Function words (yordamchi so‘zlar) have no independent lexical meaning, do not answer a question of their own and are not parts of the sentence. Yet speech is impossible without them: they link words and sentences and express shades of meaning such as question, emphasis and restriction. Function words are of three kinds: postpositions, conjunctions and particles. In addition there are special words that are neither independent nor function words: interjections, onomatopoeic words and modal words. The exam often asks about the types of function words, their spelling and the punctuation linked to them.
§1. Independent words and function words
Independent words (noun, adjective, numeral, pronoun, verb, adverb) name a concept — a thing, a quality, an action; they answer a question and can be parts of the sentence. Function words only do a grammatical job.
A function word has no lexical meaning, answers no question and is not a part of the sentence.
Compare: Do‘stim bilan keldim (I came with my friend). Here bilan names nothing by itself; it only links do‘stim to the verb keldim. The part of the sentence is the whole phrase do‘stim bilan — an object. Some words can be either independent or function words: Uyning orqasi bog‘ (Behind the house is a garden; orqa is a noun) and uy orqasida (behind the house; a noun-based postposition). So the word class is always decided by the word’s role in the sentence.
§2. Postpositions
A postposition follows a noun or pronoun, links it to a verb or another word and does a job close to that of a case suffix:
pure postpositions: bilan, uchun, kabi, singari, sari, sayin, uzra, orqali, qadar, tomon, keyin, oldin, beri (with, for, like, similar to, towards, with each, above, through, until, towards, after, before, since);
noun-based postpositions: ust, ost, old, orqa, ich, yon, bo‘y, tashqari — stol ustida (on the table), uy orqasida (behind the house), daryo bo‘yida (on the riverbank).
Postpositions are written as separate words: men bilan, do‘stim uchun, bahor kabi
Each postposition requires the preceding word to be in a particular case: -dan keyin (after), -dan oldin (before), -dan beri (since), -ga qadar (until), -ga qarab (towards), -ga tomon (in the direction of). With the nominative: kitob uchun (for the book), sen bilan (with you). A postposition and a case may be synonymous: avtobus bilan keldi — avtobusda keldi (came by bus), maktabga tomon — maktabga (towards school). bilan sometimes acts as a conjunction: Anvar bilan Vali keldi (= Anvar va Vali, Anvar and Vali came). It then joins equal parts.
Worked example
Find the postpositions in Darsdan keyin do‘stim bilan kutubxonaga tomon yo‘l oldik ("After the lesson my friend and I set off towards the library") and the cases they require.
keyin goes with darsdan and requires the ablative.
bilan follows do‘stim, with the nominative.
tomon follows kutubxonaga and requires the dative.
Answer: -dan keyin, bilan (nominative), -ga tomon.
§3. Conjunctions
Conjunctions join homogeneous parts or the clauses of a complex sentence. Coordinating conjunctions join parts or clauses of equal rank:
copulative: va, ham, hamda, -u/-yu (ota-yu ona — father and mother, kitob-u daftar);
adversative: ammo, lekin, biroq, balki (but, however, rather);
negative: na...na (Na u keldi, na bu — neither this one nor that one came).
Subordinating conjunctions attach a subordinate clause to the main clause: chunki (because), agar (if), garchi (although), go‘yo (as if), -ki, toki (so that), shuning uchun (therefore), negaki (since).
No comma before va, hamda or a single yoki; a comma before ammo, lekin, biroq
With repeated conjunctions (goh...goh, na...na, ham...ham) a comma goes before the second one: Goh yomg‘ir yog‘adi, goh quyosh chiqadi. (Now it rains, now the sun comes out.) The conjunction -u/-yu is attached with a hyphen: aka-yu uka (elder and younger brother), keldi-yu ketdi (came and left at once).
Worked example
What kind of conjunction is lekin in Men kitobni o‘qidim, lekin mazmunini to‘liq tushunmadim ("I read the book, but I did not fully understand its content")?
lekin joins two simple clauses: Men kitobni o‘qidim and mazmunini to‘liq tushunmadim.
Neither clause depends on the other — they are of equal rank.
The meaning is contrast: the expected result did not follow.
Answer: an adversative coordinating conjunction; a comma goes before it.
§4. Particles
A particle adds an extra meaning (question, emphasis, restriction, negation) to a word or a sentence:
interrogative: -mi (Keldingmi? — Have you come?), -chi (Senchi? — And you?), -a, -ya (add emotion to a question);
emphatic: hatto (even), axir (after all), ham (too, also), -oq/-yoq, -ku, -da (Kelishi bilanoq ishga kirishdi — as soon as he arrived he got down to work; Men-ku tayyorman — I, for one, am ready);
restrictive: faqat, -gina, yolg‘iz (only, just): Faqat sen kelding (Only you came), ozgina (just a little);
negative: na; hech strengthens negation ( — I have no idea at all).
-mi, -chi, -gina, -oq/-yoq are written solid; -ku, -da take a hyphen: Men-ku, Bo‘ldi-da.
A particle is not a part of the sentence; it is analysed together with the word it is attached to: in Faqat sen kelding the subject is sen (with the particle).
Worked example
Find the particles in Faqat sen qoldingmi? ("Are you the only one who stayed?") and state their meaning.
faqat gives sen a restrictive meaning: not the others, only you.
-mi is attached to the verb qolding and turns the sentence into a question.
Neither is a part of the sentence: the subject is sen, the predicate qoldingmi.
Answer: faqat is a restrictive particle, -mi an interrogative particle.
§5. Special word classes
Interjections (undov so‘zlar) express feelings, calls or commands: oh, voy, ura, ey, hoy, barakalla, obbo. An interjection is followed by a comma or an exclamation mark: Voy, qanday chiroyli! (Oh, how beautiful!)
Onomatopoeic words (taqlid so‘zlar) imitate sounds or visual impressions: shildir (babbling of water), taq-tuq (knocking), lip-lip (flickering), g‘arch-g‘urch (crunching), yalt-yult (glittering). They are mostly reduplicated or paired and take a hyphen. Verbs are formed from them: yalt → yaltillamoq (to glitter), shildir → shildiramoq (to babble).
Modal words express the speaker’s attitude to the statement: albatta, shubhasiz, ehtimol, shekilli, aftidan, darhaqiqat, afsuski (certainly, undoubtedly, perhaps, it seems, apparently, indeed, unfortunately). In a sentence they are parenthetical words and are set off by commas: Ehtimol, u kelar (Perhaps he will come).
If you remove a parenthetical word, the sentence structure stays intact: Afsuski, u kelmadi → U kelmadi.
Tell a modal word from an adverb: U albatta keladi (certainty, a parenthetical word) and U tez keladi (a feature of the action, an adverb).
Worked example
Which word class is afsuski in Afsuski, u kelmadi ("Unfortunately, he did not come"), and what is its role?
The word expresses the speaker’s attitude to the event — regret.
It is not grammatically linked to the parts of the sentence; without it the sentence still stands.
So it is not a part of the sentence but a parenthetical word.
Answer: a modal word acting as a parenthetical word; it is set off by a comma.
§6. Function words and punctuation
Many punctuation rules depend on function words. It helps to remember them together:
no comma before va, hamda, yoki: Olma va nok oldik. (We bought apples and pears.)
a comma before ammo, lekin, biroq: Kichik, lekin shinam uy. (A small but cosy house.)
a comma with repeated conjunctions: Ham o‘qiydi, ham ishlaydi. (He both studies and works.)
a comma before chunki: Kelmadim, chunki kasal edim. (I didn’t come because I was ill.)
after an interjection, a comma or an exclamation mark: Obbo, yana kechikding! (Oh no, you’re late again!)
modal words are set off by commas on both sides: U, shubhasiz, g‘olib bo‘ladi. (He will undoubtedly win.)
No comma before postpositions and particles: Men ham bilaman, Sen bilan boraman.
Worked example
Punctuate Voy biz ham albatta boramiz lekin kechroq ("Oh, we will certainly go too, but a bit later").
Voy is an interjection — a comma after it.
albatta is a modal (parenthetical) word — commas on both sides.
lekin is an adversative conjunction — a comma before it.
ham is a particle — no comma needed.
Answer: Voy, biz ham, albatta, boramiz, lekin kechroq.
Check yourself
What is orqa in uy orqasida?
What kind of conjunction is goh...goh?
Which type of conjunction is chunki?
How many particles are there in Faqat sen qoldingmi?
Which class does lip-lip belong to?
How is albatta set off in a sentence?
Which case does the postposition -dan beri require?
Calling a modal word an adverb and leaving out the comma.
Confusing a particle with a conjunction: ham joining homogeneous parts is a conjunction (ham o‘qiydi, ham ishlaydi), with a single word it is a particle (Men ham bilaman).
Treating a postposition as a separate part of the sentence: it forms one part together with the preceding word.