Kurmanji grammar

Kurmanji is written with the Latin alphabet, like English. 31 letters, and one rule that changes everything: a letter always keeps the same sound. No silent letters, nothing to guess.

Most letters sound like yours. Five do not: c is the j of jungle, ç the ch of chair, ş the sh of share, x the ch of Scottish loch, q a k made deep in the throat. And a hat makes the vowel long: ê î û.

A sentence is ordered subject – object – verb. Where English says “I have breakfast”, Kurmanji says “I breakfast have”. Once you expect the verb at the end, whole sentences stop looking strange.

There is no word for am, are, is. A small ending sticks to the last word of the sentence: ez … im, tu … î, ew … e.

A present verb is built from three pieces: di- + the stem + the ending of the person. xwendin (to read) gives ez dixwînim, tu dixwînî, ew dixwîne.

To say “my sister”, Kurmanji puts nothing between the two words: it adds a vowel to the end of the first one. That link is the ezafe — -a for a feminine noun, -ê for a masculine one, -ên for a plural. Every noun has a gender, and it is the link that shows it, never the word itself.

Rojbaş works all day long. Merheba and silav mean hello.

To one person: bi xatirê te (goodbye). To several: bi xatirê we. The person who stays answers oxir be.

Çawa yî? — how are you? Answer: Ez baş im, spas.

There is no word for am / is / are. A little ending is attached to the last word.

Negation: ne before the word. Ez ne kurd im — I am not a Kurd.

After ji (from) and li (in), a place name takes the ending -ê: ji Amedê, li Swêdê. If the name ends in a vowel, add -yê: ji Qamişloyê.

Kurdish cities often have two names. Amed is Diyarbakır, Hewlêr is Erbil, Wan is Van.

Every pronoun has two forms. The direct form is the subject; the oblique form does everything else, for example the possessor: navê min, my name.

Compound numbers are joined with û (and): bîst û yek 21, çil û şeş 46, sed û yek 101.

Age: Tu çend salî yî? — how old are you? Ez 20 salî me. — I am 20. Salî means 'with years'.

Kurdish tells the two sides of the family apart. Father's brother: mam (or ap). Mother's brother: xal. Father's sister: met. Mother's sister: xaltî.

To say you have something: Xwişkeke min heye. — I have a sister (literally: a sister of mine exists).

Every noun is masculine or feminine. A little vowel, the ezafe, links a noun to what follows it (an owner, an adjective).

After a vowel, add y: birayê min. With -ek (a, an): sêveke sor (a red apple), mêrekî bilind (a tall man).

Names of cities and countries (Amedê, Almanyayê) and words ending in -î are feminine; the common nouns bajar and welat are masculine (welatê min).

Tu çi karî dikî? — what is your job? (literally: what work do you do?)

Answer with the ending of 'to be': Ez endazyar im. — I am an engineer. No article.

Present = di- + present stem + ending.

Negative: na- replaces di-: ez naxwim (I don't eat). Two exceptions take ni-: nizanim (I don't know), nikarim (I can't).

Irregular: hatin (come) → têm, tê, tên; anîn (bring) → tînim.

There is no verb 'to have'. Kurdish says for me a sister exists: Min xwişkek heye.

heye = there is, hene = there are. Negative: nîne / tune.

The owner takes the oblique form: min, te, wî, wê…

xwe means 'own' and points back to the subject: Ez ji dayika xwe hez dikim — I love my (own) mother. Tu ji dayika min hez dikî — you love my mother.

Saet çend e? — what time is it? Saet deh e. — it is ten.

'At eight o'clock' is di saet 8an de: the number takes -an inside di … de. 'At one o'clock': di saet 1ê de.

Di mala wê de — in her house. di … de wraps around the place.

Li rex — next to. Li derveyî bajarî — outside the city.

Days are counted from Sunday: yek-şem, du-şem, sê-şem, çar-şem, pênc-şem. Friday is În, Saturday Şemî.

Îro çi roj e? — what day is it today? Îro Pêncşem e.

'On Saturdays' = roja Şemiyê. 'On Tuesdays' = roja Sêşemê.

Three basic prepositions: li (at, in), ji (from), bi (with, by).

Many are in two parts, around the word: bi te re (with you), ji te re (to you), di mala wê de (in her house), di navbera … de (between).

With him / her / it they contract: bi + wî → pê, ji + wî → jê, li + wî → lê, di + wî → tê.

Every verb has a present stem to learn with its infinitive. Two rules help:

Verbs in -în drop it: karîn → kar-, pirsîn → pirs-, zewicîn → zewic-.

Verbs in -andin turn it into -în: şandin → şîn-, şikandin → şikîn-, standin → stîn-.

The rest must be learnt: çûn → ç- (diçim), dan → d- (didim), dîtin → bîn- (dibînim), xwestin → xwaz- (dixwazim), ajotin → ajo- (dajom: the i of di- drops before a vowel).

The four seasons: bihar (spring), havîn (summer), payîz (autumn), zivistan (winter).

Di salekê de dozdeh meh hene. — there are twelve months in a year. Duwanzdeh is the same number, said differently.

'I want to come' is said I want I come: Ez dixwazim bêm. The second verb is in the subjunctive: bi- + present stem + ending.

Negative: naxwazim, nikarim; the subjunctive takes ne-: divê ez nexebitim.

Verbs with a preverb (ve-, der-, da-) drop bi-: vekim, derkevim. “Noun + kirin” verbs keep it: pîroz bikin, we bikim mêvan.

Nouns change ending when they are an object, after a preposition, or an owner. This is the oblique:

With -ek: hespekî, gundekî. After a vowel, add y: kursiyê.

This and that also change: ev → vî (m.) / vê (f.) / van (pl.); ew → wî / wê / wan.

Future = dê after the subject + subjunctive verb: Ez dê bixwînim. — I will read.

Negative: usually the plain present negative, ez naxwînim; or ez dê nexwînim.

Shortcuts: ez ê, em ê, and tu dê often becomes tê.

Comparative: adjective + -tir, and ji before what you compare with: Meyrem ji birayê xwe mezintir e — Meyrem is older than her brother.

Two irregulars: baş → çêtir (baştir also exists), pir → bêtir.

Superlative: -tirîn BEFORE the noun (kevintirîn cih), or herî before the adjective (cihê herî kevin).

Heke (if) + subjunctive: Heke ez biçim — if I go. Negative: heke ez neçim.

The second half uses the future, 'can', or the present: Heke hûn biçin bazarê, hûn dikarin tiştên erzan peyda bikin.

Ku, ger, eger, heger also mean 'if'.

Past stem = infinitive without -(i)n: çûn → çû, hatin → hat, ketin → ket.

For verbs of movement and state (go, come, get up, fall, be…), just add the endings. The third person has no ending.

Negative: ne-: ez zû ranebûm (I did not get up early).

For verbs with an object (see, read, eat, buy…), the past is built backwards:

1. The subject goes oblique: min, te, wî/wê, me, we, wan.
2. The object stays plain.
3. The verb agrees with the object.

Min helbestek xwend — I read a poem. Min tu dîtî — I saw you. Min ew dîtin — I saw them. Te çend pirtûk kirîn? — how many books did you buy?

Negative: ne-: Min helbest nexwend.

Add di- to the past stem for 'was doing' and 'used to': ez dinivistim — I was sleeping; em her gav bi hev re digeriyan — we always used to wander around together.

Same subject rules as the simple past. Negative keeps di-: ne-di-: baran nedibariya (it was not raining).

'When' = dema, gava, wexta.

Hesp û çêlek heywanên kedî ne. — horses and cows are domestic animals.

The partridge, kew, is very important among the Kurds.

Mêwe or fêkî: fruit. Sebze: vegetables.

Zebeşê Diyarbekirê li hemû Kurdistanê navdar e. — the watermelon of Diyarbekir is famous all over Kurdistan.

The present perfect = past stem + -me / -yî / -ye / -ne (after a vowel), -ime / -iye / -iye / -ine (after a consonant).

Ez ji darê ketime — I have fallen from the tree. Ew çûye — he has gone.

Same backwards rule as the past for verbs with an object: Min helbestek xwendiye, Wê ez dîtime (she has seen me).

It is also the tense of tales and of things one has heard: Rovî gotiye… — the fox said…

The past perfect = past stem + bû + ending: ez li wir mabûm — I had stayed there. After a consonant, add i: axaftibûm.

With an object, same backwards rule: Min nan xwaribû — I had eaten. Wan çay vexwaribû — they had drunk tea.

Negative: ne-: Min marekî ewqasî mezin qet nedîtibû.

Kerem bikin! — help yourselves. Ez birçî me. — I am hungry. Ez têr im. — I am full.

Dew is the salty yoghurt drink, xoşav a fruit compote, jajî a soft cheese with herbs.

Most cooking verbs are built with kirin (to do): sor kirin (fry), sar kirin (cool), çêkirin (make, cook).

Wan kartolan sor bike ji bo şîvê. — fry those potatoes for dinner.

Passive = a form of hatin (come) + the infinitive: Xwarinek tê çêkirin — a meal is being made. Pirtûkek hat xwendin — a book was read.

Negative: negate hatin: nayê xwarin (is not eaten), nehat şandin (was not sent).

'By' = ji aliyê … ve, formal: ji aliyê Gogol ve hatiye nivîsandin.

Little phrases you hear every day.

Mal ava! — thank you (literally: may your house prosper). Ser çavan — with pleasure (on my eyes). Bi xêr hatî — welcome. Li xwe hişyar be — take care.

Tales start with hebû û tunebû — there was and there was not.

Words of the poem Ger hûn bixwazin by Berken Bereh, born in Şirnex in 1954.

Kurdish builds words by gluing: mirov-hez (humane / who loves people), heft-reng (seven-coloured), welat-parêz (patriot), kitêb-firoş (bookseller).

An order is the stem with bi- in front: bizivire (turn), bisekine (stop), bike (do). To several people, -in: bizivirin.

Two verbs have an imperative of their own: çûn → here, hatin → were. And dan simply gives bide (bi + d + e).

A verb with a prefix keeps it and drops bi-: daketin → dakeve, vekirin → veke, rabûn → rabe.

Saying no: ne- instead of bi- — neçe, neke.

Ev bi çend e? — how much is this? Hesab çend e? — how much is the bill?

After a number the noun does not take a plural: sê kîlo, du şûşe, pênc dane. It only takes -an when the sentence puts it in the oblique.

Bazar kirin is to bargain — at the market it is expected, not rude.

Prefixed verbs keep their prefix in the present too: hilbijartin → hildibijêrim (I choose).

An ordinal is the number plus -em:

The noun in front takes the ezafe: kolana sêyem, roja dawî.

And three words that hold a story together: pêşî (first), dûre (then), di dawiyê de (in the end).

From top to bottom: ser (head), rû (face), guh (ear), dev (mouth), stû (neck), mil (shoulder), dest (hand), zik (belly), ling (leg).

xwe is myself, yourself, himself — one word for every person: ez xwe dişom, tu xwe dişoyî, ew xwe dişo.

When it is mutual, the word is hev: em hev nas dikin — we know each other.

Pain is said the other way round: serê min dêşe — my head hurts. The body part is the subject, and the verb follows it: didanên min dêşin.

Tayê min heye — I have a fever. Ez dikuxim — I am coughing. Ez nexweş ketim — I fell ill.

bi- in front of a noun makes an adjective: hêz → bihêz (strong). bê- makes its opposite.

The imperative of unit 11 only speaks to tu and hûn. For the others: bila + subjunctive.

Useful at the door: Min dem girt — I have an appointment. Ev lezgîn e — this is urgent.

ku reports a statement, ka reports a question:

The tense does not move back, unlike English and French.

gotin is irregular: dibêjim (I say), got (said), bêje (say!).

A noun plus the ezafe plus ku: mirovê ku hat — the man who came. Pirtûka ku min xwend — the book I read.

The preposition stays inside the clause: bajarê ku ez lê dijîm — the city I live in.

hemû (all), her kes (everyone), tu kes (nobody).

Four joiners, and the mood that follows them:

It is not a rule to memorise: when the event is still to come or happens as a habit, the verb takes the subjunctive; in a story told in the past, the past may be kept.

The weather is said with the thing itself as subject: baran dibare (it rains), berf dibare (it snows), tav heye (it is sunny).

Words of frequency go before the verb, often at the start of the sentence: gelek caran baran dibare, her tim germ e, hema hema her roj.

Hewa xweş e — the weather is nice. Hewa xerab e — the weather is bad.

The four directions: bakur (north), başûr (south), rojhilat (east, where the sun rises), rojava (west, where it sets).

The if of what never happened: bi- + past stem + an ending you learn with each verb (-a, -iya, -iba, -na…).

And the second half repeats the shape: em neçûna — we would not have gone.

One points back at the cause, the other forward at the consequence:

And the small change of direction: lê belê (however), herwiha (likewise), yanî (that is to say), bi kurtî (in short).

Belkî (maybe) and bê guman (without a doubt) say how sure you are.

A life, in order: hatin dinyayê (to be born), mezin bûn (to grow up), zewicîn (to marry), pîr bûn (to grow old), mirin (to die).

Dates take the wrapper of unit 4: di sala 1990an de. Counting back: berî bîst salan — the plural oblique, because berî wants the noun in the plural oblique.

Sedsal is a century, serdem an era, nifş a generation.

Most verbs in -în, -in or -an have a twin in -andin, and the meaning turns outward:

Four pairs are irregular: ketin/xistin, mirin/kuştin, man/hiştin, rabûn/rakirin.

And a prefix can sit on top: der + xistin = derxistin (to take out).

A dengbêj is deng (voice) plus bêj (who says) — the one who carries history in songs. His songs are kilam, the long ones destan.

Calling out to someone: a man takes -o, a woman takes -ê.

Wanting someone else to do something: ku + subjunctive — ez dixwazim ku ew bêje.