseñ? B: Min şəhər üzəgendəge texnologiyə şirkәtendə eşlim. Ə sin? A: Min Sibğat Xәkim uramındağı marketing agentlığında eşli başladım. Texnik şirkәttə nərsə eşliseñ? B: Min program möhəndise. Mobil quşımtalar әzerlәw belәn şöğellәnәm. Ə sin? A: Min marketing belən şöğellənəm, şuña kürə minem eşem reklama şirkәtləren buldıru belən bəyle. B: Qızıq! Bəlki bez qayçan da bulsa çəy eçep, ber-berebez belәn yaxşıraq tanışa alırbız. A: Yaxşı fiker, Nailə. Tizdən küreşerbez! ____ A: Hi, I don't think we've met before. I'm Murat. B: Hi Murat, I'm Nailə. Nice to meet you. A: You too. Where do you work? B: I work at the tech company downtown. How about you? A: I just started working at the marketing agency on Sibğat Xakim Street. What do you do at the tech company? B: I'm a software engineer. I work on developing mobile apps. And you? A: I'm in marketing, so my job involves creating advertising campaigns. B: Sounds interesting! Maybe we can grab tea sometime and get to know each other better. A: Great idea, Nailə. Let's meet up soon! Tell me who you work as in the comments 👇🏼 I’ll go first. Minem isemem Aygöl həm min miğmar bulıp eşlim. Ə sez?

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#tt_advanced Past Perfect (Pluperfect) The past perfect (pluperfect) is formed by combining the past tense II stem (past participle) of the verb with idem, ideñ, ide, etc. min yazğan idem sin yazğan ideñ ul yazğan ide bez yazğan idek sez yazğan idegez alar yazğan ide(lər) min kitkən idem sin kitkən ideñ ul kitkən ide bez kitkən idek sez kitkən idegez alar kitkən ide(lər) ⏳ The past perfect (pluperfect) denotes: 🕐 A past action that preceded another past action and was completed before the latter occurred. The two (or more) actions may be expressed in one sentence, or each action may be conveyed in a separate sentence. The verb designating the second action may appear in a variety of forms. Bez awılğa kergəndə qoyaş batkan ide inde. (Mirsəy Əmir, "Ağidel") The sun had already set when we were entering the village. 🕐 Instead of following the verb designating the second action as it does in the above examples, the verb in the past perfect tense may also precede it, either in the same sentence or in the context. In this case, the action expressed by the verb in the latter part of the sentence or in the following sentence often interrupts the action expressed by the verb in the past perfect tense, or it contradicts the action. Wasil aña bulğan xəlne söyləp birü öçen awızın ğına açqan ide. Nikitin anı şunda uq bülderde. (Söbbux Rafikov, "Tın yılğa buyında") Wasil had just opened his mouth to tell him what happened. Nikitin interrupted him right there. 🕐 An action performed at some point in past time or the result of a past action or the state resulting from a past action. Alarnıñ söylise süzləre küptən söyləngən, əytergə teləgənnəre küptən əytelgən ide inde. (Ğaziz Müxəmmətşin, "Yörəktəge ezlər") The words they had had to say had been said already long ago; what they had wanted to tell had been told already long ago. 🕐 A past action that is in close connection with the moment of speaking. In this case, the past perfect may be replaced by the form ending in -dı, -de, -tı, -te. - Monda başlıqlar barmı soñ? Miña berniçə kön şuşında yəşəp torırsız dip əytkənnər ide. - Bar. Beatrisa tütəy. Yortlar idarəsenə kitkən ide. Xəzer qaytır. (Ğaziz Möxəmmətşin, "Yörəktəge ezlər") - Are there any bosses here? I have been told that I would stay here for a couple of days. - There is one. Aunt Beatrice. She has gone to the housing administration. She’ll return any moment.

#tt_intermediate Postpositions Governing the Dative 🕖 Postpositions meaning to, until, before: qәdər tikle xətle çaqlı ↔️ qarşı – against, opposite, in front of yənəşə – beside, side by side, next to idənnən tüşəmgə xәtle – from the floor to the ceiling axırına qәdər – till the end doşmanğa qarşı körәşәlәr – they fight against the enemy zur kibetkə yənəşə ber yortqa kerdem – I entered a house next to a big shop 💭 qarağanda – judging by, according to qaramastan – despite, in spite of qarata – to, towards, with regard to kilgəndə – when it comes to kürə – according to, because of taba / qarap – towards, to yaqın – close to, nearly, about, approximately Qıyəfətenə qarağanda, çınnan da mulla tösle ide ul. (Möxəmmət Bikbulatov, "Ğ. İbrahimov turında istəleklər") Judging by his appearance, he really looked like a mulla. Ul, yəş buluwına qaramastan, baytaq qına nərsəne belə ... (Fatix Xösni, "Utızınçı yıl") Despite her being young, she knows quite a lot of things … Könbatışqa qarap kitsəñ, qaya barıp çığasıñ? (Nurixan Fəttax, "Bala küñele dalada") If you travel towards the west, where do you get? Töşkə taba kük yöze açılıp, kön bötenləy ayazıp kitte ... (Fatix Xösni, "Awıl östendə yoldızlar") Towards noon the sky brightened up, and the day became completely clear ...

Nevertheless, in 1979, Batulla completed literary courses in Moscow and continued writing. He also began teaching at the theater school and the Institute of Culture in Kazan. In 1953, he earned another diploma in higher education from Moscow University of Culture and Arts. Batulla proved himself as a writer on an epic scale. In the story "Yul buyında zəñgər çəçək" ("A forget-me-not by the roadside", 1990) the problems of modern youth are raised. The novel "Söyembikə" (1992; translated into Russian in 2001) is based on the tragic fate of the last xanbikə (ruler) of Kazan. Rabit Batulla is also notable for his translation of the Quran into the Tatar language (2000). In more recent times, Batulla served as a television presenter, reading fairy tales and conducting dance lessons for children on air. In 2014, his novel "Biyü cene qağılğan yeget" served as the basis for the biographic movie "Rudolf Nuriyev. Rudik," portraying the childhood and youth of ballet dancer Rudolf Nuriyev. Batulla co-wrote the screenplay and made a brief appearance in the film, while his son Nurbək Batulla played the lead role. In 2023, Rabit Batulla, Roza Xəyrullina, and Yunus Tairov starred in the leading roles of the movie "Yədəş! İstə!" (Beri da pomni) depicting village life involving a grandfather, grandmother, and grandson. The younger son of the writer, Baybulat, co-authored the screenplay and directed the film. Notably, Nurbək, the elder son, portrayed a secondary character. The film, partially based on real-life experiences, Rabit and his wife Ruzia serving as prototypes for the grandparents, who grapple with the challenges of aging. Baybulat Batulla struggled to find an actor for the role of Rasim until he proposed his father to basically portray himself. The film was shot in the Tatar language and released in movie theaters with Russian dubbing or in the original with subtitles. Interestingly, the production took place in the same village where Roza Xəyrullina used to collect beetroots during her school days. The movie is currently out, and if you live in Tatarstan or Bashqortostan, or any other region of Russia, I would definitely recommend you to watch it with your family or friends at the cinema. Get information from your local movie theater if you can watch it in Tatar and enjoy!

#tt_culture Rabit Batulla, originally named Robert Möxlis ulı Batulla, is a prominent Tatar public figure with a multifaceted career encompassing theater direction, teaching, writing, playwriting, journalism, and satire. He is a recognized member of the Union of Writers of Tatarstan, and his contributions to the arts and culture have earned him several prestigious accolades, including the title of Honored Artist of the Tatar ASSR in 1985, People's Writer of the Republic of Tatarstan in 2008, and the State Prize of the Republic of Tatarstan named after Ğabdulla Tuqay in 2006. Born on March 26, 1938 in the village of Tübən Olıcı in the Zəy district of the Tatar ASSR in a family of teachers, but he grew up with his grandfather and considered Şıqmay to be his native village. During World War II, the boy's father spent three years as a prisoner of war in Germany. Later, he faced imprisonment and was listed by the NKVD. Due to these circumstances, the boy's parents lost their land and were fired from school, ultimately resorting to working on a collective farm. Robert, too, became accustomed to physical labor from a young age and continues to identify himself as a villager with a middle-class nobility upbringing. In 1956, he along with two school friends pursued his passion for the performing arts by enrolling in the acting faculty of Moscow's M. S. Shchepkin Theater School, earning his diploma five years later. After completing his studies, he initially worked as an actor at the Kamal Tatar Academic Theater but soon developed a keen interest in directing. In 1963, he was appointed as the director of the Kazan Puppet Theater, and he also took on the role of director at the editorial office of the Kazan Children's Studio of Television. Three years later, he pursued further education in the Higher Directing Course in Moscow. In 1969, Batulla founded a theater of satire, and held the position as its principal director for the next 17 years. It was during this period that his enthusiasm for literary creation began to flourish, leading him to write plays, scripts, and stories, primarily for children. He adopted the Tatar variant of his childhood name as his pen name (Irabit), which translates from Arabic to "leader" or "great." In 1968, Rabit Batulla became a member of the Writers' Union of Tatarstan, solidifying his position as a writer. In 1977, he returned to Moscow with the goal of attending the Higher Literary Courses at the Literary Institute named after M. Gorky. Following his graduation in 1979, he embarked on a teaching career at the Kazan Theater School. In 1966, his literary journey took a significant step with the publication of his first book, a short story titled "İsemem minem Dürtküz" ("My name is Dürtküz"). His plays, including "Töş waqıtında moğciza" ("Magic in the afternoon", 1966), and "Quray uynıy ber malay" ("A boy plays a kuray", 1970), were performed in various cities across the Soviet Union. His books, such as "Uylarımnı keşe belsen" ("Let people know my thoughts", 1969), and "Taşlamam, cankisəgem" ("I will not leave you, darling", 1980), gradually gained popularity among readers due to their compelling plots and subtle humor. During this period, Rabit Batulla faced challenges with governmental authorities. His story "Murtaza," depicting the Tatars' struggle for liberation after the capture of Kazan in 1552 by Ivan the Terrible's troops, drew mixed reactions from the party government leadership. In 1970, he sent two telegrams to Brezhnev — one requesting permission to establish a magazine for young Tatar writers and the other expressing his protest against converting the Asimov Mosque into a hostel. As a consequence, he found himself on a government blacklist, leading to rejections from publishing houses, editorial offices of newspapers, and magazines. Only after Perestroika his works got published again.

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#tt_beginner Dative The dative is formed by means of the suffixes -ğa, -gә, -qa, -kә, -na, -nә, -a, -ә. 🔶 -ğa/-gә is joined to stems ending in a voiced consonant or a vowel and to stems with the possessive suffixes of the 1st and 2nd persons plural: Qazanğa - to Kazan suğa - into the water bülmәbezgә - into our room yortığızga - to your house 🔸 -qa/-kә is joined to stems ending in a voiceless consonant: atqa - to a horse kibetkә - to a shop 🔸 -na/-nә is joined to stems with the possessive suffixes of the third person singular and plural: dustına - to his/her friend etenә - to his dog 🔸 -a/-ә is joined to stems with the possessive suffixes of the first and second persons in singular: urınıma - to my place әtiyeñә - to your dad 🔸 Words borrowed from or via Russian which end in -k or -g and require Tatar suffixes with back vowels take -qa. qatalogqa - to a catalog 🔶 The dative case indicates the indirect object: The dative functions as the circumstantial complement of the verb, giving precision to the action in a number of ways. For example, it indicates: · Motion in various directions: uramğa çıqtı - he went out to the street · Time limit: irtәdәn kiçkә qədər - from morning till evening · The amount of money for which something is bought or sold: 100 sumğa sattıñ - you sold for 100 rubles · Measure and degree: berniçә kilogramğa awırraq - heavier by several kilogram · Purpose (with verbs denoting movement): balıqqa barabız - we’re going fishing

#tt_newbie What's your name? Today we're learning how to introduce ourselves. First, let's look at the personal pronouns: min – I sin – you ul – he/she/it bez – we sez – you (plural/formal) alar – they 👩🏻 Minem isemem ... – My name is ... Sineñ isemeñ niçek? – What’s your name? Min … yəştәmen. – I’m … years old. 👷🏻‍♀️ Sin kem bulıp eşliseñ? – What do you do? ... bulıp eşlim. – I work as ... ... ölkәsendә eşlim. – I work in the field of... Uqıtuçı bulıp eşlim. – I work as a teacher. Tabib bulıp eşlim. – I work as a doctor. Satuçı bulıp eşlim. – I work as a seller. 📍 Sin qaydan? – Where are you from? Min ...dan/dәn (-nan/-nәn) – I'm from ... Min Tatarstannan. – I'm from Tatarstan. Min Başqortostannan. – I'm from Bashkortostan. (We will learn more professions and country names in the next two weeks.) 🥰 Tanışuwıbızğa şatmın! - Nice to meet you! Min də şatmın. - Nice to meet you too. Let's take a look at the dialog: A: Səlam! Min Almaz. Sezneñ isemegez niçek? B: Səlam, min Liliyə! Tanışuwıbızğa şatmın. A: Min də! Könegez niçek ütte? B: Yaxşı, rəxmət. Ə sezneke? A: Mineke də. Sez kem bulıp eşlisez? B: Min cirle agentlıqta grafik dizayner bulıp eşlim. Ə sez? A: Qızıq! Min satuda eşlim, ləkin dizayn mine hərwaqıt qızıqsındırdı. ________ A: Hi! I'm Almaz. What's your name? B: Hi, I'm Liliyə! Nice to meet you. A: Likewise! How's your day been? B: Good, thanks. How about yours? A: Mine too. So, what do you do for a living? B: I work as a graphic designer at a local agency. How about you? A: That's interesting! I work in sales, but I've always been fascinated by design. Let’s get to know each other in the comments 🙌🏼

#tt_culture The evil spirit of Albastı Kazan, Crimean, Siberian Tatars, Mishar, Kazakh, Bashkort, Kyrgyz, Karakalpak, Nogay, and other Turkic peoples believed in this spirit. The name is derived from "əl" (hand) and "basmak" (to press). She is usually depicted as an ugly disheveled woman with such big breasts that she can throw them over her shoulder. She has long and pointed nails. According to Bashkort mythology, Albastı appears as a woman to men and as a man to women. She can also appear as a tree or a moving hay cart. Despite the scary appearance, Albastı herself is afraid of dogs' barking and crowing of roosters. Sometimes, when a person fell asleep, they would realize that they are in bed unable to move, and with a heart beating fast. Albastı would be sitting on their chest, pressing and choking them, or even sucking their blood. In this panicked state, the person would wake up and in that moment, Albastı would get off them and disappear. That might be how people used to explain sleep paralysis back in the day. The most famous story about Albastı goes like this. Once a man was riding from some city to his village at night. Before reaching the village, he sees that two stacks of hay are moving on both sides of him, and near these stacks, there is some light. Looking more closely, the man was horrified, recognizing Albastı in the haystacks. He began to whip his horse to go faster, but no matter how much he tried, he couldn’t get past the luminous haystacks. After two or three hours of racing, he rides up to a dark forest, which he clearly remembered wasn’t in this area before. He starts hallucinating and hears the sounds of music, distant human voices, the mooing of cows, and the neighing of horses... He was even more frightened and prayerfully kept riding. He looked around - the same haystacks and the same unusual light around them were following him. The man lost all hope of deliverance. He laid down in his cart and let go of the reins... Suddenly, he hears the roosters crowing, and immediately both haystacks and the light near them disappear. After that, the horse, feeling relieved, took off straight at a gallop, so that it was impossible to hold it. The man arrived in his native village in the morning, exhausted and traumatized. However, after this incident, he fell ill and barely survived. If the roosters had not crowed in time on that dark night, his death would surely have been inevitable. That was the story of Albastı. Have you ever heard of her before? Let me know in the comments if you're interested in more mysterious stories and legends from the Tatar mythology.

#tt_advanced Passive Verbs Passive verbs are formed by joining: a) -l to verb stems ending in a vowel except bi-syllabic verbs whose first syllable ends in -l, verb stems ending in -i, -u or -la, -lə: yasa – do, make, yasal – be done, made b) -el / -ıl to verb stems ending in -i, -u or a consonant except -l: ki – put on, kiyel – be worn qu – chase, quwıl – be chased tap – find, tabıl – be found c) -n to verb stems ending in -la, -lə or bisyllabic verbs the first syllable of which ends in -l, and the second one in a vowel: cırla – sing, cırlan – be sung alda – lie, aldan – be lied to d) -ın, -en to verb stems ending in -l. bül – divide, bülen – be divided ➡️ Passive verbs are mostly formed from transitive verbs: uqı – read, uqıl – be read yu – wash, yuwıl – be washed di – he (she, it) says, diyelə – it is said yaz – write, yazıl – be written onıt – forget, onıtıl – be forgotten In such sentences, the speaker/writer directs the readers' attention away from the agent and more towards the action and its receiver: anıñ xezməte qabul itelde – his work was accepted bu kön bəyrəm itelə – this day is celebrated ⛔️ In Tatar, a passive verb can be formed from an intransitive verb. In this case, it would mean "one does something": bar – barıla (one goes) qayt – qaytıla (one returns) yör – yörelə (one walks) tor – torıla (one stands, gets up) 👤 When the passive verb expresses an action, the agent is indicated by the possessive form of taraf (in most cases of the third person, singular) in the ablative case: ... hiçqayçan həm hiçkem tarafınnan cırlanmağan cırlarnı cırlar ide. – ... would sing songs which had never been sung by anybody before. (Ğadel Qutuy, Ilham) If taraf is preceded by a possessive pronoun, the possessive suffixes may be omitted: minem taraftan bilgeləngən plan buyınça – according to the plan set up by me 🌺 If the "doer" of the passive voice is inanimate, it is indicated by the postposition belən: qoyma belən ayırılğan – separated by a fence çəçəklər belən qaplanğan – covered with flowers Or not named at all: uram yaxşı yaqtırtılğan – the street is well lit 👥 Verb stems ending in -la, -lə or in -l and, consequently, forming their passive with -n, -ın, -en, may take an additional -ıl / -el (double passive): söyləngən – söylənelgən uylanğan – uylanılğan