Kurmanji Lessons

Kurdish alphabet: a comparative table
Roman Script Arabic Script

A, a ‫ا‬
B, b ‫ب‬
C, c ‫ج‬
Ç, ç ‫چ‬
D, d ‫د‬
E, e ‫ﮦ‬
Ê, ê ‫ێ‬
F, f ‫ف‬
G, g ‫گ‬
H, h ‫ ح‬، ‫هـ‬
I, i --
Î, î ‫ی‬
J, j ‫ژ‬
K, k ‫ک‬
L, l ‫ ڵ‬،‫ل‬
M, m ‫م‬
N, n ‫ن‬
O, o ‫ۆ‬
P, p ‫پ‬
Q, q ‫ق‬
R, r ‫ ڕ‬،‫ر‬
S, s ‫س‬
Ş, ş ‫ش‬
T, t ‫ت‬
U, u ‫و‬
Û, û ‫وو‬
V, v ‫ڤ‬
W, w ‫و‬
X, x ‫خ‬
Y, y ‫ی‬
Z, z ‫ز‬

Kurmanji Kurdish, Introduction 1
Online course in Kurmanji Kurdish,

Uppsala University, 2008
The material for this course was developed by Mehmet Şerif Derince and Ergin Opengin under
the supervision of Geoffrey Haig. All rights for use of this material outside of this course reside
with the authors.
Background information on Kurmanji and Kurdish
1. Introduction to Kurmanji Kurdish

Kurdish is the name given to a bundle of closely-related languages and dialects, all belonging to
the Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. Thus Kurdish is distantly related to
Swedish, English, French or Spanish, because these are also members of the Indo-European
language family. The most important division within Kurdish itself lies between the Northern
Group, generally called Kurmanji (or Kurmanci) Kurdish, and the Central Group, generally
called Sorani. This course aims solely at teaching Kurmanji Kurdish, but we will have a little
more to say on the other varieties of Kurdish below.
Kurmanji is spoken by the majority of Kurds; estimates of the number of speakers vary from 10
to 20 million (reliable figures are not available; much depends on how one defines a Kurdish
'speaker'). Kurmanji speakers have traditionally inhabited most of east and southeastern Turkey,
around Lake Urumiye in Iran, in Syria, and in north Iraq around the towns of Dohuk, Amediye
and Zakho. There is also a sizable Kurmanji speech community in Arbil (North Iraq). A number
of isolated pockets of speakers are also found in Azerbaijan and the ex-Soviet republics of the
Caucasus, and in Khorasan province of east Iran. These communities are the remnants of mostly
forced re-settlements that occurred over the last centuries. We must also mention the extremely
large groups of Kurmanji speakers in the larger cities of Turkey, in particular Istanbul with
perhaps as many as three million Kurds, but also Adana, Izmir and Mersin. Finally, there is a
very large diaspora community in western Europe (at least 600,000), mostly in Germany,
Britain and Sweden. Because there is quite a lot of controversy surrounding the terms like
'Kurdish', we will try to clarify some of the issues in the following points
1.1
1.1 The language vs. dialect controversy
One question that is regularly asked is whether Kurdish is one language, with several different
dialects, or whether it is best considered a group of distinct languages. There is no
straightforward answer to this question, for the simple reason that the terms 'language' and
'dialect' are not clearly defined in linguistics, or indeed in common usage. One widely-quoted
definition is that dialects of a single language should be 'mutually intelligible', that is, speakers
of one dialect should be able to understand other dialects of the same language. But in practice,
this criterion does not really work. For example, Kurmanji-speaking Kurds from north Iraq can
usually understand Sorani, because they have been exposed to it through the media, and often
directly through contact with Sorani speakers. But Kurmanji speakers from, for example,
Erzurum in Turkey, cannot usually understand Sorani when they hear it for the very first time.
Nor can Sorani speakers from Iran (for example, around Kermanshah) readily understand
Kurmanji speakers from Turkey, unless they have had considerable exposure to it. Thus mutual
intelligibility between Kurmanji and Sorani depends heavily on the background of the speakers
involved, and therefore varies a great deal from speaker to speaker. A second serious drawback
with the criterion of mutual intelligibility is this: What does it mean 'to understand' something?
Does it mean to understand every single word, all the fine nuances, or does it mean to
understand just enough to have some idea of what a speaker is saying? There is no reliable and
generally accepted means of measuring degree of understanding, and no recognized minimum
level that mutual intelligibility must reach.
Generally, any Kurd is able to understand at least something spoken in a different variety of
Kurdish. But, for example, she will may also be able to understand at least some of what is said
in Persian, a language that is closely related to Kurdish. Conversely, many Persian speakers
understand quite a lot of what is said in Kurdish. But few people wish to call Persian a dialect
of Kurdish, or vice versa. So we must conclude that the criterion of mutual intelligibility does
not provide a practicable means of distinguishing between languages and dialects.
The truth is, linguists do not have a simple solution for how to distinguish languages and
dialects, and the whole discussion is, from a purely linguistic point of view, really quite
pointless. In fact, the difference between language and dialect is more generally decided on
political or historical grounds. Consider, for example, the Germanic languages of Scandinavia:
Danish, Swedish and Norwegian. Many Scandinavians readily understand all three, so on purely
linguistic grounds one could probably refer to them as three dialects. But few Swedes would be
happy to refer to Swedish as a 'dialect of Norwegian'! Another example are the national
languages of India and Pakistan, Hindi and Urdu respectively. Before the creation of the state of
Pakistan, Hindi and Urdu were considered to be one language. But with the drawing of a
national border separating India and Pakistan, they suddenly became two. These examples could
be multiplied at will; the point is, decisions on whether a particular form of speech be
considered a language, or a dialect of some superordinate language, is more often a matter of
politics than linguistics. In the context of Kurdish, these issues are extremely sensitive, due to
the repressive policies against Kurdish pursued by many of the nation states where Kurdish is
spoken. Because of the often polemic nature of the discussion, and the difficulties with defining
terms like 'dialect' and 'language' outlined above, we will avoid a commitment on this issue.
Fortunately, for Kurmanji the degree of differences among speakers from the various parts of
the Kurmanji speaking area are not that great, so the problems of variation are comparatively
small, though we will be discussing them at various points in the lessons.
1.2 The peripheral languages: Zazaki etc.

Another question encountered in connection with the term Kurdish concerns the status of
certain other closely-related languages. In particular, there is Zazaki, also called Dimili, spoken
in central Anatolia around the towns of Tunceli (formerly Dersim), Bingöl, Diyarbakır and
Urfa. There has been long-standing controversy as to whether Zazaki should be considered part
of Kurdish or not. The general view among Iranianists is that it should not. However, many
native speakers, and many Kurmanji speakers, prefer to count Zazaki as part of Kurdish.
Educated Kurmanji speakers who have studied their own language can often understand a lot of
Zazaki when they encounter it, and vice versa, so we are faced with similar problems in
distinguishing languages and dialects that were mentioned above. Very similar issues apply to
the languages Gorani/Hawrami, Luri and Lak, all spoken in Iran. Again, many speakers of these
languages consider themselves to be Kurds, but Iranianists are divided in their views on
whether they should be considered part of Kurdish or not.
2. Literary tradition in Kurmanji Kurdish
2.1 The Classical

Classical Kurdish Literature
The literary tradition of Kurmanji is a matter of dispute. There are different views on the first
Kurmanji-writing poets and authors; however some of them are accepted as the forerunners of the
language. A Yezidi religious work, the Meshefa Reş can be considered as the oldest piece of
literature in Kurmanji. It is in a classic form of Kurmanji and thought to be written sometime in
the 13th century. It is held to have been written by Sheikh Hasan (born 1195 CE), a nephew of
Sheikh Adi, the prophet of the Yezidis. In most of the sources, Ali Hariri (1425-1490?) is cited as
the first Kurdish poet writing in Kurmanji after Islam. He has many verses known all over
Kurdistan. Another well-known, sufi Kurdish poet is Malaye Jaziri (1570-1640). He lived in
Buhtan region and his collection of poems includes more than 2,000 verses. Malaye Bate is
known best for his Mewlûd in which the birth of Prophet Mohammed is told. He is believed to
live around the 17th century in Hekari region. Known for his folk stories in his book In the
Words of the Black Horse, Faqi Tayran (1590-1660) is well reputed among Kurds and some of
his verses are being used in modern Kurdish music. Another famous maybe the most cited figure
of the Kurdish literature is Ahmadi Khani (1651-1707), the author of Mem û Zîn. In his book, he
talked about the collective and national rights of the Kurds in a time when nationality was not
known even among Europeans. His book is a kind of declaration for the unification of the Kurds
ruled by different empires at that time. After Ahmadi Khani, no other influential works or writers
were reported for a long time up until the 19th century. Then we come across with the name of
Mala Mahmude Bayazidi (1799-1867) in the writings of the Russian researcher Alexander Jaba.
He conducts some researches with Jaba on the classical Kurdish literature and lists important
figures of the Kurdish literature.
Two most influential works in Kurmanji are “Mem û Zîn” and the story of “Dimdim”. Mem û
Zîn is a drama based on the story of Mem of the Alan clan and Zîn of Buhtan family. Mem and
Zîn are two lovers whose union is hindered by Bekir, a person from the Bekiran clan. The epic is
a rich source of Kurdish culture, history and mythology. Through the love of Mem and Zîn the
national aspirations of the Kurdish people are being conveyed. As for the story of Dimdim, it is a
mythologized epic of the battle taking place between a Kurdish prince, Khani Lep-Zêrîn (The
Khân with the Golden Arm) and the Safavid King Shah Abbas I in the early 17th century.
2.1 The Contemporary Kurmanji Literature
In his book titled Destpêka Edebiyata Kurdî (An introduction to Kurdish Literature), the famous
Kurdish novelist Mehmed Uzun gives a very coherent description of the Kurdish literature in all
parts of Kurdistan. In the book, the first newspapers, magazines and books published in Kurmanji
are recounted. The first newspaper, Kurdistan, was published in Cairo in 1898. The following
newspapers and magazines were published in Istanbul between 1910 and 1920. The classical
works were published for the first time in exile in cities such as Damascus, Beirut, Cairo,
Baghdad and some metropolises in Europe. During the Soviet regime, some Kurdish writers and
researchers such as Kurdoev and Shamilov (Erebê Şemo) were raised and they contributed very
much to the Kurmanji literature in the 20th century.
A breakthrough development in the Kurmanji literature is the creation of the first modern latin-
based alphabet for Kurdish by Jaladat Ali Badirkhan who was a diplomatist, writer, linguist,
journalist and political activist. He lived in Istanbul until after the foundation of Turkish Republic
in 1920s when he was blacklisted for his active and leading involvement in the search for
independence for Kurdistan and forced to escape from Turkey and lived in Syria until his death in
1951. Together with some other Kurdish intellectuals, he published Hawar and created a space
for those willing to write and publish in Kurdish. The first issues of the journal was written with
Arabic alphabet; however they started to publish the journal only with the latin-based alphabet
prepared by Badirkhan. Thanks to this journal and alphabet, the extremely rich traditional oral
Kurdish literature found a way to develop despite the restrictions and prohibitions on Kurdish
language. Later on he published another journal titled Ronahi. During the following years, some
important works were created in Europe particularly Sweden and Germany where many of the
immigrant Kurds are living. Some of the well known contemporary Kurdish writers publishing in
Europe in those years are Firat Cewerî, Mehmed Uzun, Mehmed Emin Bozarslan, Mahmud
Baksi, Hesenê Metê and Rojen Barnas. Some other central figures for the Kurmanji literature in
the 20th century are Osman Sabri, Cegerxwin, Jan Dost, Eliyê Evdirehman, Laleş Qaso, Medenî
Ferho, Bavê Nazê and Musa Anter. The second important breakthrough was seen in 1990s when
some young Kurdish university students and intellectuals gathered around a literature magazine
named Jiyana Rewşen, later on Rewşen-name. The following years experienced a great increase
in Kurdish novels, modern short stories, theater plays and poems. Some of the figures in this
period are Kawa Nemir, Đbrahim Seydo Aydogan, Rênas Jiyan,Yaqob Tilermeni, Dilawer Zeraq
and Lal Laleş among others. During the last three decades, there has been a massive effort among
the Kurds in Turkey to write and to create literary works in Kurdish. The amount of printed
material has increased enormously since then.
There are academic centers for Kurdish literature and language such as Kurdish Institute of
Istanbul and Kurdish Institute of Paris (Institut Kurde de Paris) together with some other
institutes in Berlin, Stockholm, Brussels and some others from Europe, America and Australia,
which contribute to the efforts carried out to revive Kurdish language and literature.
3. Select bibliography
3.1 General interest on the Kurdish language

BLAU, J. (1989): Le kurde, in: Schmitt, R. (ed.). Compendium linguarum iranicarum.
Wiesbaden: Reichert, 327-335.
Bruinessen, M. van (1997): Kurden zwischen ethnischer, religiöser und regionaler Identität, in:
Borck, C., Savelsberg, E. & Hajo, S. (eds.). Ethnizität, Nationalismus, Religion und Politik in
Kurdistan. Münster: Lit, 185-216.
CHYET, M. (1998): Kurdish lexicography: A survey and discussion. Iran and Caucasus 2, 109-
118.
Haig, G. 2004. The invisibilisation of Kurdish: the other side of language planning in Turkey.
In: Conermann, S. and Haig, G. (eds.) Die Kurden: Studien zu ihrer Sprache, Kultur und
Geschichte. Hamburg: EB-Verlag, 121-150.
Haig, G. and Matras, Y. 2002. Kurdish linguistics: A brief overview. Sprachtypologie und
Universalienforschung / Language typology and universals 55(1): 3-14.
HASSANPOUR, A. (1992): Nationalism and language in Kurdistan, 1918–1985. San Francisco:
Mellen Research University Press.
HASSANPOUR, A. (1997): MED-TV, Großbritanien und der türkische Staat: Die Suche einer
staatenlosen Nation nach Souveranität im Äther, in: Borck, C., Savelsberg, E. and Hajo, S.
(eds.). Ethnizität, Nationalismus, Religion und Politik in Kurdistan. Münster: Lit, 239-278.
P.A. Andrews (ed.) 1989 Etnnic Groups in the Republic of Turkey. Wiesbaden
J. Blau 1975 Le kurde de 'Arndiya et de Djabal Sindiar. Paris: K'incksieck
M.v.Bruinessen 1989a Agha, Shaikh und Staat: Politik und Gesellschaft Kurdistans, new ed.
Berlin: Express Editions (New English ed., abbreviated: London, Zed Press 1992)
M.v.Bruinessen 1989b The Ethnic Identity of the Kurds. In Andrews (ed.) 1989: 613-621
P.J. Bumke 1989 The Kurdish Alevis: Boundaries and Perceptions. In Andrews (ed.) 1989
D. Butyka 1892 Das ehemalige Vilajet Dersim. Mitteilungen der geographischen Gesellschaft
Wien XXXV no 2-3, no.4
Th. Bynon 1979. The Ergative Construction in Kurdish. BSOAS 42: 211-224
M.N. Dersimi 1952 Kurdistan tarihinde Dersim [Dersim in the history of Kurdistan]. Aleppo
(repr. Cologne 1988)
C.J. Edmonds 1957 Kurds, Turks and Arabs. London: OUP
C.J. Edmonds 1969 The Beliefs and Practices of the Ahl-e Haqq of fraq. Iran 7: 89-106
A. Hassanpour 1989The Language Factor in National Development: The Standardization of the
Kurdish Language, 1918-1985. Diss. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
P. Lerch 1857-1858 Forschungen uber die Kurden und die iranischen Nordchalda~er. St.
Petersburg (reprinted Amsterdam 1979)
D.N. MacKenzie 1956 Bajalani. BSOAS 18: 418-35
D.N. MacKenzie 1961a Kurdish Dialect Studies I. London: OUP
D.N. MacKenzie 1961b The Origins of Kurdish. Transactions of the Philological Society: 68-86
D.N. MacKenzie 1966 The Dialect of Awroman (Hawraman-i Luhon). Copenhagen
MacKenzie 1989 The role of the Kurdish language in ethnicity. In Andrews (ed.) 1989: 541-542
D.N. MacKenzie n.d. Kurds: Language. Encyclopedia of Islam, 2nd ed.
O. Mann 1909 Kurdisch-Persische Forschungen 11.1: Die Ta~ik-Mundarten der Provinz Fars.
Berlin
0. Mann/ K. Hadank 1930 Kurdisch-Persische Forschungen III, 2: Mundarten der Guran. Berlin
0. MannI K. Hadank 1932 Kurdisch-Persische Forschungen 111.4: Mundarten der Zaza. Berlin
I. Melikoff 1975 Le probleme kizilbas. Turcica 6 49-67
F. Mu~ller 1864 Zaza-Dialekt der Kurdensprache. Sitzungsberichte der Wiener Akademie der
Wissenscilaften, phil.-hist.Kl. Bd. 48
B. Nikitine 1922 Les valis d'Erdelan. Revue du monde musulman 49: 70-104
R. Olson 1989 The ShaikIi Said Rebellion and the Emergence of Kurdish Nationalism. Austin:
University of Texas Press
C.J. Rich 1836 Narrative of a Residence in Koordistan. Repr. London 1972
R. Schmitt (ed.) 1989 Compendium Linguarum Iran ica rum. Wiesbaden: L. Reichert Verlag
Sheref Khan Bitlisi 1596 Sherefname. (Persian text with French translation and commentary by
F.B. Charmoy, St. Petersburg 1868-1875)
A E.B. Soane 1921 A Short Anthology of Guran Poetry. IRAS jan.1921: 57-81
M Sykes 1908 The Kurdish Tribes of the Ottoman Empire. Journal of the Anthropological
Institute 38: 451-486
T. L. Todd 1985 A Grammar of Dimili (also known as Zaza). Diss.
3.2 Grammatical description and text collections
AVLIANI, JU. JU. (1962): Materialy po složnomu glagolu kurdskogo jazyka. Samarkand:
Izdatel’stvo Samarkandskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta imeni Ališera Navoi.
BADILLI, K. (1992): Türkçe izahlı Kürtçe grameri. Istanbul: MED.
BEDIR KHAN, E. & LESCOT, R. (1970): Grammaire Kurde. Paris: Adrien Maisonneuve.
BIÇUK, S. (1997): Rêzimanê Kurdî (Kurmancî). Berlin: Weşanên Înstîtûta Kurdî.
BLAU, J. (1975): Le Kurde de ‘Amādiya et de Djabal Sindjār. Analyse linguistique, textes
folkloriques, glossaires. Paris: Klincksieck.
BOEDER, W. & SCHROEDER, C. (1998): Attribution und sekundäre Prädikate im Sprachvergleich:
Deutsch, Englisch, Kurdisch, Georgisch, Türkisch, in: Sprachtypologie und
Universalienforschung 51(207-227).
51
BULUT, C. (2000): Indirectivity in Kurmanji, in: Johanson, L. & Utas, B. (eds.). Evidentials in
Turkic, Iranian and neighbouring languages. Berlin: Mouton, 147-184.
BYNON, T. (1979): The ergative construction in Kurdish. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and
African Studies 42,
42 211-224.
BYNON, T. (1980): From passive to active via the ergative construction, in: Traugott, E.,
Labrum, R. & Shepherd S. (eds.). Papers from the Fourth International Conference on
Historical Linguistics. Amsterdam: Benjamins, 151-163.
CABOLOV, R. L.. (1976): Očerk istoričeskoj fonetiki kordskogo jazyka. Moskva: Akademija
Nauk.
CABOLOV, R. L.. (1978): Očerk istoričeskoj morfologii kordskogo jazyka. Moskva: Akademija
Nauk.
CHAZNADAR, M. (1967): Očerk istorii sovremennoj kurdskoj literatury. Moskva: Akademija
Nauk.
CUKERMAN, I. I. (1962): Očerki kurdskoj grammatiki. Moskva.
CUKERMAN, I. I. (1978): Očerki kurdskoj grammatiki. Glagol’nye formy kurmandži. Moskva:
Akademija Nauk.
CUKERMAN, I. I. (1986): Chorasanskij kurmandži. Moskva: Akademija Nauk.
DORLEIJN, M. (1996): The decay of ergativity in Kurmanci. Language internal or contact
induced? Tilburg: Tilburg University Press.
DŽALIL, O. & DŽALIL, D. (1978): Kurdskij fol’klor. Moskva: Izdatel’stvo Nauka [2 vols.].
E’VDAL, E. (1958): Xebernama K’ördiye R’astnvîsandinê. Erivan: Akademia Ölmî ya R’SS

Ermeniê.
FOSSUM, L. O. (1919): A practical Kurdish grammar. Minneapolis: The Inter-synodical Ev.
Lutheran Orient-Mission Society.
HAIG, G. (1998): On the interaction of morphological and syntactic ergativity: Lessons from
Kurdish. Lingua 105,
105 149-173.
Haig, G. 2002. Complex predicates in Kurdish: Argument sharing, incorporation, or what?
Sprachtypologie und Universalienforschung / Language typology and universals 55(1):
55 25-48.
Haig, G. 2002. The corpus of contemporary Kurdish newspaper texts (CCKNT): A pilot project
in corpus linguistics for Kurdish. Kurdische Studien (1)2,
(1) 148-155.
Haig, G. 2003. Sprachenvielfalt und Sprachenpolitik am Rande Europas: die
Minderheitensprachen der Türkei. in: Metzing, D. (eds.) Sprachen in Europa. Sprachpolitik,
Sprachkontakt, Sprachkultur, Sprachentwicklung, Sprachtypologie. Bielefeld [Bielefelder
Schriften zu Linguistik und Literaturwissenschaft]: Aisthesis, 167-186.
Haig, G. 2004. Das Genussystem in der kurdischen Sprache: strukturelle und soziolinguistische
Aspekte. In: Hajo, S., Borck, C., Savelsberg, E., Şukriye, D. (eds.) Gender in Kurdistan und der
Diaspora. Münster: Lit, 33-58.
JASTROW, O. (1977): Zur Phonologie des Kurdischen in der Türkei, in: Studien zur Indologie
und Iranistik 3, 84-106.
JUSTI, F. (1880): Kurdische Grammatik. St. Petersburg [Reprint: Vaduz 1976].
KAHN, M. (1976): Borrowing and regional variation in a phonological description of Kurdish.
Ann Arbor, Michigan: Phonetics Laboratory of the University of Michigan.
KREYENBROEK, P. (1992): On the Kurdish language, in: Kreyenbroek, P. & Sperl, S. (eds.). The
Kurds: a contemporary overview. London: Routledge/SOAS Politics and Culture in the Middle
East series, 68–83.
KURDO, Q. (1983): Tarixa edebyeta kurdi 1. Stockholm: Roja nû.
KURDO, Q. (1985): Tarixa edebyeta kurdi 2. Šêrbêj û elbestbêjên Soranî. Stockholm: Roja nû.
KURDOEV, K. K. (1957): Grammatika kurdskogo jazyka (kurmandži). Fonetika. Morfologija.
Moskva: Akademija Nauk.
KURDOEV, K. K. (1978): Grammatika kurdskogo jazyka na materiale dialektov kurmandži i
Soranî. Moskva: Akademija Nauk.
LE COQ, A. (1903): Kurdische Texte. Kurmânği-Erzählungen und -Lieder. [Reprinted in
Amsterdam: Philo Press. Undated].
MACKENZIE, D. N. (1954): Gender in Kurdish. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African
Studies 16,
16 528-541.
MACKENZIE, D. N. (1961a): Kurdish dialect studies-I. London: Oxford University Press.
MACKENZIE, D. N. (1962): Kurdish dialect studies-II. London: Oxford University Press.

MAKAS, H. (1897-1926 [1979]): Kurdische Texte. St. Petersburg/Leningrad: [Reprinted as the
first part of Kurdische Texte und Kurdische Studien. (1979). Amsterdam: Philo Press].
MAKAS, H. (1900 [1979]): Kurdische Studien. Heidelberg: [Reprinted as the second part of a
book entitled Kurdische Texte und Kurdische Studien. (1979). Amsterdam: Philo Press. Page
no´s as in original.].
MATRAS, Y. (1989): Probleme der Sprachstandardisierung am Beispiel der Orthographie des
Kurdischen. Unpublished MA-thesis, University of Hamburg.
MATRAS, Y. (1992/1993): Ergativity in Kurmanji (Kurdish). Notes on its distribution and use,
in: Orientalia Suecana 41-
41-42,
42 139-154.
MATRAS, Y. (1997): Clause combining, ergativity, and coreferential deletion in Kurmanji, in:
Studies in Language 21(3),
21 613-653.
MATRAS, Y. (1998): Utterance modifiers and universals of borrowing, in: Linguistics 36(2),
36
281-331.
MCCARUS, E. (1997): Kurdish phonology, in: Kaye, A. (ed.). Phonologies of Asia and Africa
(Including the Caucasus). Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns. 2, 691-706.
RITTER, H. (1971): Kurmânci-Texte aus dem Ṭurʼabdîn (Teil I), in: Oriens 21-
21-22,
22 1-135.
RITTER, H. (1976): Kurmânci-Texte aus dem Ṭurʼabdîn (Teil II), in: Oriens 25-
25-26,
26 1-37.
SCHROEDER, C. (1999): Attribution in Kurmancî (Nordkurdisch), in: Wagner, K. H. & Wildgen,
W. (eds.). Studien zur Phonologie, Grammatik, Sprachphilosophie und Semiotik. Bremen:
Institut für Allgemeine und Angewandte Sprachwissenschaft, 43-63.
SOANE, E. B. (1913): A grammar of the Kurmanji or Kurdish language. London.
SOCIN, A. (1898-1901): Die Sprache der Kurden, in: Grundriss der iranischen Philologie, Bd. 1,
Abt. 2. Strasbourg, 249-286.
TAN, S. (2005). Rêziman û Rastnivîsa Zaravayê Kurmancî. Kurdish Enstitute of Istanbul Press.
Istanbul
UNGER, C. (1996): The scope of discourse connectives: Implications for discourse organization,
in: Journal of Linguistics 32(2),
32 403-38.
3.3 Pedagogical works
BLAU, J. & BARAK, V. (1999): Manuel de Kurde Kurmanji. Paris: L‘Harmattan.

Badirkhan, E.Dj. & R. Lescot 1970 Grammaire kurde (dialecte kurmandji). Paris: Maisonneuve
DIRÊJ, E. (2005). Kurdî Kurmancî – Pirtûka Xwendinê. Berlin: Weşanên Dilop.
RIZGAR, B. (1996): Learn Kurdish. A multi-level course in Kurmanji. London: Lithosphere.
RIZGAR, B. (1998). Dersên Zmanê Kurdi. Stockholm

OZEL, Ç. (2005). Kurdiya Nujen. Istanbul: Kurdish Enstitute of Istanbul Press.
WURZEL, P. (1997): Rojbaş. Einführung in die kurdische Sprache. Wiesbaden: Reichert.
3.4 Dictionaries
BAKAEV, Č. CH. (1957): Kurdsko-russkij slovar’, Xebernama Körmancî-R’ûsî. Moskva:

Akademija Nauk.
ORBELI, J. A. (1957): Kurdsko-Russkij slovar’. Moskva: Akademija Nauk.
Chyet, M. (2003): Kurdish-English dictionary. New Haven: Yale University Press.
KURDOEV, K. K. (1957): Kurdsko-Russkij slovar’. Ferhenga kurdî-rûsî. Moskva: Akademija
Nauk.
FARIZOV, I.O. (1957): Russko-kurdskij slovar’. Moskva: Akademija Nauk.
FARQINÎ, Z. (2000). Ferhenga Tirkî-Kurdî. Kurdish Enstitute of Istanbul Press. Istanbul
FARQINÎ, Z. (2004). Ferhenga Kurdî-Tirkî. Kurdish Enstitute of Istanbul Press. Istanbul
IZOLI, D. (1992): Ferheng Kurdi–Tırki Türkçe–Kürtçe. Istanbul: Deng Yayınları. A
comprehensive dictionary for those who know Turkish. Unfortunately the gender of Kurdish
nouns is not indicated.
RIZGAR, B. (1993): Kurdish–English English–Kurdish Dictionary. London: M. F. Onen. With
around 25,000 Kurdish words and phrases, this is a useful dictionary for reading.
SAADALLAH, S. (2000): Saladin’s English–Kurdish Dictionary. Istanbul: Avesta. Contains
around 80,000 entries.
For on-line and downloadable dictionaries and word lists for Kurdish and a variety of
languages, see www.ferheng.org
4. Useful links
http://www.kurdishacademy.org/english/indexe.html
A web page in which you
you can find some articles about Kurdish language and literature.
http://www.enstituyakurdi.org/index.php?newlang=english
Events related to teaching, preserving and improving Kurdish language
language and literature especially in
Turkey can be found.
found.
http://www.institutkurde.org/en/institute/
Articles and news about Kurdish world can be found.
http://www.dibistanakurdi.com/
In this page, recent news about teaching Kurdish and some useful teaching materials can be
found.
http://www.cogsci.ed.ac.uk/~siamakr/kurd_lal.html
http://www.cogsci.ed.ac.uk/~siamakr/kurd_lal.html
Many valuable articles by several scholars can be found about Kurdish language and world
http://www.azadiyawelat.com/
The daily newspaper issued in Kurmanji in Turkey. The latest news in Kurdish world can be
traced in this page.
http://www.wejeuziman.hkmg.net/
Some useful articles and sources on Kurdish literature and language can be followed from this
page. Also a list of other Kurdish web pages
pages is given.
http://www.kerkuk-
http://www.kerkuk-kurdistan.com/
Analyzes of recent events in the Kurdish world can be read from here.
http://www.diyarname.com/
You can find daily news
news on Kurdish life as well as interesting news from all over the world.
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 1 1
LESSON 1
INTRODUCTION
In this unit you will learn the Kurdish alphabet – small letters, capital letters, vowels and
consonants – country names and some cities in Kurdistan.
By the end of this lesson;
− you will produce Kurdish sounds correctly.
− you will learn new words.
− you will gain certain skills so that you can pronounce new words correctly.
− you will learn basic greeting phrases.
− you will be able to introduce yourself and ask about personal information.
Elfabe / Alphabet
The Kurdish language uses three different alphabets: The Kurdish latin alphabet based on the
Roman script; the alphabet based on the Arabic script and the alphabet on the basis of the
Cyrillic alphabet. The Kurdish Latin alphabet is the most frequently used alphabet for
Kurmanji. It is used in the parts of Kurdistan that are situated within the borders of Turkey
and Syria, and by the large Kurdish diaspora community in Europe and North America from
these two countries. The alphabet based on Arabic script is used in Iraqi and Iranian
Kurdistan, while Cyrillic is used only in ex-Soviet countries. In this course we will be using
the Roman-based alphabet.
There are 8 vowels and 23 consonants in the standard Kurdish Roman-based alphabet. In the
chart below the Kurdish letters are listed and you can listen to their pronunciation by clicking
on the sound file image next to each letter.
Roman Script Example English example IPA

A,a agir (fire), xanî (house) father [a]
B,b baş (good), bira (brother) bell [b]

C,c cil (clothes), civak (society) jungle [ʤ]
Ç,ç çar (four), keçik (girl) butcher [ʧ]
D,d dîwar (wall), beden (body) door [d]
E,e enî (forehead), dest (hand) bat (British English [æ]
pronunciation)
Ê,ê êş (grief), stêr (star) bait [e:]
F,f ferheng (dictionary), farmer [f]
berf (snow)
G,g genim (wheat), seg (dog) get [g]
H,h heyv (moon), duhî (yesterday) head [h]
I,i ciwan (young), bit [ɨ], 
zivistan (winter) [ɯ]
Î,î îro (today), havîn (summer) meet [i:]
J,j jan (grief), bajar (city) beige [ʒ]
K,k kur (boy), dayik (mother) book [k]
L,l leymûn (lemon), mil (arm) light [l]
M,m mamoste (teacher), dem (time) mother [m]
N,n nav (name), nan (bread, food) name [n]

O,o ode (room), roj (sun, day) odour [o]
P,p pişt (back), party [p]
dapîr (grandmother)
Q,q qelem (pen), aqil (reason) (Arabic Qaf) [q]
R,r rûbar (river), bihar (spring) Two pronunciations, like [ɾ] 
in Spanish (pero-perro) [r]
One with a single tap, one
rolled front r.
S,s ser (head), mast (yoghurt) sun [s]
Ş,ş şekir (sugar), aştî (peace) share [ʃ]
T,t tirs (fear), kitêb (book) table [t]
U,u kurd (Kurd), du (two) bull [ʊ]
Û,û ûd (laud), birû (eyebrow) foot [u:]
V,v vala (empty), çav (eye) violet [v]
W,w welat (country), bawerî (belief) wine [w]
X,x xewn (dream), baxçe (garden) cf. Scottish: loch [x]

Y,y yek (one), giya (grass) yellow [j]
Z,z zengil (bell), azadî (freedom) breeze [z]
Table 1. The Vowels in Kurmanji (approximate phonetic values)
Front Central Back
Closed î û
i u
Half-closed ê o
Open a
The vowels represented in the writing by <i> and <u> are quite close and may be difficult to
distinguish in some varieties of Kurmanji.
Table 2. The Consonants in Kurmanji

Bilabial Labio- Dental/ Post- Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
dental Alveolar alveolar
Plosive p b t d kg q
Fricative f v s z ş j x h
Affricate ç c
Nasal m n
Approximant w y
Tap / Trill r
Lateral l
Note: In addition to the consonants shown in chart, some Kurmanji words contain sounds that
are not usually noted in the standard orthography, though often noted in dictionaries. They
are some special forms of the plosives and affricates. Native speakers are aware of these
sounds, and can hear and produce them readily. For learners, however, they are difficult to
perceive and at this stage need not be introduced. You will still be understood even if you do
not produce them correctly; we will discuss them in a later lesson with some examples.
Text: Rojbaş!
Two students sit next to each other in the first lesson at their university. They introduce
themselves to each other, saying their names and where they are from.
Zeyneb : Rojbaş. Navê min Zeyneb e. Navê te çi ye?

Good day, my name is Zeyneb. What is your name?
Ehmed : Rojbaş. Navê min Ehmed e.
Good day, my name is Ehmed.
Zeyneb : Tu ji kû derê yî Ehmed?
Where are you from, Ehmed?
Ehmed : Ez ji Diyarbekirê me. Tu?
I am from Diyarbekir. (And) you?
Zeyneb : Bi rastî! Ez jî ji Diyarbekirê me.
Really! I am from Diyarbekir too.
Ehmed : Ser çavan, gelek kêfxweş bûm.
How nice. I am (lit. was) very happy.
Zeyneb : Ez jî pir kêfxweş bûm. Tu kurd î?
I, too, am very happy. Are you a Kurd?
Ehmed : Erê, ez kurd im, tu?
Yes, I am a Kurd, (and ) you?
Zeyneb : Ez jî kurd im. Ha, mamoste tê.
I am a Kurd too. Oh, the teacher is coming.
Ehmed : Baş e. Em paşî dê biaxivin.
OK (lit. it is good). We will talk later.
Zeyneb : Baş e.
OK.
Greetings (Silav)
Merheba/Silav/Silamun eleykum Hello

Beyanîbaş/ spêde bi xêr/Sibeha te bi xêr Good morning (to one person)
Beyanîbaş/ spêde bi xêr/Sibeha we bi xêr Good morning
(to more than one person)
Rojbaş Good day
Êvarbaş/Êvara te bi xêr Good evening (to one person)
Êvarbaş/Êvara we bi xêr Good evening
Şevbaş /Şeva te bi xêr Good night (to one person)
Şevbaş /Şeva we bi xêr Good night
Çawa yî? How are you sg.?
Çawa nen? How are you pl.?
Good bye (Xatirxwestin)
Bi xatirê te Good bye (to one person)

Bi xatirê we Good bye (to more than one person)
Response to bi xatirê te/we
Oxir be/Oxira te ya xêrê be/Bi xêr û silametî Good bye

Grammar / Rêziman 1
A The personal pronouns
The pronouns of Kurmanji corresponding to English I, you etc. have two forms, which we will call Direct and
Oblique. Their uses will be explained below. The forms are the following:
Person Direct Oblique
I ez min
you tu te
he/she ew wî (him), wê (her)
we em me
you hûn we
they ew (e)wan
Usage
The Direct forms are used for all subjects in the present tenses, for example:
Ez kurd im ‘I am a Kurd’
and for the subjects of intransitive verbs in the past tenses.

(Intransitive verbs are verbs which cannot take a direct object, e.g. go, climb, die, laugh.)
The Oblique forms are used everywhere else, for example, to express the possessor of something:
Navê min Ehmed e. ‘My name is Ehmed’
We will discuss the use of the Direct and Oblique forms in more detail later.
B Expressing ‘to be’ in the present tense

In the simple present tense, there is no independent word for is, are, am in Kurdish. Instead, endings are added to
the last word of the sentence that indicate the person involved. For example, to say ‘I am a Kurd’ in Kurdish we
say literally ‘I Kurd-am’. These endings are actually written separately as though they were independent words,
but they are really unstressed short forms pronounced as though they were part of the preceding word. They
have slightly different forms depending on whether the preceding word ends in a vowel or consonant. The forms
of these endings are as follows:
After consonant: After vowel:

Ez kurd im ‘I am a Kurd’ Ez ji Diyarbekirê me ‘I am from D.’
Tu kurd î ‘You are a Kurd’ ... yî ‘You are ...’
Ew kurd e ‘He / She is a Kurd’ ... ye ‘He / she ...’
Em kurd in ‘We are Kurds’ ... ne ‘We are ...’
Hûn kurd in ‘You are Kurds’ ... ne ‘You are ...’
Ew kurd in ‘They are Kurds’ ... ne ‘They are ...’
Ez ne kurd im ‘I am not a Kurd’ Ez ne ji Diyarbekirê me ‘I am not from D.’

Tu ne kurd î ‘You are not a Kurd’ ... yî ‘You are ...’
Ew ne kurd e ‘He / She is not a Kurd’ ... ye ‘He / she ...’
Em ne kurd in ‘We are not Kurds’ ... ne ‘We are ...’
Hûn ne kurd in ‘You are not Kurds’ ... ne ‘You are ...’
Ew ne kurd in ‘They are Kurds’ ... ne ‘They are ...’
Wordlist
baş  good 
be  may it be (a form of the verb bûn ‘be, become’) 
biaxivin  ‘let’s talk’ (a form of the verb axaftin ‘talk, speak’, see future  
lessons 
bimîne  may it remain (a form of the verb man ‘stay, remain’) 
bi rastî  really! 
bi xêr  good 
bûm  (I) have become / was (1st pers. sg. past tense form of the 
verb bûn ‘be, become’) 
çi  what 
dê  indicates future tense of the verb 
ders  lesson 
diçim  I go, I am going (a form of the verb çûn ‘to go’) 
em  we, 2nd pers. pl. pronoun 
erê  yes 
êvar  evening 
ez  I, 1st pers. sg. pronoun 
gelek  very, many 
ha  oh 
ji  from 
jî  too, also, as well  (used after the word it refers to: ez jî  ‘I too 
...’) 
kêfxweş  happy 
kek  an address form for males 
kû der  where 
mamoste  teacher 
merheba  hello 
min  1st pers. sg. object pronoun (see Grammar 1) 
na/ne  no 
nav  name 
ne  not (negation) 
niha  now 
paşî  later on 
pir  very, many 
piştî  after 
rojbaş  good‐day; have a good day 
ser çavan  you are welcome (literally: on eyes) 
şev  night 
sibeh, beyanî  morning 
silav  greeting 
te  2nd pers. sg. oblique pronoun (see Grammar 1) 
tê  (he/she) comes, is coming (present tense of the verb hatin 
‘come’) 
tu  you, 2nd pers. sg. pronoun 
xatirxwestin  to take farewell, to say goodbye 
xwendekar  student 
xweş  good, enjoyable 
Exercise 1.
Two students are meeting in the school canteen. Fill in the blanks from their conversation
with the forms presented above.
Dara : Beyanîbaş! Navê .... Dara ye. Navê .... çi ye?
Daner : ...............! Navê min Daner e.
Dara : .... ji kû derê yî Dara?
Daner : Ez ji Qamişloyê me. Tu?
Dara : .... jî ji Duhokê me.
Daner : Kêfxweş bûm kekê Dara.
Dara : Ez jî kêfxweş bûm.
Daner : Ez niha diçime dersê. Bi ............ te.
Dara : Oxir be!
Exercise 2.
Fill in the blanks according to the information given in the dialogue above.
Daner
Navê …. Daner e. Ez ji Diyarbekirê …..
…. xwendekar im. Ez kurd ….
Exercise 3.
Below, there are questions for you! Please write true answers for the questions.
a. Navê te çi ye? b. Tu ji kû derê yî?
…………………………………………… …………………………………………
…………………………………………… …………………………………………
c. Tu kurd î? d. Tu xwendekar î?
…………………………………………… …………………………………………
…………………………………………… …………………………………………
Country names
Franse France Çîn China
Almanya Germany Rusya Russia
Îngilistan England Hindistan India
Îtalya Italy Iraq Iraq
Espanya Spain Amerîka USA
Swêd Sweden Îran Iran
Siwîs Switzserland Sûriye Syria
Tirkiye Turkey Norwêc Norway
Çend bajarên Kurdistanê / Some cities of Kurdistan
Navên din /other

Bajar/city Dewlet/state
names
Afrîn Sûriye
Agirî Ağrı Tirkiye
Amed Diyarbakır Tirkiye
Amûdê Sûriye
Bedlîs Bitlis Tirkiye
Bokan Îran
Cizîr Cizre Tirkiye
Culemêrg Hakkari Tirkiye
Dêrsim Tunceli Tirkiye
Dihok Dohuk Iraq
Dîlok Antep Tirkiye
Efrîn Sûriye
Erzingan Erzincan Tirkiye
Erzirom Erzurum Tirkiye
Gurgum Maraş Tirkiye
Helepçe Iraq
Hewlêr Erbil Iraq
Ixdir Iğdır Tirkiye
Îlam Îran
Kerkuk Kerkük Iraq
Kirmaşan Kermanşah Îran
Mehebad Mahabad Îran
Meletî Malatya Tirkiye
Mexmûr Iraq
Mezra Elazığ Tirkiye
Mêrdîn Mardin Tirkiye
Midyad Midyat Tirkiye
Mûsil Iraq
Mûş Muş Tirkiye
Ormiye Urmiye, Wirmiye Îran
Qamişlo Kamişli Sûriye
Qers Kars Tirkiye
Riha Urfa Tirkiye
Semsûr Adıyaman Tirkiye
Seqez Îran
Sêrt Siirt Tirkiye

Silêmanî Süleymaniye Iraq
Sîne Sanandaj Îran
Urmiye Îran
Wan Van Tirkiye
Zaxo Iraq
Çewlik Bingöl Tirkiye
Êlih Batman Tirkiye
Şirnex Şırnak Tirkiye
Xarpêt Elezîz, Elazığ Tirkiye
Zaxo Iraq
LESSON 2 
 
INTRODUCTION 
In  this  unit  you  will  learn  numbers,  colors,  asking  about  age,  describing  people,  kinship 
terminology, more about pronouns, copula, interrogatives and do some exercises.  
By the end of this lesson; 
you will learn: 
• the ezafe construction 
• certain structures you can see in daily life 
• gender 
• the copula in the present tense: how to negate it 
 
Text:   Gulçîn û Malbata Wê 
Navê min Gulçîn e. Ez 20 salî me. Ez diçime Zanîngeha Stenbolê. Ez li vir, li Stenbolê dijîm. 
Lê mala me li Mêrdînê ye. Dayik û bavê min li wir dijîn. Navê bavê min Hekîm e. Ew 45 salî 
ye. Navê dayika min Gulcan e û ew 43 salî ye. Bavê min dukandar e. Dukana wî pir mezin 
nîne. Dayika min naxebite. Ew bermalî ye. Dayika min her sal tê vira. Min xuşkek heye. Navê 
wê Zelîxa ye û ew 10 salî ye. Çavên wê reş in û porê wê dirêj e. Ew diçe dibistana seretayî. 
Ez di tatîlan de diçime cem wan.     
 
Wordlist 
ap  uncle  
baş  good, well 
bav  father 
be  may you be (present subjunctive 2 person singular of bûn ‘to be’) 
bermalî  housewife  
bike  may he/she do (present subjunctive 3 person singular of kirin ‘to do, to 
make’) 
bira  brother  
birçî  hungry 
cem  at, to, by used in connection with people and their homes, cf. French 
chez, Persian piše. 
çav  eye 
çawan/çawa  how 
cotkar  farmer 
dayik  mother 
di…de  in (circumposition) 
dibistan  school 
diçe  he / she goes (3rd person singular present for the verb çûn ‘to go’) 
diçime  (I) go’ (1st pers. sg. present progressive of çûn ‘to go’) 
dijîm  (I) live (1st pers. sg. present progressive of jîn / jiyan  ‘to live’) 
dijîn  (they) live (3rd pers. pl. present progressive of jîn / jiyan  ‘to live’) 
dirêj  tall, long 
doktor  doctor  
dukan  shop 
dukandar  shop‐owner 
emr  life, age 
gelek   many 
her  every 
heye  there is, exists (also used in expressions of possession, see below) 
jin  woman 
kar  work, job 
kêm   few 
kurt  short 
lê  but 
li  in (preposition) 
li vir  here 
li wir  there 
mal  house, home 
mam/ap  uncle 
mamoste  teacher 
mêr  man 
mezin  big 
naxebite  does not work (3rd person singular neg. present for the verb xebitîn ‘to 
work’) 
nav  name 
nexweş  ill, sick 
pir  many, much 
pirs  question 
por  hair 
reş  black 
sal  year 
salî  literally ‘yeared’, that is, with years, of age 
sax  healthy 
seretayî  elementary, primary 
tatîlan  holidays, vacations 
tê  he/she comes (3rd person singular present for the verb hatin ‘to come’) 
tenê  only 
têhnî/ tî  thirsty 
vira  here (location) 
xerab  bad 
Xwedê  God 
xuşkek  a sister (from xuşk ‘sister’ with an indefinite singular ending ‐ek). The 
word xweh is also used for ‘sister’ 
yên te  yours  
zanîngeh  university 
zarok  child 
 
Translation: 
 
My name is Gulchin. I am 20 years old. I go to university in Istanbul. I live here, in Istanbul. 
But my home is in Merdin. My mother and father live there. My father’s name is Hekim. He 
is  45  years  old.  My  mother’s  name  is  Guldjan  and  she  is  43  years  old.  My  father  is  a 
shopkeeper.  His  shop  is  not  very  big.  My  mother  does  not  work.  She  is  a  housewife.  My 
mother comes here every year. I have a sister. Her name is Zelikha and she is 10 years old. 
Her eyes are black and her hair is long. She goes to primary school. During the holidays I go 
to them.  
 
1  Hejmar / Numbers   
   
The cardinal numbers are as follow: 
1  yek     11  yazdeh   21  bîst û yek  40  çil 
2  du/didu  12  dozdeh  22   bîst û du  50  pêncî 
3  sê/sisê  13  sêzdeh   23   bîst û sê  60  şêst 
4  çar    14  çardeh   24   bîst û çar  70  heftê 
5  pênc    15  pazdeh  25   bîst û pênç  80  heştê 
6  şeş    16  şazdeh   26   bîst û şeş  90  nod 
7  heft    17  hevdeh  27   bîst û heft  100  sed 
8  heşt    18  hejdeh   28   bîst û heşt  101   sed û yek 
9  neh    19  nozdeh  29   bîst û neh  200   du sed 
10  deh    20  bîst    30  sî/sih    300  sê sed 
1000  hezar    2000  du hezar  0   sifir    2008  du hezar û heşt 
 
Compound numbers are formed with the conjuction û, as in 
bîst û yek (21)    çil û şeş (46)    nod û neh (99)  sed û yek (101) 
 
1.1  Exercise 
Write the numbers in letter. 
4  ______  9  ______    33  ______    49  ______ 
23  ______    121  ______    65   ______    51  ______ 
35  ______    139  ______    54   ______    69  ______ 
47  ______  142  ______    78   ______    91  ______ 
The ordinal numbers are as follows: 
yekem(în)  1st   heftem(în)  7th   sêzdem(în)  13th    nozdem(în)  19th 
duyem(în)  2nd   heştem(în)  8th   çardem(în)  14th    bîstem(în)  20th 
sêyem(în)  3rd  nehem(în)  9th  pazdem(în)  15th    bîstyekem(în) 21st 
çarem(în)  4th   dehem(în)  10th   şazdem(în)  16th    bîstduyem(în) 22nd 
pêncem(în)  5th   yanzdem(în)  11th  hevdem(în)  17th     bîstsêyem(în) 23rd 
şeşem(în)  6th   dozdem(în)  12th  hejdem(în)  18th    sihem(în)  30th 
 
Some expressions with ordinals are: “şerê cîhanê yê yekemîn” (the fırst world war), “cara 
duyem” (the second time) 
 
 
2  Asking about age (temen  ‘age’) 
 
Tu çend salî yî?  How old are you? 
Ew çend salî ye?  How old is he/she? 
 
Tu çend salî yî? 
Gulçîn and her roommate Asli talk about their families. They ask each others’ age. 
 
Gulçîn: Asli, tu çend salî yî? 
Asli: 21. Tu? 
Gulçîn: Ez 20 salî me. Dayik û bavê te çend salî ne?  
Asli: Dayika min 48 salî ye û bavê min jî 51 salî ye. Yên te? 
Gulçîn: Dayika min 43 salî ye û bavê min jî 45 salî ye. 
Asli: Xuşk û birayên te çend salî ne? 
Gulçîn: Xuşka min 14 salî ye û birayê min jî 22 salî ye. Yên te? 
Asli: Min tenê xuşkek heye. Navê wê Şeyda ye û 10 salî ye. 
Gulçîn: Baş e. Xwedê emrê wê dirêj bike! 
Asli: Sax be.  
Gulçîn: Tu saxtir. 
 
Gulçîn: Asli, how old are you? 
Asli: 21. (And) you? 
Gulçîn: I am 20. How old are your mother and father?  
Asli: My mother is 48 and my father is 51. (What about) yours? 
Gulçîn: My mother is 43 and my father is 45. 
Asli: How old are your sisters and brothers?  
Gulçîn: My sister is 14 and my brother is 22.1 (What about) yours? 
Asli: I have only one sister. Her name is Sheyda and she is 10 years old. 
Gulçîn: OK. May God grant them a long life! 
Asli: Thank you (lit. May you be healthy, may God give you a long life).  
Gulçîn: You are welcome (lit. You more healthy). 
 
1
In Kurdish: is also 22.
 
2.1  Exercise 
Read the dialogue and answer the questions. 
 
1.  Asli çend salî ye?        ……………………………………... 
2.  Gulçîn çend salî ye?         ……………………………………... 
3.  Dayik û bavê Asliyê çend salî ne?    ……………………………………... 
4.  Dayik û bavê Gulçînê çend salî ne?    ……………………………………... 
5.  Xuşka Asliyê çend salî ye?       ……………………………………... 
6.  Xuşk û birayên Gulçînê çend salî ne?  ……………………………………... 
 
 
3  Kinship Terminology (nonobligatory material) 
 
bapîr    grandfather      bûk û zava    bride and groom 
dapîr     grandmother      jin û mêr     wife and husband 
bav, bab  father        xizim, nas    relative 
dayik    mother        malbat     family 
xuşk    sister         mam, ap    father’s brother 
bira     brother        met      father’s sister 
keç    daughter       xalet, xaltî     mother’s sister 
kur     son        xal      mother’s brother 
nevî    grandchild      xuşk û bira    sister and brother 
 
3.1. Some examples for the usage of kinship words:
a) Hekîm bavê Gulçînê ye.

b) Zelîxa keça Gulcanê ye.
c) Gulçîn keça Gulcanê ye.
d) Gulcan û Hekîm jin û mêrên hev in. 
 
A The verb ‘to be’ in the present tense again: negated forms
You will remember from lesson 1 that to express ‘to be’ in the present tense, a set of endings is used, as in the
following examples:
ez nexweş im ‘I am ill’ (nexweş = ‘ill, sick’)
tu têhnî yî ‘You are thirsty’ (têhnî = ‘thirsty’)
To make the negative form of such sentences, the negation particle ne is positioned before the complement
(whatever is negated), and stressed. The negation marker ne can not come right before or after the copula. For
example:
Ez ne nexweş im. (I am not sick) Em ne nexweş in. (We are not sick)
Tu ne têhnî yî. (You are not thirsty) Hûn ne têhnî ne. (You are not thirsty)
B Gender
All nouns in Kurmanji have gender, either masculine or feminine. It is important to know the gender of a noun
because it affects the form of the case marker, and of the Ezafe marker (see D below).
Nouns that denote persons, or higher animals, have the gender corresponding to their meaning. For example, the
nouns ap ‘uncle’, bav ‘father’ and mêr ‘man’ are all masculine because they denote male beings. Xwişk ‘sister’
and bûk ‘bride’ on the other hand are feminine, because they refer to feminine beings. But for nouns denoting
objects, you just have to learn the gender with the noun. For example, çav ‘eye’ is masculine, but mal ‘house’ is
feminine. There  is  not  a  general  rule  organizing  gender  for  these  nouns;  however  some  rules  can  be 
formulated, for example:  
− the names of cities, countries and towns are feminine 
− abstract nouns ending in –î are feminine  
− infinitives used as nouns are feminine 
− the infinitives from verbs are feminine 
− geographical names are feminine 
− Numbers and colors are masculine etc. 
− The  names  of  items  of  women’s  clothing  are  generally  feminine,  items  of  men’s  clothing  are 
generally masculine 
 
Words borrowed from other languages are most commonly assigned feminine gender when they denote 
objects rather than living beings. 
C The indefiniteness suffix

A bare noun in Kurmanji can have a definite reading, or a very general reading, depending on the context. For
example, hesp can mean either ‘the horse’, or perhaps ‘horses in general’. There is no definite article in
Kurmanji corresponding to English the. But if we want to talk about ‘a horse’, we add the suffix -ek to the noun:
hesp-ek ‘a horse’, jinek ‘a woman’, gundek ‘a village’, mamostek ‘a teacher’ etc.
Grammar / Rêziman 2 (continued)

D The Ezafe construction
The Ezafe is a vowel that links all kinds of attributes to a noun, for example adjectives, possessors or
prepositional phrases. In standard orthography it is written as part of the noun. Kurdish is like French or Spanish
in that the noun comes first, and then it is followed by the attribute. We refer to the initial noun as the head
noun. A typical Ezafe construction from the texts is the following:
navê min
Head noun Ezafe particle Possessive modifier
The bare form of the head noun is nav ‘name’, and the Ezafe here is ê. The modifier can also be an adjective, as
in zarokê nexweş ‘the sick child’.
The Ezafe particle takes different forms according to the gender and the number of the head noun. In the
example above, the head noun is masculine and singular. If the head noun is feminine, then the ezafe has the
form -a: xwîşka min ‘my sister’
If it is plural, the ezafe is -ên hevalên me ‘our friends’ (me=Oblique form of 1st pers. pl pronoun)
If the noun ends in a vowel, a -y- is put before the Ezafe:

birayên min ‘my brothers’
The Ezafe also takes a different form after the indefiniteness suffix (see C above). This gives us four different
possibilities for the Ezafe in the singular:
1. FEMININE, NO INDEFINITENESS SUFFIX: FORM OF SUFFIX

mala me (our house) behra Wanê (Lake Van) -(y)a
2. FEMİNİNE, WİTH İNDEFİNİTENESS SUFFİX:
sêveke sor (a red apple) jineke bedew (a beautiful woman) -e
3. MASCULINE, NO INDEFINITENESS SUFFIX:
çemê Ferat (the Euphrate River) deriyê dar (the wooden door) -(y)ê
4. MASCULINE, WITH INDEFINITENESS SUFFIX:
mêrekî bilind (a tall man) kevirekî belek (a colorful stone) -î
Three further points about the Ezafe:
D1 The free or demonstrative Ezafe

First, the Ezafe can also be used without a head noun. In this case, it always takes an initial -y. It means
something like English ‘one ...’ as in my one, or the red one. Consider the following example:
birayê min 12 salî ye. Yê te? ‘My brother is 12 years old. And your one? (i.e. and your
brother)?
D2 Multiple Ezafes
One noun can be modified by several modifiers, and in that case, each modifier will require its own Ezafe:
Kitêba birayê min ‘My brother’s book’
Kitêba hevalê birayê min ‘The book of my brother’s friend’
Kitêba xwîşka hevalê birayê min ‘The book of the sister of my brother’s friend’
D3 Possessors in the Oblique case

The Possessor in an Ezafe construction always goes into the Oblique case (see next lesson for more details on
this). You have already learned the Oblique case of the personal pronouns (see Lesson 1). This means that
whenever a pronoun is a possessor in an Ezafe, it takes the Oblique form (bavê min ‘my father’, bavê wê ‘her
father’ etc.). We will learn about the Oblique case of nouns in later lessons.
LESSON 3
INTRODUCTION
In this unit you will learn new grammatical structures in the present tense and use them in
meaningful contexts, certain names for occupations, expressions of frequency and
terminology for month and the days of the week.
By the end of this lesson you will be able to:
• Ask about jobs

• Tell the time
• Ask about and describe habits and routines
• Use existensial expressions such as heye/hene
1. Text: Rojekê Min / My Day (literally: one day (roj-ek) of me)
Ez xwendekar im. Navê min Salih e û ez 22 salî me. Ez li Stenbolê dijîm, li mala mamê xwe
dimînim, lê malbata min li Diyarbekirê dijîn. Ez sibehan zû radibim, di saet 8an de. Piştî ku
ser û çavên xwe dişom, taştê dixwim û diçim zanîngehê. Min 5 ders hene. Ez gelekî ji dersên
xwe hez dikim ji ber ku em di dersan de kitêbên gelekî balkêş dixwînin û nîqaşên baş dikin.
Ez di saet 1ê de li gel hevalên xwe firavînê dixwim û çay vedixwim. Min di zanîngehê de
gelek heval hene. Hindek hevalên min tirk in û hindek jî kurd in. Ez bi hevalên xwe yên kurd
re bi Kurmanji diaxivim, lê mixabin hindek hevalên min ên kurd Kurmanji nizanin. Piştî
firavîn û çayê, em dîsa diçin dersê. Min piştî nîvro tenê du ders hene. Yek ji van dersan
edebiyat e. Di dersa edebiyatê de em tekstên edebiyata amerikî dixwînin. Ez taybetî ji
helbestên T. S. Eliotê hez dikim. Di Kurmanji de jî helbestên Eliotê hene. Ez jî carînan
helbestan dinivîsim. Dersên min di saet 5an de xelas dibin. Paşî têm malê û di saet 7an de li
gel mam, jinmam û zarokên wan şîvê dixwin û çay vedixwin. Mamê min mamoste ye û
jinmama min jî parêzer e. Ez piranî heta 11an dersên xwe dixebitim û paşî jî bo saetekê kitêb
dixwînim û di seat 12an de dinivim.
Translation:
I am a student. My name is Salih and I am 22 years old. I live in Istanbul, I am staying at my

uncle’s home, but my family lives (in Kurdish plural since there are many members) in
Diyarbekir. I wake up early in the morning (in Kurdish: in the mornings) at eight 8 o’clock.
After washing my face (lit. head and eye), I have (lit. eat) breakfast and go to the univerisity. I
have five courses. I like my courses very much because we read very interesting books in the
courses and have good discussions. At one o’clock, I have lunch and drink tea with my
friends. I have many friends at the unversity. Some of my friends are Turks and some are
Kurds. I speak Kurmanji (Kurdish) with my Kurdish friends, but unfortunately some of
Kurdish friends do not know Kurdish. After lunch and tea we go back to the courses. In the
afternoon I have only two lessons. One of these lessons is literature. In literature class we read
texts of English literature. I particularly like the poems of T. S. Eliot. Eliot’s poems are also
(to be found) in Kurdish (translation). I, too, sometimes write poetry. My courses are finished
at 5 o’clock. Then I go home and at 7 o’clock I have (lit. eat) dinner and tea with my uncle,
his wife and their children.My uncle is a teacher and his wife is a lawyer. I generally study
(lit. work on my lessons) until 11 o’clock and then I read (books) for one hour and at
midnight I go to sleep.
1.1 Exercise
Answer the questions according to the passege.
1.Navê wî çi ye? ................................................................

2.Ew çi karî dike? ................................................................
3.Ew li kû dijî? ................................................................
4.Ew di saet çendan de radibe? ................................................................
5.Çend dersên wî hene? ................................................................
6.Ew ji kîjan dersên xwe hez dike? ...............................................................
7.Ew kengî şîvê dixwin? ................................................................
8. Mam û jinmama wî çi karî dikin ...............................................................
2. Asking About Jobs
Tu çi karî dikî? What is your job?

Tu bi çi mijûl î? What are you busy with?
Ew çi karî dike? What is her/his job?
Bavê te çi karî dike? What is your father’s job?
Ez endazyar im. I am (an) engineer.
Ew mamoste ye. S/he is (a) teacher.
Dayika wî şêwirmend e. His mother is (a) consultant.
3. Saet / Time
The basis of expression is saet ‘hour’
Saet çend e? What time is it?

Saet deh e. It is ten.
Saet nêzikê çaran e. It is close to 4 c’clock.
Bo duyan çarîkek heye It is a quarter to 2.
Çaran çarîkek dibore. It is a quarter past 4.
3.1. Exercise
Write the time according to the pictures below.
Saet çend e?
Saet ..................... ............................. ............................. .............................
........................... ............................. ............................. .............................
Wordlist
amûrên mitbaxê kitchen utensils
arvan flour
bajar city
balkêş interesting
baş good, well
bazar bazar
bo saetekê for one hour
carinan somtimes
cil û berg clothes
çarîk quarter
çay tea
danûstandin shopping
ders lesson, course, work
diaxivim I speak, I am speaking (1st person singular form of simple present
tense for the verb axavtin ‘to speak’)
dibore he/she/it passes, is passing (3rd person singular form of sîmple
present tense for the verb bihurîn ‘to pass’)

diçim I go, I am going (1st person singular form of simple present tense for
the verb çûn ‘to go’)
diçin we/you/they go/are going (1st, 2nd and 3rd person plural form of
simple present tense for the verb çûn ‘to go’)
dikin we/you/they do/are doing (1st, 2nd and 3rd person plural form of
simple present tense for the verb kirin ‘to do’)
dijîm I live (1st person singular form of simple present tense for the verb
jiyan ‘to live’)
dimînim I stay/am staying (1st person singular form of simple present tense
for the verb man ‘to stay’)
dişom I wash/am washing (1st person singular form of simple present tense
for the verb şûştin ‘to wash’)
dixwînim I read/am reading, I study/am studying (1st person singular form of
simple present tense for the verb xwendin ‘to read, to study’)
dixebitim I work/am working (1st person singular form of simple present tense
for the verb xebitîn to work)
dixwim I eat/am eating (1st person singular form of simple present tense for
the verb xwarin ‘to eat’)
dîsa again, once more
edebiyat literature
edebiyata Amerikî American literature
endazyar engineer
erzanî cheapness, low prices
fêkî fruit
firavîn lunch
gelek/gelekî very much
girîng important
hefteyê carekê once in a week
helbest poetry, poem
hemû tişt everything
heta till/until
heval friend
heye/hene there is / there are, exists/exist (also used in expressions of
possession, see below)
hêk egg
hindek some
ji from
ji ber ku because, since
jinmam uncle’s wife
kar work, job, task, duty
kengî when
kîjan which
kuçe street
kurd Kurdish
lê but, however
li aliyekê din on the other side/ part
ligel with, together with
malbat family
mam paternal uncle
mamoste teacher
mast yoghurt
mijûl busy
mixabin unfortunately
navçe region
nêzik close
nizanin we/you/they do not know (negative form of 1st, 2nd and 3rd person
plural of simple present tense for the verb zanîn ‘to know’)
niqaş discussion
nivîşk butter
nîvro noon
parêzer lawyer
pêlav / sol shoes
piranî majority; usually, generally, often
radibim I wake up (1st person singular form of simple present tense for the
verb rabûn ‘to wake up)
paşî later, then
piştî ku after
rûkenî cheer, being cheerful
sarinc refrigerator
sebze vegetable
ser û çav literary head and eye, face
sibehan in the morning(s)
şekir sugar
şêwirmend consultant
şîr milk
şîv dinner
taşt breakfast
taybetî especially, specifically
tax quarter (Swedish kvarter), neighbourhood
tekst text
tenê alone, only
têm I come/am coming (1st person singular form of simple present tense
for the verb hatin ‘to come’)
tirk Turkish
vedixwim I drink/am drinkng (1st person singular form of simple present tense
for the verb vexwarin ‘to drink’)
xelas dibin they finish (3rd person plural form of simple present tense for the
verb xelas bûn ‘to finish’)
xelk the folk, people
xwarin food
ya baştir what is more, moreover
ya rastî indeed, In fact
yek ji wan one of them
zanîngeh university
zarok child
zû quickly, early
A Expressions of existence (‘there is / there are’)
To say that something exists, or is, Kurmanji uses the existential verb hebûn. In fact, it is
really a combination of a particle he- plus the verb bûn (‘to be’), but most descriptions of
Kurdish treat it as a verb in its own right, and we will follow that tradition here. But it is
useful to remember that it is based on the verb bûn, because this makes it easier to understand
the conjugation. In the present tense, the familiar forms of the copula endings (see Grammar
in lesson 1) are simply added to the particle he-, yielding:
Ez he-me ‘I am, exist’ Em he-ne

Tu he-yî ‘you are, exist’ Hûn he-ne
Ew he-ye etc. Ew he-ne
In practice, only the third person forms heye and hene are used frequently. They generally
mean ‘there is’ and ‘there are’ respectively:
Li bazarê gelek tişt hene. ‘At the market there are many things.’
Vira jinek heye. ‘There is a woman here.’
The negative form is tune/nîne:
Vira jinek tune / nîne ‘there is no woman here’
B Expressions of possession
Kurdish, unlike Persian, does not have a verb corresponding to English have. To say ‘I have
two brothers’, or something similar, different constructions are used in Kurmanji. They are
based on the existential verb hebûn discussed above. To say ‘I have two brothers’, two
possibilities are available:
Possibility 1 (with Izafe):

Du birayên min hene literally: ‘two brothers of me exist’
Possibility 2 (without Izafe, the possessor comes at the beginning of the sentence and
is in the Oblique case):
Min du bira hene literally: ‘for me two brothers exist’
Both of these constructions can be found in Kurmanji; different books and descriptions prefer
different ones. We have chosen the second one here, which is more commonly used in the
south of the Kurmanji speech area, particularly in North Iraq around Zakho and Dohuk. But
the other possibility is absolutely acceptable, and in many textbooks it is preferred.
Some further examples of the second possibility:

Min xwîşkek heye. I have a sister.
Te du pisîk hene. You have two cats.

Wê ezmûnek heye. She has an exam.
Wî pere nîne. He does not have money.
Te pirsek heye? Do you have a question?
Li bazarê penîr tune. There is not cheese at the bazar.
C The Reflexive Xwe

The reflexive pronoun xwe has different meanings and usages. It always has the same form,
regardless of how it is used.
1. It can be used as possessive pronoun in an Izafe construction:
Ew ji dersên xwe hez dike She likes her courses.

Ez li gel malbata xwe dimînim. I stay with my family.
Tu li mefta xwe digerî? Are you looking for your keys?
2. It can be used as reflexive pronoun as in:

Xelk ji xwe re li bazaran danûstandinê dikin. The people do shopping for themselves
in bazaars.
Ez xwe dibînim li rûyê te. I see myself in your face.
Dayika min bi xwe mamoste ye My mother is (a) teacher herself.
3. The reflexive xwe can only be used when it refers to the subject of the sentence it occurs in,
and in this context, it must be used. Compare the following:
Ez ji dayika xwe hez dikim I love my mother (xwe refers back to the subject Ez)
Tu ji dayika min hez dikî You love my mother (xwe cannot be used here, because
the subject of the sentence is Tu ‘you’, not the same
person as the possessor in dayika min ‘my mother’
In contexts like this, a form of the Oblique
personal pronoun (see Lesson 2) is used.
C Dema Niha / The Simple Present Tense (Part 1)
1. Verbs in general: stems and infinitive

Each verb in Kurdish has two stems, or basic forms: a present stem, and a past stem. Each
stem is used as the basis for different tenses, moods etc., by adding various prefixes and
suffixes, which will be explained during the course. In this lesson we look at the simple
present tense.
The usual way of referring to a verb is by its infinitive, which is based on the past stem of the
verb. The infinitive is the form that a verb is listed under in the dictionary. It is formed very
simply by adding -n to the past stem. If the stem ends in a consonsant, then a short buffer
vowel -i is inserted before the -n. The formation of the present stem, on the other hand, is
often irregular (see below).
Here are examples of the basic forms of some verbs from this lesson:
MEANİNG INFİNİTİVE PAST STEM PRESENT STEM

speak, talk axaft-in axaft- axiv-
eat xwar-in xwar- xw-

read, study xwend-in xwend- xwîn-
work xebitî-n xebitî- xebit-
see dît-in dît- bîn-
wash şûşt-in şûşt- şo-
do, make, put kir-in kir- k-
give da-n da- d-
know zanî-n zanî- zan-
2. The simple present tense

The simple present tense is used for all actions performed in the present, whether continuous
or regularly recurring. It is formed from the present stem (see previous point), to which a
prefix di- is attached. Then the personal endings are added according to each person.
Examples of conjugations are as follow:
Ez di – xebit – im ‘I work / am working’
present tense prefix present stem personal ending
kirin (to do) xwendin (to read, study)

Ez di – k – im Em di – k – in Ez di – xwîn – im Em di – xwîn – in
Tu di – k – î Hûn di – k – in Tu di – xwîn – î Hûn di – xwîn – in
Ew di – k – e Ew di – k – in Ew di – xwîn – e Ew di – xwîn – in
If the verb stem ends in a vowel, the personal endings are as below:
şûştin (to wash)

Ez di –şo – m Em di – şo – n
Tu di – şo – yî Hûn di – şo – n
Ew di – şo Ew di – şo – n
3. The negative form of the simple present tense is derived by replacing di- with the na-
negation marker:
xwarin (to eat) xebitîn (to work)

Ez na – xw – im Em na – xw – in Ez na-xebit-im etc.
Tu na – xw – î Hûn na – xw – in
Ew na – xw – e Ew na – xw – in
However, there are two exceptions to the negation marker. The negative form of the present
tense prefix for the verb zanîn (to know) and karîn (to be able) is formed by replacing di-
with ni- instead of na-:
zanîn (to know) karîn (to know)

Ez ni – zan – im Em ni – zan – in Ez ni – kar – im Em ni – kar – in
Tu ni – zan – î Hûn ni – zan – in Tu ni – kar – î Hûn ni – kar – in
Ew ni – zan – e Ew ni – zan – in Ew ni – kar – e Ew ni – kar – in
3. Common irregular verbs in the present tense:

There are two irregular verbs conjugated differently both in affirmative and negative
sentences in present tense. These are hatin (to come) and anîn (to bring).
Hatin (to come)

Affirmative Negative
Ez têm Em tên Ez nayêm Em nayên
Tu tê Hûn tên Tu nayê Hûn nayên
Ew tê Ew tên Ew naye Ew nayên
Anîn (to bring)

Ez tînim Em tînin Ez naynim Em naynin
Tu tînî Hûn tînin Tu naynî Hûn naynin
Ew tîne Ew tînin Ew nayne Ew naynin
5. Compound verbs
The verb vexwarin (to drink) which was previously used in the text is a compound verb,
based on a particle ve- plus the verb xwarin ‘eat’. We will deal with these verbs in a different
lesson, but for the time being it is important to note that the present tense prefix comes
between the preverbal particle and the present stem:
from vexwarin the first person singular present is: ve-di-xw-im

from rabûn ‘get up’ the first person singular present is: ra-di-b-im
6. Exercises
6.1 Translate the following phrases into Kurdish:
1. At seven O'clock I come home.

(note: destinations in Kurdish are usually put after theverb)
2. I don’t know.
3. What does your father do (what is his job)?
4. They are not coming.
5. Rojbin (girl’s name) doesn’t like her (own) teacher.
(‘like’: hez kirin, the object is introduced with the preposition ji)
6. We are drinking water (av).
7. They are not drinking milk.
8. She studies American literature.
9. We don’t work at the bazar.
10. Who is reading my book? (book is feminine - see Izafe in Lesson 2!)
11. We have a large house.
12. He has two sisters.
13. I don’t have yoghurt.
14. When is your brother coming?
6.2 Translate the following into English:
1. Ez îro nayêm. (îro=today)

2. Hûn kengî diçin dersê?
3. Navê hevalê te çi ye?
4. Em li gel malbata xwe dimînin.
5. Min xuşkek heye.
6. Min pere nîne.
7. Tu ji dayika min hez dikî
8. Tu ji dayika xwe hez dikî
9. Ez destê xwe dişom.
List the infinitives from all the verbs you used exercise 6.1 and 6.2. If you used a form of
‘to be’, write the infinitive bûn.
(for example: in the first sentence in 6.1 you used a form of the verb hatin ‘come’)
LESSON 4
INTRODUCTION
In this unit you will continue to discover more about the simple present tense,
prepositions, postpositions and circumpositions and different time expressions.
By the end of this lesson you will:

• have learned about prepositions, postpositions and circumpositions and contracted
prepositions
• have learned a number of expressions for describing times
• deepened your knowledge of the present tense of a variety of different verbs, both
simple and complex
1. Text: Mala Nêrgizê

Nêrgiz hesabgir e û ew li Amedê dijî. Nêrgizê maleke heye. Mala wê biçûk e lê belê pir
şêrîn e. Di mala wê de du ode, metbex û hemam û tuwalet hene. Nêrgiz ne dewlemend e
lê belê mala wê pir rengîn e. Tê de her tişt heye: televîzyon, palgeh, mase û kursî,
tabloyên wêneyan, dolab û sêpî, mafûrekî sor, gul û guldank, û gelek tiştên din. Mala wê
li derveyî bajarî ye. Cihê mala wê pir xweş e û bi dar û hêşînahî ye. Li rex mala wê,
parkeke leyîstin û geriyanê heye. Park pir nêzîkî mala wê ye; di navbera mala wê û parkê
de bi tenê cadeyek heye. Park ne mezin e lê belê temîz û ferah e. Di wê parkê de her cure
dar û giya hene.
Nêrgiz di mala xwe de bi tenê nîne; wê pişîkek heye. Navê pişîka wê Kuncî ye. Kuncî pir
şêrîn e lê hinekî muzir e. Hergav diçe ser mase û nivînan. Di cihê xwe de nasekine.
Nêrgiz dawiya hefteyê naxebite. Rojên şembî, sibehê mala xwe paqij dike û êvarî diçe
cem hevalên xwe. Nêrgizê jiyaneke aram û rehet heye. Ew ji mal û halê xwe pir razî ye.
Translation: The House of Nêrgiz

Nêrgiz is an accountant and she lives in Amed. Nêrgiz has a house. Her house is small
but very sweet. In her house, there are two rooms, a kitchen, a bathroom and a restroom
(toilet). Nêrgiz is not rich but her house is quite colorful. There is everything in it: TV,
armchair, table, chair, paintings, cupboard and coffee table, a red carpet, a vase with
flowers, and many other things. Her house is outside of the city. The neighbourhood of
her house is green and there are trees around (lit. with trees and greenness). Next to her
house there is a park for playing and jogging. The park is very close to her house; there is
only one street between her house and the park. The park is not large (lit. big) yet it is
clean and airy. In that park, there are all kinds of tree and plants (dar û giya tree and
plants are in sngl. form, the plurality is observed on the verb hene).
Nêrgiz is not alone in her house; she has a cat. The name of her cat is Kuncî. Kuncî is
very sweet but she is little bit naughty. Always goes on the table and bedding (nivînan is
the plural form in K.) She (Kuncî) does not stay in her place. Nêrgiz does not work on the
weekend. On Saturdays, in the morning (sibehê) she cleans her house and in the evening
goes to her friends. Nêrgiz has a calm and comfortable life. She is very content with her
situation.
1.1 Exercise
Read the text and answer the questions as accurately as possible:
1. Nêrgiz li kû derê dijî?

2. Nêrgizê maleke çawa heye?
3. Di mala Nêrgizê de çend ode hene?
4. Mala Nêrgizê li kû derê ye? Li nav bajarî ye an li derveyî (=‘outside of’) bajarî
ye?
5. Park li kû derê ye?
6. Di parkê de çi û çi hene?
7. Nêrgiz di mala xwe de bi kî re dijî?
8. Nêrgiz kîjan rojan naxebite?
9. Nêrgiz kengî diçe cem hevalên xwe?
10. Gelo Nêrgiz ji mal û halê xwe bêzar e?
1.2 Exercise
The sentences below are taken from the text above. Fill in the blanks paying attention to
the usages of the prepositions and postpositions. It is suggested that you work on this
exercise after studying the related part in the Grammar section.
Nêrgiz …. Amedê dijî. Di mala wê …. du ode hene. Mala Nêrgizê li ……….. bajarî ye.
…......... mala wê parkek heye. Di ………….. mala wê û parkê de bi tenê cadeyek heye.
Kuncî pir muzir e. Hergav diçe …… maseyê. Nêrgiz ….. halê xwe pir razî ye.
2. Vocabulary
2.1 Danên Rojê/Times of a day
sibeh morning danê sibehê the morning time

nîvro noon danê nîvro noon
şev night danê şevê night time
• berbang /şefeq dawn

• sibeh /beyanî morning
• nîvro noon
• piştî nîvro afternoon
• esr /berêvar late afternoon, early evening
• êvar evening
• şev night
• nîvşev midnight
Elî berbanga sibehê diçe ser karê xwe. Elî sets out to his work at dawn.
Nêrgiz her sibeh gulên xwe av dide. Nêrgiz waters her flowers every morning.
Li vira, nîvro pir germ dibe. Her, it is very hot at noon.
Zarok piştî nîvro diçine melevaniyê. The children go swimming in the afternoon.
Salih êvarî zû vedigere mala xwe. Salih returns home early in the evening.
Bi şev zû razin da sibehê zû rabin. Sleep early at night to wake up early in the
morning.
Nîvşevê li gundê me tu kes dernakeve. At midnight nobody in our village goes out.
2.2 Days of the week/Rojên hefteyê

Duşembî1 Monday Îro çi roj e? What day is it today?
Sêşembî Tuesday Îro Pêncşembî ye. It is Thursday.
Çarşembî Wednesday
Pêncşembî Thursday Nêrgiz roja şembiyê naxebite.
Înî Friday Nêrgiz does not work on Sunday.
Şembî Saturday
Yekşembî Sunday Ez roja sêşembiyê diçime cem malbata xwe.
I am going to my family on Tuesday.
2.3 Hindek Hokerên Demê /Some Time Adverbs
Duhî yesterday →îro today →sibe tomorrow

Par last year →îsal this year →sala tê next year
Berê before →niha now → paşî later
 niha now
 paşî later
 piştre later on
 dûre afterwards
 berê/berî before
 duhî yesterday
 îro/ewro today
 sibe tomorrow
 par last year
 îsal/ewsal this year
 sala tê next year
 berî bi deh salan ten years ago
 piştî deh salan after ten years
 her roj every day
 hergav/hertim always
 her meh every month
 her sal every year
 tu/çu caran never
 hindek caran sometimes
 carinan sometimes
 kêm caran rarely
 gelek caran usually
1
All the weekdays can either end in -mbî or -mme. Thus Duşemme etc. are also correct
forms.
3. Exercises
a. In the previous lesson we had explained the present tense in Kurmanji. Turn back to
the related section, if needed, and try to place the right verb in the blanks. Note that in
this exercise the verbs are already conjugated.
hez dike /dixwe /radibe /diaxive /temaşe dike /dijî /vedigere /diçe
Salih xwendekarekî bîst û du salî ye. Ew li Stenbolê (1)………….. Salih sibehan pir zû
(2)………….., taştê dixwe û (3)…………… zanîngehê. Firavînê li zanîngehê, ligel
hevalên xwe (4)…………... Salih li zanîngehê bi kurdî (5)…………. Salih ji dersên xwe
pir (6)……….. Salih bi şev zû (7)…………. malê. Piştî şîvê, li televîzyonê
(8)………………... û saet 11an de radizê.
b. Conjugate the verbs in the table in the present tense.
Infinitive English Ez Tu Ew Em/Hûn/Ew

birin bring dibim
çûn go
kirin do
leyîstin play
meşiyan walk, take a walk
rabûn get up radibe
rûniştin sit
têgihiştin understand têdigihin
xebitîn work
xwandin read, study
xwestin request, want
vexwarin drink vedixwe
winda kirin lose
zivirîn turn (back), rotate
Wordlist
av water
av dide he/she waters (3rd person singular form of simple present tense
for the verb av dan ‘to water’)
bajar (syn. şehr) city
baran rain
bi dar bi: with; dar: tree. Somewhere where there are trees.
bi roj in the daytime, during daytime
bi şev at night
bi tenê alone, only
biçûk small
bikarî if you can (the present subjunctive form of the verb karîn ‘to be
able to’)
cade street
çawa/çawan how
çay tea
çend how many
çente (syn. kîf) bag
çi what
cih/cî place
çima (syn. bo çi) why
çîmen lawn
ciwan (ant. pîr) young
dan time of the day
dawiya hefteyê weekend (dawî: end; hefte: week)
delal beatiful, lovely
dereng (ant. zû) late
derî door
dernakeve he/she/it does not go out (negative form of 3rd person singular
form of simple present tense for the verb derketin ‘to go out’)
derve outside; abroad
dewlemend (ant. feqîr, wealthy
xizan, hejar)
di ……. re Through; ex: Kûçik di nav daran re çûn
di bin …… de Under (in locative case)
diaxive he/she/it speaks (3rd person singular form of simple present
tense for the verb axaftin ‘to speak’)
dibare it rains (3rd person singular form of simple present tense for the
verb barîn ‘to rain’)
diçe he/she/it goes (3rd person singular form of simple present tense
for the verb çûn ‘to go’)
dijî he/she/it lives (3rd person singular form of simple present tense
for the verb jiyan ‘to live’)
dil; dilan dil: heart; dilan: the plural of the noun dil.
dinive he/she/it sleeps (3rd person singular form of simple present
tense for the verb nivistin ‘to sleep’)

dirêj (ant. kurt, kin) long
dîsa jî again, still
dixwe he/she/it eats (3rd person singular form of simple present tense
for the verb xwarin ‘to eat’)
dolab cupboard
dûr (ant. nêzîk) far
ev jiyan this life (ev: this; life: jiyan)
êvarî in the evening
ferah spacious and well-lighted and airy
fîncan cup
geriyan infinitive form of the verb ‘to travel; to wander’
gîtar guitar
giya grass
gul rose; flower
guldank vase (gul: flower; dank: a suffix giving the sense of containing)
havîn summer (payîz: autumn; zivistan: winter; bihar: spring)
heftî/hefte week
hêlekan swing
hemam bath
her cure every kind (her: every, each; cure: kind (syn. tixm, babet)
hergav (syn. hertim) always
hesabgir accounter
hêşînahî green
heval friend
hevalên xwe friend’s of self (Salih bi şev diçe cem hevalên xwe. Salih goes
to his friends at night)
hez dike he/she/it likes, loves (3rd person singular form of simple present
tense for the verb hez kirin ‘to like, love’)
hirçok teddy bear
îskan cup for tea
ji bo for
jîn life
jîr clever, smart, wise
jiyaneke aram a peaceful life (jiyan+eke aram)
kal old
kar work
kê who (in oblique case)
kengî when
kî who
kîjan which
kû derê where
kulîlk flower; bud
kuncî oleaster, sesame; here the name of the cat
kursî chair
kurt short
lê belê but; however
leyîstin the infinitive form of the verb ‘to play’
li derveyî out of ….. (in oblique case)
li jêr below (in oblique case, by itself jêr would not be in oblique)
li jor above (in obl. case)
li rex next (in obl. case)
li ser on (in obl. case)
li vira here (in obl. case)
ligel together with
mafûr carpet
mal home
mal û hal general material and psychological situation of someone
mam (syn. ap) uncle
mase table
melevanî (syn. sobanî) swimming
metbex kitchen
mezin (ant. biçûk) big
muzir naughty
mûzîsyen musicien
nasekine he/she/it does not stop, stand (negative 3rd person singular,
simple present tense of sekinîn ‘to stop, to stand’)
nav name
navber interval, between
nazik fragile
nexoş ill, fatigue
nêzîk (ant. dûr) near, close
nivîn bedding
ode room
palgeh armchair
paqij; paqij kirin (syn. clean; to clean up
temîz, pak, xawên)
park park
pênûs (syn. qelem) pen
pere money
pîr (syn. kal; ant. old
ciwan, cahil)
pirtûk (syn. kitêb) book
pişîk (also kitik, pisîk) cat
piyal glass
por hair
qehwe coffe
radibe he/she/it wakes up (3rd person singular form of simple present
tense for the verb rabûn ‘to wake up, to stand up’)
rengîn colorful
roj day; sun
rûdine he/she/it sits down, lives (3rd person singular form of simple
present tense for the verb rûniştin ‘to sit down; to live’)
şeng charm
sêpî coffe table
serbest free; freely
şêrîn sweet; lovely
sibehê in the morning
sil kirin (syn. tûre Infinitive of the verb ‘to offend, to make angry’
kirin; xeyidandin)
tablo tableau
tê de in it (This usage requires a preceding context)
tebeq floor (du tebeq: double floor)
televîzyon television
temaşe kirin infinitive of the verb ‘to watch’
temîz clean
tenha/tenê alone; solitary place
terxan satisfied; comfortable
tev cîhan the whole world (tev: all; cîhan: the world)
tiral, tembel lazy
tiştên din other things (tişt: thing; din: other)
tu kes nobody
tuwalet toilet
vedigere he/she/it returns (3rd person singular form of simple present
tense for the verb vegeriyan ‘to return’)
vedihese (syn. bêhna he/she/it rests (3rd person singular form of simple present tense
xwe dan) for the verb vehesiyan ‘to rest’)
vî tiştî this thing; this
wêne painting
xanî house
xeşmê violence; violent act (in oblique case, see next lesson)
xurt (ant. zeîf; lawaz) strong, powerful
xwendekar student
zarok child; children
zeîf (syn. lawaz) weak
zû early; fast
A) Prepositions, Postpositions, Circumpositions and Contracted Prepositions
In Kurmanji there are prepositions, postpositions and circumpositions. The topic is quite complex, and in
this introductory course we will only be showing you the most important features of these structures.
Furthermore, there is quite a lot of variation among the different varieties of Kurmanji. However, the most
important words are constant across the different varieties. There are three basic prepositions, found in all
varieties of Kurmanji:
li ‘at, in’;
ji ‘from’;
bi ‘through, by’
In addition, there are prepositions like ser ‘on’; bin ‘under’, which may be combined with the basic three
prepositions (li ser ‘on, about’, as in li ser zimanê kurdî ‘about/on the Kurdish language’) or used alone, as
in ser çavan ‘on eyes’, meaning ‘at your disposal’, an expression of friendly respect and agreement.
One difficult feature of Kurmanji is the widespread use of circumpositions: these are made up of a
preposition plus one of three particles which follow the relevant word (or phrase). The three particles are:
ve, de, re (in some varieties pronounced: va, da, ra). For example:
bi te re ‘with you’
ji te re ‘for you, to you’
ji îro ve ‘from today onwards’
In addition, there are circumpositions with a first element di. Unlike the basic prepositions discussed above,
this element can not occur by itself, but only in combination with a final particle:
di mala wê de ‘in her house’

di ... re ‘through’
The final particles have a vague meaning, approximately as follows: de usually adds a meaning of
stationary position; while re adds some sense of togetherness; and finally ve adds some sense of getting
away from.
Note that the nouns and pronouns following the prepositions are in Oblique case. We have already
discussed the Oblique case for pronouns, and in the next lesson we look at the Oblique case for nouns.
Grammar / Rêziman 4 (continued)

Some common prepositions and circumpositions with examples are the following:
ba/nik/cem ‘to, towards’ Ew herroj diçe cem hevalên xwe. (used mostly with persons)
Every day he goes to his friends.
bi ‘with, by means of’ Ez bi bisîkletê diçim dibistanê.
I go to school by bicycle.
bi …re ‘with’ Bisekine! Ez jî bi te re têm bazarê.
Stop! (=imperative of sekinîn ‘wait, stop), I too will come to the market
with you.
bo ‘for; to’ Ji kerema xwe bo min çayekî dagire.
If you would be so kind, pour a tea for me.
di nav …de ‘inside of, among’ Tu çi dikî di nav avê de?
What are you putting into the water?
di navbera …de ‘between’ Welatê me di navbera Ferat û Dîcleyê de ye.
Our homeland is between the Euphrates and the Tigris (rivers)
heta ‘until’ Ez heta saet nehê şevê kar dikim.
I am working until nine O’clock in the evening.
ji ‘from, of’ Derya ji Qoserê ye.
Derya is from Qoser.
Mast ji şîr çêdibe.
Yoghurt is made of milk.
ji …re ‘to’ Ez ji te re dibêjim lê tu ji çu kesî re nebêje (=imperative of gotin).
I tell you but don’t you tell it to anyone (lit. no-one).
ji…ve ‘from; since’ Ji saet heftê sibehê ve kar dikim.
I have been working since 7 in morning.
ji bilî ‘except for; other than’ Di malbata wan de ji bilî wî tu kes kar nake.
In their family no-one works except for him.
ji bo ‘for’ Hemî hewla min ji bo wî ye.
All my effort is for him.
li ber ‘in front of’ Zû were! (imperative of hatin ‘come’) Li ber bankê li hêviya te me.
Come quickly! I am waiting for you in front of the bank.
li dijî ‘against’ Em li dijî neheqiyê têdikoşin.
We struggle against injustice.
ligel ‘with; along with’ Kuncî jî ligel zarokan dileyîze.
Kuncî too plays with the children.
li gorî ‘according to’ Li gorî wî em neheq in.
According to him, we are wrong.
li pêş ‘in front of’ Demhat di sinifê de li pêş Rûkenê rûdine.
Demhat sits in front of Rûken in the classroom.
li rex ‘beside’ Malên wan li rex hev in.
Their houses are next to each other.
li ser ‘on, over’ Bîne, deyne (imperatives of anîn ‘bring’ and danîn ‘put’) li ser vê maseyê.
Bring (it) and put (it) on this table!
wekî/mîna ‘like; as’ Rast e, ez jî wekî te difikirim.
That’s right, I too think like you / think the same way as you.
piştî ‘after’ Piştî saet heftê êvarî vedigere malê.
After seven O’clock in the evening (he / she) returns home.
Contracted prepositions
When the three basic prepositions mentioned above (bi, ji and li) are used with the third person pronoun
ew, this pronoun must go into the Oblique case, either wê (feminine), or wî (masculine). In such
combinations, what usually happens is that the preposition blends together with the pronoun, yielding the
following forms:
bi +wê/wî >pê ‘through him/her/it’
ji+wê/wî >jê ‘from him/her/it’
li+wê/wî >lê ‘at/in him/her/it’
The same thing happens to the particle di (recall from above that this particle does not occur by itself as a
preposition, but only together with a final particle as a circumposition):
di + wî/wê > tê, for example: di wê de > tê de ‘in it’
Some examples are the following:

Bavê wî her roj jê re (=ji wî re) pere dişîne. His father sends him money every day.
Mala ku ez tê de (=di wê de) dimînim gelek fireh e. The house which I stay at is very large.
Ez pê (=bi wê) penêr hûr dikim. I am slicing the cheese with it.
Keçik lê (=li wê) dinihêre. The girl is looking at (smb/smth).
B Conjugation of Verbs in Simple Present Tense (Continuation from previous lessons)

1. Recall that in Kurdish, each verb has two stems. The simple present tense is based o the present stem of
the verb and is created by adding the prefix di- to it. The present stem itself is extremely important, because
it also forms the basis of the subjunctive mood, the imperative, (see next lesson), and the future tense!
The main difficulty with the present stem is that for most of the common verbs in the language, it cannot
easily be predicted from the infinitive. For these verbs, then, you just have to learn the form of the present
stem off by heart. There are, however, two rules which are helpful for some verbs:
Rule i: For verbs with an infinitive ending in –în, the present stem can readily be formed simply by
dropping–în. For example:
Infinitive Present stem

karîn ‘can, be able’ kar-
kirîn ‘buy’ kir-
kenîn ‘laugh, smile’ ken-
pirsîn ‘ask’ pirs-
xebitîn ‘to work’ xebit-
zanîn ‘know’ zan-
zewicîn ‘marry’ zewic-
zivirîn ‘turn (back)’ zivir-
Rule ii: Verbs which end in -andin (or -endin) in the infinitive replace this with -în in to make the present
stem:
xwandin ‘read, study’ xwîn-
şandin ‘send’ şîn-
şikandin ‘break’ şikîn-
kişandin ‘pull’ kişîn-
stendin ‘receive’ stîn-
For most of the other common verbs, the present stem must be learnt together with the infinitive. Here is a
list of the commonest verbs together with their present stems, and the first person singular present (‘I am
driving / drive’ etc.)
Infinitive Present stem First Person Singular Present
ajotin (to drive) ajo- dajom
anîn (to bring) în- tînim (di-înim becomes tînim)
axaftin (to speak) axiv- diaxivim
avêtin (to throw away) avêj- davêjim
birin (to take away) b- dibim
bûn (to become) b- dibim
bûn (to be) - -im
çûn (to go) ç- diçim
dan (to give) d- didim
danîn (to place) da-în datînim (see anîn above; this verb is actually
from da-anîn, i.e. it has a preverb da-)
dîtin (to see) bîn- dibînim
firotin (to sell) firoş- difiroşim
gihiştin (to reach, to arrive) gih- digihim
girtin (to catch) gir- digirim
hatin (to come) ê têm
hêlan (to allow, to leave) hêl- dihêlim
jiyan (to live) jî- dijîm
ketin (to fall) kev- dikevim
kirin (to do) k- dikim
kolan (to dig) kol- dikolim
leyîstin (to play) leyîz- dileyîze
man (to remain) mîn- dimînim
mirin (to die) mir- dimirim
nivistin (to sleep) niv- dinivim
nivîsîn (to write) nivîs- dinivîsim
nêrîn (to look) nêr- dinêrim
(ê)xistin (to drop, strike) (ê)x- diêxim / dixim
xwarin (to eat) xw- dixwim
xwestin (to want) xwaz- dixwazim
şûştin (to wash) şo- dişom
Note that generally, the -i of the present tense prefix is dropped when the present stem of the verb begins
with a vowel: dajom (not di-ajom) ‘I drive’. Note also that the present tense of anîn is tînim, rather than the
expected dînim, and from hatin ‘come’ we have têm (actually a contraction of di-hê-m)
LESSON 5
INTRODUCTION
In this unit you will learn and be exposed to new grammatical structures in the present
tense and use them in meaningful contexts, and see the usages of the nouns in oblique
case, certain names for occupations, expressions of frequency and terminology for month
and the days of the week.
• Use the modal verbs for expressing the wishes, abilities and requirements,
• Conjugate the verbs in present tenses and also in subjunctive form,
• Detect and use the nouns in oblique case.
1. Text: Şîva Pîrozbahiyê The Celebration Dinner
Listen to the conversation the first time without reading the text and try to answer the
questions in Exercise 1.
In a café in Uppsala, Naz, Serdar, Selîm and Helîn are sitting down talking. Naz is telling
the others a piece of news, and she also makes an offer to the others:
Diyalog/Dialog
Garson: Qehwe ya kê ye?

Serdar: Qehwe ya min e. Kola ya wê, bîra ya xanimê ye û av jî bo hevalî ye.
Garson: Kerem bikin.
….
Naz: Ha, ez dixwazim xeberekê bidime we.
Helîn: Xebera xêrê ye înşellah. De bêje Naz.
Naz: Roja înê birayê min Rênas tê ji Kurdistanê.
Serdar: Rastî! Welleh divê em vê pîroz bikin.
Naz: Ê baş e vêga! Ez dixwazim we mêvan bikim. Şeva şembiyê, li mala min.
Hûn dikarin bên?
Serdar: Pir baş dibe! Ez dikarim bêm. Ez dixwazim Rênasî bibînim.
Selîm: Naz tu xwarinên xweş çêdikî?
Naz: Zêde ne xerab im bo xwarinçêkirinê. Ez dikarim tirşik û qelîsêlkê çêkim ji
we re. Tu dixwazî bêyî an ne?
Selîm: Mixabin ez nikarim bêm. Ji ber ku şeva şembiyê civîna min heye. Divê
beşdarî wê civînê bibim.
Helîn: Ê min, ez gelek dixwazim xwarinên destê te bixwim; lê belê ez niha
nizanim ka dikarim bêm an nikarim (but now I do not know whether I can
come or not).
Naz: Em jî gelek dixwazin tu bêyî. Heta sibe xeberekê bide me.
Helîn: Baş e, spas.
Translation:
Waiter: For whom (whose) is the coffee?

Serdar: The coffee is mine. The Cola is hers, the beer is for the lady and the water
is for the (this) friend.
Waiter: Here you are!
---
Naz: Look! I want to tell you (give you) a piece of news.
Helîn: Hopefully it is good news. Say it Naz.
Naz: On (the day of) Friday my brother Rênas will come from Kurdistan.
Serdar: Really! By God, we have to celebrate this (event).
Naz: Sure (lit. it is good)! I want to host you. At Saturday night, in our home.
Can you come?
Serdar: It will be very good. I can come. I want to see (meet) Rênas.
Selîm: Naz, do you cook good food (lit. meal) ?
Naz: I am not too bad at cooking. I can cook (prepare) tirşik and qelîsêlik for
you. Do you want to come or not?
Selîm: Unfortunately I can’t come. Because on Saturday night I have a meeting. I
must (have to) participate in that meeting.
Helîn: As for me, I very much want to eat (taste) a meal cooked (prepared) by
you (your hand), but at the moment (lit. now) I do not know whether I can
come or not.
Naz: We also very much want you to come (lit. that you come). Tell us (give us
news) whether you come or not by tomorrow.
Helîn: Well (it is good), thanks.
1.1 Exercise
Answer the questions below according to the text.
1. Çend kes rûdinin li maseyê?
2. Kî vedigere ji Kurdistanê?
3. Kî hevalan dawet dike bo şîvê?
4. Şîv kîjan rojê ye? Kengî ye?
1.2 Rast an Xelet Right or Wrong

Read the dialogue again and decide whether the sentences are right (R) or wrong (X).
a. …. Birayê Serdarî tê ji Kurdistanê.
b. …. Naz dixwaze hevalên xwe mêvan bike.
c. …. Serdar nikare biçe şîvê.
d. …. Şîv şeva yekşembiyê ye.
e. …. Serdar dixwaze Rênasî bibîne.
f. …. Selîm dikare biçe şîvê.
g. …. Selîm nikare biçe şîvê. Ji ber ku divê beşdarî civînê bibe.
h. …. Naz dikare tirşikê çêke.
i. …. Naz naxwaze Helîn biçe şîvê.
j. …. Helîn naxwaze xwarinên destê Nazê bixwe.
Navên Mehan/Names of the Months

There are a couple sets of month names in use in Kurdish; the names presented below
comprise the more widespread ones:
1. Çile January 7. Tîrmeh July
2. Reşemî February 8. Tebax August
3. Adar March 9. Eylûl Septembre
4. Nîsan April 10. Cotmeh October
5. Gulan May 11. Mijdar November
6. Hezîran June 12. Kanûn December
Çar demsalên salê The four seasons of the year

Bihar: Spring Havîn: Summer
Payîz: Autumn Zivistan: Winter
Adar, Nîsan û Gulan mehên demsala biharê ne.

March, April and May are the months of the spring season.
Hezîran, Tîrmeh û Tebax havîn e.
June, July and August are (the months of the) summer.
Eylûl, Cotmeh û Mijdar mehên payîzê ne.
September, October and November are the months of the autumn.
Mehên demsala zivistanê Kanûn, Çile û Reşemî ne.
The months of winter season are December, January and February.
Celadet Alî Bedir-Xan di 26’ê nîsana 1893’an de hatiye dinyayê.

Celadet Alî Bedir-Xan was born in April 26, 1893 (lit. 26 of the April of 1893)
Havîn bi meha Hezîranê dest pê dike.
Summer starts with (month of) June.
Zivistanê, bi taybetî meha Çileyê, Kurdistan pir sar e.
In winter, especially in (the month of) January, Kurdistan is very cold.
Di salekê de duanzdah meh hene.
There are twelve months in a year. (Lit. In one year, twelve months exist.)
A) The modal verbs: expressing ‘can’, ‘want’ and ‘must’
The two modal verbs xwastin and karîn behave just like other verbs in the present tense (see last lesson); they take the
xwastin (xwaz-) karîn (kar-) viyan (vê-)
Ez dixwazim bêm Ez dikarim bileyîzim Divê ez bixebitim
‘I want to come’ ‘I can play’ ‘I must work’
Tu dixwazî bêyî Tu dikarî bileyîzî Divê tu bixebitî

Ew dixwaze bê Ew dikare bileyîze Divê ew bixebite
Em/hûn/ew dixwazin bên Em/hûn/ew dikarin bileyîzin Divê em/hûn/ew bixebitin
Negative
nexwestin nikarîn divê ne-
Ez naxwazim bêm Ez nikarim bileyîzim Divê ez nexebitim
Tu naxwazî bêyî Tu nikarî bileyîzî Divê tu nexebitî
Ew naxwaze bê Ew nikare bileyîze Divê ew nexebite
Examples
Em naxwazin bên Hûn nikarin bileyîzin Divê ew nexebitin
‘We don’t want to come’ ‘You can not play’ ‘They must not work’
Tu dixwazî bêyî sînemayê? Tu dikarî li bisîkletê siwar bibî? Çi divê tu bikî ji bo îmtîhanê?
‘Do you want to come to the ‘Can you (=do you know how to) ‘What do you have to do for the
cinema?’ ride a bike?’ examination?’
present tense prefix di-, which is replaced by the negation prefix when the verb is negated. However, the present tense
negation of karîn is irregular: it is ni-kar- (not the expected na-kar-).
The modal construction
In Kurmanji, instead of saying I want to go, we say literally I want I go, and the second verb (go) takes the ending for
the first person singular, just like the first verb does. The second pronoun (here: ez) is, however, normally ommitted.
The second verb in a modal construction is in a special form, the subjunctive. This form is also used to express
commands and orders, i.e. in the imperative, but with the endings -e (sg.) and -in (pl.): bide min! ‘give me!’
The Subjunctive
 The subjunctive form of the verb is based on the present stem, but it takes a special bi- subjunctive prefix.
Otherwise, the verbs are conjugated just as in normal present tenses, i.e. the same set of person endings is
added to the present stems. However, the negation of the subjunctive verb is not with na-, but with ne-. This
also replaces the subjunctive prefix bi-.
 In compound verbs written as one word like wergirtin (wer+girtin), vekirin (ve+kirin), derketin (der+ketin),
the subjunctive prefix bi- is often omitted:
• Ez dixwazim pencereyê vekim. I want to open the window.
• Ez dikarim wê kitêbê bo çend rojan wergirim? Can I take that book for a few days?
• Divê ez derkevim. I need to leave.
2.1 Exercise
Listen to the dialogue above and fill in the blanks in the text of the dialogue below.
Garson: Qehwe … kê ye?

Serdar: Qehwe ya min e. Kola … wê, bîra ya xanimê ye û av jî bo hevalî ye.
Garson: Kerem bikin.
….
Naz: Ha, ez dixwazim xeberekê ………. we.
Helîn: Xebera xêrê ye înşellah. De …… Naz.
Naz: Roja înê birayê min Rênas tê ji Kurdistanê.
Serdar: Rastî! Welleh divê em vê pîroz ……..
Naz: Ê baş e vêga! Ez dixwazim we mêvan bikim. Şeva şembiyê, li mala min. Hûn
……… bên?
Serdar: Pir baş dibe! Ez dikarim bêm. Ez dixwazim Rênasî ……….
Selîm: Naz tu xwarinên xweş çêdikî?
Naz: Zêde ne xerab im bo xwarinçêkirinê. Ez dikarim tirşik û qelîsêlkê …….. ji we
re. Tu dixwazî bêyî an ne?
Selîm: Maxabin ez nikarim bêm. Ji ber ku şeva şembiyê civîna min heye. …… ez
beşdarî wê civînê bibim.
Helîn: Ê min, ez gelek dixwazim xwarinên destê te bixwim; lê belê ez niha nizanim
ka dikarim bêm an ………..
Naz: Em jî gelek dixwazin tu bêyî. Heta sibe xeberekê …….. me.
Helîn: Baş e, spas.
2.2 Hîndarî/Exercise
Complete the sentences below using the modal verbs karîn and xwestin.
1. Elîşêr …dikare... (karîn) bi Kurdî ..binivîse.. (nivîsandin).
2. Serdar ……… (karîn) ………. (çûn) şîvê.
3. Helîn ………. (xwestin) xwarinên Nazê ……… (xwarin).
4. Em ……….. (xwestin) li fîlmê Nîwey Mang …………. (temaşe kirin).
5. Ew ………... (karîn) li hespî ………….. (siwar bûn).
6. Xwîşka min ……….. (ne/karîn) trimbêlê ………. (ajotin).
7. Birayê hevalê min ………… (xwestin) ………. (bûn) pîlot.
8. Ceren …………. (xwestin) kitêbên bi kurdî ………… (xwendin).
9. Arjîn û Ciwan ………… (ne/xwestin) sibehê zû ……….. (rabûn).
Grammar / Rêziman 5 (Continue)
B) The Oblique case of nouns and pronouns
In previous lessons we had worked on two sets of pronouns in Kurdish, namely pronouns in the
direct case and pronouns in oblique case. Oblique pronouns, min, te, wî/wê, me, we, wan, are used
(a) as subjects in sentences with past transitive verbs; (b) as objects in all present tense verbs; (c)
as possessors in an izafe construction (as the second or following element of an izafe
construction); (d) when they follow a preposition or used in a circumposition (e) as possessors in
a sentential possessive construction.
In Kurmanji the oblique case is, in addition to pronouns, also a feature of nouns as well. It is
called tewang in the grammar of Kurmanji and the nouns in the oblique case receive oblique
endings. The endings which a name receives depend on its gender, and its number. The oblique
case of feminine nouns and plural nouns is very regular, but with masculine nouns there are quite
a lot of complications. Here are the feminine and plural forms first:
–ê in feminine nouns: Ez jinikê dibînim ‘I see the woman’

–an in plural nouns: Dara hespan difiroşe ‘Dara is selling the horses’
With masculine nouns, the oblique ending is, in some varieties of Kurmanji, -î, and this has
become fairly standard in the written language, though not all speakers produce this ending:
Masc.: -î Dara karkerî dinase. Dara knows the worker.

When the noun has an indefinite ending -ek (recall previous lessons), the endings are the same,
and in these cases, the masculine ending is perfectly regularly and consistently used:
Ez dixwazim hespekî bifiroşim ‘I want to sell a horse’

Em li gundekî dijîn ‘We live in a village’
The demonstrative pronouns ev, ew ‘this, that’ also have oblique forms. The oblique form varies
according to the intended gender and number: Vî, wî for masculine singular, vê, wê for feminine
singular and van, wan for plurals regardless of gender.
Vê kitêbê bide min. Give me this book. Wê kitêbê bide min. Give me that book.
Vî lawikî dibînî? Do you see this lad? Wî lawikî dibînî? Do you see that lad?
Van kaxezan nedirînin. Do not tear these papers.Wan nedirînin. Do not tear those.
Note 1: There is an alternative oblique form for the masculine singular nouns, if they have either
‘a’ or ‘e’ in their final syllable. In the oblique case, this a or e, is changed into an ‘ê’ vowel
(technically speaking, the vowel is raised through umlaut). Some examples with this form:
Eyşan nên dipêje. Eyşan is baking bread (absolute form: nan ‘bread’)
Serdêr gotar nivîsî. Serdar wrote the article. (absolute form: nan ‘Serdar’)
Some uses of the Oblique case

The noun or pronoun is in the oblique case when:
(a) they are objects in all present tense verbs:
Atîce Mucahidî dinivîne. Atîce is making Mucahîd sleep.
Atîce wî dinivîne. Atîce is making him sleep.
Kerîm hevalan li sûkê dibîne. Kerîm sees the friends in the bazaar.
Kerîm wan li sûkê dibîne. Kerîm sees them in the bazaar.
(b) they are possessors in an izafe construction (As the second or following element in an izafe
construction);
Trimbêla Darayî sor e. Dara’s car is red.
Trimbêla bavê Darayî sor e. Dara’s father’s car is red (note: only the final possessor
in an Izafe construction takes the oblique case; the ending -ê in bavê is an Izafe, not an
oblique ending)
Navê min Gulçîn e. My name is Gulçîn.
Dayika te kar dike? Does your mother work?
Note that when the second or following element is an adjective, it does not take the oblique case.
In this sense, in an izafe construction like kompûtera erzan ‘the cheap computer’, the second
element of the construction is not in oblique form as (1) it is not a possessor and (2) also as it is
not a noun or pronoun.
(c) when they follow a preposition or used in a circumposition;

Kitêb li ser maseyê ne. The books are on the table.
Hîwa pereyê xwe ji Kemalî dixwaze. Hîwa demands her money from Kemal.
Dara ligel wî dileyîze. Dara plays with him.

Kerîm hevalan li sûkê dibîne. Kerîm sees the friends in the bazaar.
(d) as sentence-initial possessors in a possessive (have-type) construction:

Gulsîmayê du keç hene. Gulsîma has two daughters.
Kazimî du cotên pêlavan hene. Kazim has two pairs of shoes.
We du otomobîl hene? Do you have two cars?
Important note: The oblique case cannot occur on a noun that is already marked with an Izafe
vowel! For example:
Ez xwarinan çêdikim ‘I am making food’ (xwarin-an has the plural Oblique ending)
Ez xwarinên xweş çêdikim ‘I am making nice food’ (-ên is the plural Izafe ending, not an oblique
ending; there is no oblique marking on the object here)
3. Exercise
3.1 We saw above and in the previous lessons that there are two sets of pronouns in
Kurmanji, those in nominative and those in oblique cases. Now, try to fill in the blanks
with the appropriate pronouns, and correct conjugation of the verb “bûn” (to be).
a. Navê ..wê.. Dûrya ye. Ew kurd ..e..

b. ....... gîtarek heye. Ew mûzîsyen ….
c. Navê ….. Erdal e. ….. ji Îzmîrê me.
d. ….. bîst û pênc xwendekar hene. ….. mamoste ne.
e. Çenteyên ….. sor in. ….. zarok in.
f. Eyşan tevnker ….. Wê deh mafûr …...
g. Rizgînî gelek pênûs ….. Ew xwendekar …..
h. Beyanîbaş Elîf. …. çawan î? ….. îro çend ders hene?
i. Dayik û bavê ….. li Şemzînanê dijîn. ….. ji Şemzînanê ….
3.2 Find the right pronoun in the examples below.

a. Hûn/we xanî heye?
b. Ew/wan ji Amedê ne.
c. Tu/te çend pirtûk hene?
d. Xaniyê mamê ez/min du tebeq e.
e. Ew/wê her heftî sêvan dikire. Ew/wê her roj sêvan dixwe.
f. Em/me her roj du fîncan qehwe vedixwin.
g. Li baxçeyê ew/wî kulîlk hene
h. Danerî çar hirçok hene. Ew/wî zarok e.
i. Şevbaş Ehmed. Ez/min diçim malê.
j. Porê bavê min spî ye. Ew/wî pêncî salî ye.
k. Tu/te dewlemend î? Pereyê tu/te gelek e?
3.3 Fill in the blanks with one of the three oblique endings, -ê and –î and -an. Do not
forget to insert the ‘y’ consonant before the ending if the word is a vowel-final word.
1. Çavên keçik… reş in.
2. Porê kurik… zer e.
3. Rengîn dîwar… boyax dike.
4. Van sêv… berhev bike.
5. Xwendekar li ser kursî… rûdinin.

6. Nêrgiz li Swêd… dijî.
7. Bêrîvan guh dide mamoste….
8. Kuncî ji geriyan… hez dike.
9. Pişîk çûk… (pl.) digire.
10. Teymûr her heftî kitêbek… dikire.
11. Ez êdî ligel Hesen…(masc.) naaxivim. I do not speak with Hesen anymore.
12. Destê Mustefa…(masc.) şikest.
13. Alan mîna Zerya…(fem.) dinivîse.
14. Ji kerema xwe vê piyal… dagire.
15. Zînet kulîlk… berhev dike.
16. Xwendekar di nav baxçeyê dibistan… de gul… diçînin.
3.4 Choose the correct sentence. Pay attention to the usage of prepositions as well as the
case of the noun (oblique or nominal) following the preposition.
1.
a. Mala Nêrgizê li rex park e.
b. Mala Nêrgizê li rex parkê ye.
2.
a. Dilşa ji kitêban hez dike.
b. Dilşa ji kitêb hez dike.
3.
a. Erdewan li ser kursiyê rûdine.
b. Erdewan li ser kursî rûdine.
4.
a. Sorgul ji Muşê tê.
b. Sorgul di Muşê tê.
5.
a. Ev kar ji bo Xezalê hêsan e.
b. Ev kar ji Xezalê hêsan e.
6.
a. Gotar di nav dosyayê de ye.
b. Gotar di nav dosya ye.
Wordlist
an, yan or (Ex: Tu qelemê sor dixwazî an yê reş? Do you want the red
pencil or the black one?)
av f. water
bêm ‘to come’ e.g. ez jî diwazim bêm. ‘I also want to come.’ (1sg.
pres. subjunctive form for the verb hatin ‘to come’)
bên ‘to come’ e.g. lê em nikarin bên. ‘But we can’t come.’ (1pl.
pres. subjunctive form for the verb hatin ‘to come’)
berhev bike ‘to collect’ (1) 3sg. pres. subjunctive form for the verb berhev
kirin ‘to collect’.
‘collect!’ (2) Sing. imperative form of the same verb.

beşdar bûn to participate; to join
bibînim ‘to see’ e.g. divê ez îşev Eyşanê bibînim. ‘I need to see Eyşan
tonight.’ (1sg. pres. subjunctive form for the verb dîtin ‘to see’)
bidime ‘to give’ e.g. ez dixwazim vê defterê bidime te. (1sg. pres.
subjunctive form for the verb dan ‘to give’); bidim+e (e:
directionality)
bîra f. beer
bo (1) for (also ‘ji bo’ with this meaning);
(2) to
(3) at
e.g. ez ne xirab im bo xwarinçêkirinê. ‘I am not bad at cooking.’
carinan sometimes
çend (1) how many, how much;
(2) some
civîn f. meeting
cixare f. cigarette
cixare kêşan smoking
çûk f. syn. çivîk bird
dawet dike ‘he/she invites’ (3sg. pres. indicative of the present tense form for the
verb dawet kirin ‘to invite’)
derman m. medicine
dewlemend ant. feqîr rich
çandin to plant (present tense stem: çîn; ex: Zarok gulan diçînin)
dikare ‘he/she can’ (3sg. pres. indicative of the verb karîn ‘can; to be
able to’)
dîwar m. wall
dosya f. file
ê min, me, as for me
êdî anymore
fîncan f. cup
geriyan to wander
germ ant. sar warm, hot
gîtar f. guitar
gotar f. article, discourse
guh dan to listen to (present stem: guh -d-; ex: ew guh dide)
heftî f. week
herroj everyday
hêsan ant. zehmet easy
heval friend
hewa m. weather
hirçok f. teddy bear
hişyar be to wake up, to be careful, to be alert (Ex: Li xwe hişyar be.
‘Take care of yourself’)
înşellah God willing, I hope that
ji ber ku syn. çinku because

ji bo ku syn. da ku so that, for
ka hay (dried grass); (2) where (Ex: Ka pişîka spî? ‘Where is the
white cat’)
kar kirin to work
kerem bikin here you are, please come in
kulîlk f. flower
li mala min in my house
li rex next to
li xwe kirin to put on
mafûr m. carpet
maxabin/mixabin unfortunately
mêvan kirin to host
mêweyên taze fresh fruits
nexweş ketin to get sick
nikare ‘he/she can’t’ (3sg. pres. indicative negative form of the verb
karîn ‘can; to be able to’)
park f. park
pênûs m.syn. qelem pen, pencil
pere m. Money
pîroz bikin ‘to celebrate, celebrate!’ e.g. Em dê newrozê pîroz bikin. ‘We
will celebrate newroz’ ( 1,2,3 pl. pres. subjunctive form for the
verb pîroz kirin ‘to celebrate’ & also the plural imperative form
for the same verb);
pirtûk f. syn. kitêb book
pişîk f. syn. kitik cat
piyal f. syn. qedeh glass, cup
qehwe f. coffee
qelîsêlk f. a local meal of Diyarbekir
şikest Duhî cama malê şikest. ‘Yesterday the window of the house
broke’(3sg. simple past tense of the intransitive verb şikestin ‘to
break’)
şîv f. dinner
stûr ant. tenik thick
tenik syn. zirav thin (zirav: slim)
tevnker weaver
tirşik f. a local meal of Diyarbekir region
xanim lady, (2) an address form for the women
xeber news, word
xwarin f. meal, to eat
xwarinçêkirin cooking
ya min mine (predicative) (Ex: Wê kilîlê nebe! Ew ya min e. ‘Do not
take away that key, it’s mine’); (also: ya te yours; ya wî his; ya
me ours; ya we yours(pl); ya wan theirs)
yên min mine (predicative) (Ex: Wan kitêban nebe! Ew yên min in. ‘Do
not take away those books, they are mine’); (also: yên te yours;
yên wî his; yên me ours; yên we yours(pl); yên wan theirs)
zêde too much (French: trop)
LESSON 6
INTRODUCTION
In this unit you will learn new grammatical structures in the simple future tense and
comparision and contrast together with the present tense conditional in Kurmanji.
By the end of this lesson students will be able to:
• make predictions and talk about future
• use present tense conditional clauses
• comparative and superlative forms of adjectives.
Text: Em dê biçin Wanê

Navê min Zerî ye. Ez xwendekar im. Dersên me heta heftiyekê xelas dibin û tatîl dest pê dike.
Ji bo tatîlê em dê biçin Wanê. Em dê heftiyekê li Wanê bimînin. Li Wanê gelek xizmên me
hene. Em dê sera wan bidin. Yek ji wan xizman, mamê min e. Em dê li mala mamê min
bimînin. Kurek û du keçên mamê min hene. Navên wan Ferhad, Asya û Meyrem in. Meyrem
ji Ferhad û Asyayê mezintir e. Ew li Enqereyê dixwîne û dê bibe doktor. Meyrem jî dê di
tatîlê de bê Wanê û em dê bi hev re biçin Behra Wanê û em dê li wir avjeniyê bikin. Her çend
ji behrekê biçûktir be jî, Kurd ji wê golê re dibêjin Behra Wanê. Li wir dêra Axtamarê heye û
em dê wê dêrê jî bibînin. Dêra Axtamarê yek ji kevintirîn cihên Wanê ye. Ji bilî behr û dêrê,
ez û zarokên mamê min, em dê Keleha Wanê jî bibînin. Ev keleh ji dêra Axtamarê kevintir e.
Ez dê gelek wêneyan bigirim li wan deran ji ber ku ez gelek ji cihên kevin hez dikim. Mixabin
em naçin cihên din. Herwiha, ez ê ji bazarên Wanê cil û bergên kurdewarî bikirim. Ev cil û
berg ji yên modern bihatir in, lê dîsa jî ez ê bistînim; ji ber ku li gorî min ew cil li ser rûyê
dinyayê cilên herî xweşik in. Havînan, şevên Wanê gelekî xweş dibin. Ez bawer dikim ku her
şev xizmên me yên li wir dê bên mêvantiyê û em dê suhbetên gelekî germ bikin di wan şevên
havînê de.
Translation
Text: We will go to Wan
My name is Zerî. I am a student. Our classes are finishing in a week and the holidays begin.
For the holiday we will go to Wan. We will stay in Wan for one week. We have lots of
relatives in Wan. We will visit them. One of these relatives is my uncle. We will stay at my
uncle’s house. My uncle has a son and two daughters. Their names are Ferhad, Asya and
Meyrem. Meyrem is older than Ferhad and Asya. She studies in Ankara and she will be a
doctor. Meyrem will also come to Wan for the holidays, and we will go to lake Wan together
and we will swim. Although it is smaller than a sea, Kurds call this lake the Wan Sea. The
Axtamar Church is there and we will visit it as well. The Axtamar Church is one of the oldest
places of Wan. Apart from the lake and the church, I and my uncle’s children will visit the
Wan Fortress as well. This place is older than the Axtamar Church. I will take a lot of photos
in these places because I love historical (lit. old) places very much. Unfortunately we will not
go to any other places. However, I will buy Kurdish clothes from the bazaar. These clothes
are more expensive than the modern ones but still I will buy them because I think they are the
most attractive clothes in the world. The nights in summer become very pleasant. I believe
that our relatives there will come to visit every night and we will have very lively discussions
on those summer nights.
1.1. Exercise
a) Answer the questions according to the text.
a) Zerî û malbata wê dê biçin kû?

b) Ew dê li kû derê bimînin?
c) Meyrem dê bibe çi?
d) Ew dê li Wanê çi bikin?
e) Kîjan cih kevintir e li Wanê?
f) Ew dê li Wanê çi bikirin?
g) Kîjan cil û berg erzantir in? Cilên kurdewarî an yên modern?
b) Form sentences in the future tense with the words given below.
Ex: Sibe / kar bike / deh saetan/ dê / Alan
Alan dê sibe deh saetan kar bike.
1. Zerya / dê / bixwîne / kitêba xwe

.…………………………………….
2. Serhad / biçe / havinê / Franseyê / dê
……………………………………….
3. dê /Ez / heftaya tê / hevalên xwe / bibînim.
……………………………………….
4. Bavê min/ dê / pere / bişîne/ / ji bo min
……………………………………….
5. Elîşêr / sala tê / erebeyekê / dê / bikire
……………………………………….
2. Comparatives and Superlatives (Read the grammar section below before doing these
exercises.)
2.1 Use the adjectives in brackets in the comparative form.
Diyarbekir ji Wanê .................... e (mezin). Lê ji bo min Wan ji Diyarbekirê ................. e

(xweş). Hewayê Diyarbekirê ji yê Wanê................... e (germ). Cil û berg, mêwe û sebze li
Wanê ............... in (erzan) lê li Diyarbekirê .............. in (zêde).
2.2 Write the comparative and superlative forms of the adjectives

Adjective comparative superlative
kurt ..................... .....................

xweş ..................... .....................
dûr ..................... .....................
girîng ..................... .....................
teng ..................... .....................
bedew ..................... .....................
zehmet ..................... .....................
biçûk ..................... .....................
xerab ..................... .....................
dereng ..................... .....................
rehet ..................... .....................
erzan ..................... .....................

qelew ..................... .....................
bilind ..................... .....................
ciwan ..................... .....................
zirav ..................... .....................
dirêj ..................... .....................
3.1 Li Kurdistanê Bazar
Li Kurdistanê bazar gelekî girîng in. Li hemû bajar, navçe û taxan bazar hene. Bazar heftiyê
carekê hene. Hûn dikarin hemû pêdiviyên xwe ji bazarê bikirin. Heke hûn biçin bazarê, hûn
dikarin tiştên gelek erzan peyda bikin. Herwiha heke hûn fêkî û sebzeyên xwe ji bazarê
bikirin dê baştir be; ji ber ku ew tazetir in. Heke pereyê we têra we neke, hûn dikarin bi deyn
jî tiştan bistînin ji ber ku baweriya bazarvan û mûşteriyan ji hev tê. Heke hûn bi xeletî zêde
pere bidin, bazarvan dê pereyê we li we vegerînin. Wekî din, heke hûn danûstandina bazarê
bibînin, hûn dê têkiliyên mirovan baştir fahm bikin.
Bazaars in Kurdistan
Bazaars are very important in Kurdistan. There are bazaars in all city, town and quarters.
They are once a week. You can buy all your necessities from bazaars. If you go to the bazaar,
you can find the things for very cheap. Moreover, it is better for you to buy your fruits and
vegetables (from the bazaar) because they are more fresh. If your money does not suffice, you
can buy things as a loan because the bazaar people and customers rely on each other. If you
pay more money by mistake, they will return your money. Furthermore, if you see the
shopping in the bazaars, you will understand the relationship of people better.
3.2. For the following sentences mark (R) (Rast) if correct and (X) (Xelet) if false.
1. Bazar her roj hene. ..... .....

2. Heke hûn biçin bazarê, hûn ê jê sûdê wergirin. ..... .....
3. Heke hûn biçin bazarê, hûn ê kêmtir pere bidin. ..... .....
4. Heke pereyê we têrê neke hûn nikarin danûstandinê bikin. ..... .....
5. Bazar ji bo famkirina têkiliyên mirovan girîng e. ..... .....
3.3 Put the words in right order to form sentences of the present conditionals.
1. ew / çêbikin / heke / mala me/ em/ ê / şîvê / bên

2. bimirim/ heke / ez/ bike / dê / çavdêriya baxê / kî
3. bim / ez / ne şaş / were / ew / ê / sibe / Heke
A) Dema Bê / Future Tense
We use future tense when we talk about an action to take place in the future. It can be something arranged or a
prediction about the future. In Kurmanji we form simple future tense by using the future marker dê after the
subject, and before the verb, and conjugating the verb with the subjunctive bi-. Remember from the lesson 5 we
learned how to use subjuntive by adding bi- prefix to the verb and conjugating the verb as in normal present
tenses, i.e. the person endings are added to the present stems of the verbs. The logic is the same in the future
tense except that we add a special particle dê, which comes after the subject:
Affirmative
Ez dê bixwînim. I will read
Tu dê bixwînî. you will read
Ew dê bixwîne. He/she/it will read
Em dê bixwînin. We will read
Hûn dê bixwînin. You will read
Ew dê bixwînin. They will read
The above rule for the position of dê applies when the subject is in first position in the sentence, which it usually
is. However, when the first position in the sentence is not occupied by the subject, different rules may apply, but
they need not concern us here.
Negative
As for their negative forms, it can be done in two fashions.
1) Either, exactly in the way the negation works in present tenses: the future marker dê dropped, and na-
replaces the subjunctive bi-. As is seen from the sample text, this form is used more frequently.
Ez naxwînim. I will not read

Tu naxwînî. You will not read
Ew naxwîne. He/she/it will not read
Em naxwînin. We will not read
Hûn naxwînin. You will not read
Ew naxwînin. They will not read
2) Or ne- replaces the subjunctive bi-, and the future marker dê remains.
Ez dê nexwînim. I will not read
Tu dê nexwînî. You will not read
Ew dê nexwîne. He/she/it will not read
Em dê nexwînin. We will not read
Hûn dê nexwînin. You will not read
Ew dê nexwînin. They will not read
Examples
Ez dê sibe biçim nexweşxaneyê I will go the hospital tomorrow.

Tû dê kengî bêyî mala me? When will you come to our home?
Em ê êdî tu car wê nebînin We will never see her again.
Ew dê çawa we nas bikin? How will they know you?
Note
a) There are alternative forms of the future tense auxilary verb dê, namely ê, wê. When the auxilary verb follows
a consonant-final subject it may take the form of ê.
b) "Tu dê" is sometimes contracted as tê (Tu dê biçî ‘You will go’ becomes Tê biçî).
c) The future marker in the form of ê can be attached to the subject pronouns ez, em and ew in writing. (Ezê
biçim sînemayê ‘I will go to cinema’)
B) Comparatives
To yield the comparative form of adjectives we (1) add the –tir suffix to the positive form (the first form) of the
adjective and (2) use the preposition ji ‘from’ before the compared noun. However, if the last letter of the
adjective is already t, then we drop the t of the comparative suffix.
Examples:
Meyrem ji birayê xwe mezintir e. Meyrem is older than her brother.
Ev cil û berg ji yên modern bihatir in These clothes are more expensive than the modern ones.
Hevokên min ji yên te dirêjtir in. My sentences are longer than yours.
Tu ji min baştir dixebitî. You work better than me.
Ew ji me hemûyan bileztir dibezin. They run faster than all of us.
However, some adjectives also have irregular comparative forms as well as the regular one discussed above:
pir >pirtir or bêtir much > more

baş > baştir or çêtir good > better
mezin >mezintir or meztir big > bigger
C) Superlatives
There are two ways of forming superlatives in Kurmanji.
1) It is formed by adding –tirîn to the adjective.
Examples:
Navdartirîn nivîskarê kurd Mehmed Uzun e. Mehmed Uzun is the most famous Kurdish author.
Diya min xweştirîn xwarinên cîhanê çêdike. My mother cooks the best meals (lit. the tastiest) of the
world.
Note that superlative adjectives formed with –tirîn have a different syntax to normal adjectives: they do not
follow the noun they describe in an Izafe-construction, but are placed in front of that noun.
2) It is formed by using the word herî before the adjective.

Mehmed Uzun nivîskarê kurd ê herî navdar e. Mehmed Uzun is the most famous Kurdish author.
Diya min xwarinên herî xweş ên cîhanê çêdike. My mother cooks the best meals of the world.
Zekî di nav xwendekaran de yê herî jîr e. Zekî is the most clever among the students.
D) Conditionals
The conditional is formed by using one of the words heke, ku, ger, eger, heger (all meaning if ) at the beginning
of the sentence and conjugating the verb in the present subjuntive form, as in future tense. For the present lesson
we will focus only on the conditionals in the present tense. We will prefer heke conditional word as it is the most
frequent word for forming conditional sentences. As for the negative form of the present conditional, we simply
replace the subjunctive bi- with the negation marker ne- and keep the rest untouched.
Heke, ku, ger, eger, heger: if
Present
Heke ez biçim. If I go Heke ez neçim If I do not go
Heke tu biçî. If you go Heke tu neçî If you do not go
Heke ew biçe. If he/she/it goes Heke ew neçe If she/he/it does not go
Heke em biçin. If we go Heke em neçin If we do not g
Heke hûn biçin. If you go Heke hûn neçin If you do not go
Heke ew biçin. If they go Heke ew neçin If they do not go
We do not use conditional sentences on their own, but in relation to a following sentence. We usually use simple
future tense, the modal karîn (can), or simple present tense in the second sentence. Some examples are as
follows:
- Heke zarokên me kurdî fêr nebin, dê xetereke mezin çêbe.

If our children do not learn Kurdish, there will be a big danger.
- Heke hûn biçin bazarê, hûn dikarin tiştên gelek erzan peyda bikin.
If you go to bazaar, you can find very cheap things.
- Heke ez ne xelet bim, ew li Stenbolê dixwîne.

If I am not wrong, he studies in Istanbul.
Not: Other uses of conditionals and wishes will be dealt with in lesson 9.
Wordlist
dema bê future tense
dê also ê, wê will (see grammar section for details of the future tense)
xelas dibin ‘we, you, they finish’ dersên me heta heftiyekê xelas dibin
‘my lessons will finish within a week’ (pl. form of the simple
present tense for the verb xelas bûn ‘to finish’ )
biçin ‘we, you, they will go’ ji bo tatîlê em ê biçin Wanê ‘we will
go to Van for the holidays’ (pl. form of the future tense for the
verb çûn ‘to go’)
xizm relative
ser dan to visit (as a noun: serdan f.: visit)
mezin big, old
behr f. syn. derya, zerya sea
avjenî m. swimming
her çend also her çiqas although
biçûk ant. mezin small, little
dêr f. church
cil û berg m. dress, costume
yek ji.... one of the... - yek ji kevîntirîn cihê Wanê ‘one of the oldest
places in Van’. This phrase is productively used with the
superlative phrases.
ji bilî also ji xeynî other than - ji bilî behr û dêrê ‘Other than the sea and the
church’
zarok child
kevin also kevn old, historical, ancient
keleh f. fortress
wêne m. syn. resm photo, picture
der syn. cih, cî place
wekî din syn. herwiha moreover, furthermore
biha expensive
modern syn. nûjen modern
lê dîsa jî but still - ev cil û berg ji yên modern bihatir in lê dîsa jî ez ê
bistînim ‘these clothes are more expensive than the modern
ones but still I will buy them’
li gorî min syn. bi ya for me, in my opinion - li gorî min şirîntirîn cilên cîhanê ne
min (In my opinion, they are the prettiest clothes of the world.)
şirîn sweet, cute, pretty, pleasant
cîhan f. syn. dunya f. world, globe, earth
havîn f. summer
ez bawer dikim I suppose, I think, I believe
şev f. night
mêvantî being a guest
suhbet chat, talk, conversation
germ warm, here: nice
pere syn. dirav money
erebe syn. seyare, car, vehicle
tirimbêl
hewa m. weather
fêkî fruit
sebze vegetables
zêde abundant, much
kurt short
xweş good, fine
xweşik pretty, pleasant, cute
dûr far
girîng important, essential
teng narrow
bedew syn. cuwan, spehî beautiful
zehmet syn. zor difficult
xerab bad, evil, defective, broken
dereng late
rehet comfortable, easy
erzan cheap
qelew fat, big, large
bilind tall
ciwan young
zirav thin, slim, delicate

heke syn. ku, ger, eger, if (see grammar section for details of the present conditional)
heger
helbest syn. şiîr poem
bajar m. syn. şehr town, city
kurdewarî Kurdish, according to Kurdish tradition
mîna syn. wekî like – ez jî mîna te xwendekar im ‘I am a student like you, too’
rûbar m. syn. çem river
bêdeng silent
rû m. face
dev m. mouth
av f. water
berf m. snow
bêdengî silence
dever region, place
eşq f. syn. evîn love
şîv f. dinner
bimirim (if) I die (1 sg. form of conjuctive for the verb mirin ‘to die’)
çavdêrî f. observation
yek one, unite
cîran neighbour
ji nîvê riyê from the half way
şaş wrong, mistaken
tatîl holiday, vacation
man to stay (mîn-)
xwendin to study (xwîn-)
avjenî kirin to swim (avjenî k-)
dîtin to see (bîn-)
hez kirin to love, to like (hez k-)
kêşan (1) to pull (2) to last (3) to smoke (cixare kêşan)
kirîn to buy (kir-)
standin to take (stîn-)
şandin to send (şîn-)
av dan to water (av d-)
vegerîn to return (veger-). The causative form of this verb is
vegerandin (vegerîn-)
mirin to die (mir-)
LESSON 7
INTRODUCTION
In this unit you will learn about the simple past tense and the past continuous tense. At the
same time you will get to know how to express past habits.
• Express past events,
• Conjugate the verbs in simple past and past continuous tense,
• Detect and use the nouns in oblique case in different positions.
1. Text: Dawiya Heftiyê The Weekend

Zelal and Cindî are speaking about the weekend in school canteen at a break-time.
Zelal: Cindî, dawiya heftiyê çawa derbas bû?

Cindî: Baş derbas bû. Roja şembiyê sibehê hinek dereng rabûm.
Zelal: Saet çendê rabûyî?
Cindî: Welleh, ez saet dora neh û nîvê hişyar bûm. Hewa pir xweş bû. Lewma ez û
dayika xwe em çûn derve ji bo taştê.
Zelal: Çend xweş! Xweziya we! We taştê çi xwar?
Cindî: Min zeytûn, penêr û hêkên kelandî xwarin. Dayika min jî qeymax û hingivînê
Wanê yê meşhûr xwar.
Zelal: We piştî taştê çi kir?
Cindî: Em bêhnekê li nav sûkê geriyan. Paşî em çûne bazarê û me ji bo min cotek
pêlavên sporê kirîn. Paşî dayika min çû malê û ez jî çûm cem hevalên xwe. Te
çi kir dawiya heftiyê?
Zelal: Roja şembiyê ez her li malê bûm. Min odeya xwe serûber kir. Piştî nîvro min li
bernameyeke muzîkê temaşe kir. Bi şev jî min kitêb xwend.
Cindî: Yanî tu hîç derneketî?
Zelal: Mixabin! Lê belê yekşembiyê êvarî ez ligel hevalekî xwe çûm sînemayê. Me li
fîlmê dawî yê Behmen Ghobadî temaşe kir.
Cindî: Fîlmekî çawa bû? Te jê hez kir?
Zelal: Fîlmekî pir xweş bû. Ji bîr neke, tu jî temaşe bike.
Cindî: Baş e, ez dê şembiya tê temaşe bikim.
……………….
Translation
Zelal: Cindî, how did you spend the weekend?

Cindî: It was good (lit. I spent it well). On Saturday morning I woke up a bit late.
Zelal: At what time did you wake up?
Cindî: Well, I woke up at about 9.30. The weather was very good. Therefore I and my
mother went out to have breakfast.
Zelal: How nice! I am jealous! What did you eat for breakfast?
Cindî: I ate olives, cheese and boiled eggs. My mother ate cream and the famous honey
fromWan.
Zelal: What did you do after breakfast?
Cindî: For a while we walked around in the market. Then we went to the bazar and
bought a pair of sport shoes for me. Then my mother went home and I went to my
friends. What did you do at the weekend?
Zelal: On Saturday I was just at home. I tidied my room. In the afternoon I watched a
music program (TV – understood by the verb watch). In the evening I read a
book/books.
Cindî: That means that you did not go out (at all)?
Zelal: Unfortunately not! But on Sunday evening I went to the cinema with a friend of
mine. We saw the last film by Behmen Ghobadî.
Cindî: How was the film? Did you like it?
Zelal: The film was very good. Don’t forget to see it, you too!
Cindî: OK, I will watch it next Saturday.
1.1. Exercise
The sentences below are taken from the text above. Find the sentence of each verb and
fill in the blanks paying attention to the form of the verbs.
Rabûm/ çû/ bû/ geriyan/ kir/ xwarin
a) Em bîstekê li nav sûkê ……………
b) Ez roja şembiyê hinekî dereng ………….
c) Te çi ………… dawiya heftiyê?
d) Min zeytûn, penîr û hêkên kelandî ………….
e) Paşî dayika min ……….. malê.
f) Hewa pir xweş ………..
1.3. Complete the conjugation of the verbs in simple past tense.

(in some sentences you should not add anything)
a) Ez roja şembiyê, sibehê hinek dereng rabû….
b) Ez û dayika xwe çû…. derve ji bo taştê.
c) Te taştê çi xwar….
d) Me ji bo min cotek pêlav kirî….
e) Tu hîç derneket….?
f) Ez roja şembiyê li malê ma….
g) Ew li malê bû….?
h) Hûn kengî vegeriya…. malê?
Grammar 7
A) Dema Borî / Simple Past Tense
With intransitive verbs:
Consider first the simple past tense forms of the intransitive verbs çûn ‘go’ and rabûn ‘get up’:
:
Sibehê In the morning Ez çûm Wanê Ez zû rabûm.
Duhî Yesterday Tu çûyî Wanê Tu zû rabûyî.
Pêr The day before yesterday Ew çû__ Wanê Ew zû rabû__.
Par payîzê Last year in autumn Em çûn Wanê Em zû rabûn.
Hûn çûn Wanê Hûn zû rabûn.
Ew çûn Wanê Ew zû rabûn.
As it is seen in the examples above, for conjugating the intransitive verbs in the simple past tense in
Kurmanji, we add a set of personal endings to the past tense stems of the verbs. The past stem of the verbs
is very simply found by deleting the ending -(i)n from the infinitive:
Infinitive Past stem
çûn çû Em çûn bazarê. We went to the market.
axaftin axaft Elî pir baş axaft. Elî spoke very well.
nivistin nivist Tu saet çendê nivistî? What time did you sleep?
hatin hat Em berî du saetan hatin. We came two hours ago.
ketin ket Kitêbên min ketin. My books fell down.
kenîn kenî Ez li ber fîlmî pir kenîm. I laughed too much at the film.
As for the personal endings, the personal endings are the same as they were in the present tenses except for
the third person ending. There is no ending for the third person in simple past tense; so, the past stem of the
verb functions as the third person conjugation of the verb. Below there is a chart of the endings:
After a vowel After a consonant

Ez –m Em ––n Ez –im Em –in
Tu – yî Hûn –n Tu –î Hûn –in
Ew -- Ew –n Ew -- Ew –in
Pirs / Question form: Tu duhî çûyî cem hevalê xwe? Did you go to your friend yesterday?
Hûn sibehê saet çendê rabûn? What time did you get up in the morning?
Tu têgihiştî? Did you understand?
With transitive verbs:

The way we make sentences with the past tense forms of transitive verbs is quite different from the way we
make sentences with other verb forms. Therefore, you will need to pay careful attention to this section.
First of all, note that the past stem of the verb itself is made in just the same as it is for intransitive verbs,
i.e. deletion of -(i)n:
Infinitive Past stem Infinitive Past stem
xwendin ‘read, study’ xwend dîtin ‘see’ dît
There are three major changes in the past tense transitive sentences that must be learned:
First, the same set of personal endings is added to the past stem as we learned above. But the personal
endings do NOT refer to the subject, but the OBJECT.
Second, the SUBJECT goes into the Oblique case.
Consider the following examples, noting these two differences: the oblique case of the subject pronouns,
and the ending of the verb:
Min helbestek xwend I read a poem Min ew dît I saw him/her.
Te helbestek xwend Te ew dît You saw him/her.
Wî helbestek xwend Wî/wê ew dît He/she saw him/her.
Me helbestek xwend Me ew dît We saw him/her.
We helbestek xwend We ew dît You saw him/her.
Wan helbestek xwend Wan ew dît They saw him/her.

As you can see, the verb forms are in the form for the third person singular (which is the same as the bare
stem), because the object in all sentences is third person singular (a poem, or him/her).
Third, the OBJECT is in the absolute or unmarked case.
Compare now the first of the above sentences with the corresponding present tenses forms:
Ez helbestek-î dixwîn-im Ez wî dibînim
I read/am reading a poem I see him
The differences between sentences with past and present transitive verbs are summed up below:
Simple present Simple past
Case of subject Absolute Oblique
Case of object Oblique Absolute
Person endings on verb Agrees with subject Agrees with object
Now observe how the three principles mentioned above apply to the examples below:
Min tu dîtî. I saw you. Şîlanê cil şûştin. Şîlan washed the clothes.
Min ew dît. I saw hîm/her. Mesûdî xwarin çêkir. Mesud cooked (the meal).
Min hûn dîtin. I saw you Tu duhî li malê bûyî? Were you at home yesterday?
Min ew dîtin. I saw them Wî çîrok xwendin. He read (the) stories.
Min çivîkek dît. I saw a bird. Te çend kitêb kirîn? How many books did you buy?
Min du çivîk dîtin. I saw two birds. Hostayan du xanî ava kirin. The masters built two houses.
Note that when the object is plural, the verb gets plural ending –in. In this case, the plural conjugation of
the past tense transitive verb is in the same form of the infinitive form of the verb. For example, when the
plural ending is added to the past stem dît-, it becomes dîtin which is at the same time the infinitive form of
the verb. So, as a practical way, in the past tense plural verbs take the infinitive form of the verb as it is.
Negative, transitive and intransitive verbs:

For yielding the negative form, all other rules being the same, we prefix the negative marker ne-, as in:
Min helbest nexwend. I did not read the poem.
Min helbest nexwendin. I did not read (the) poems.
Gundiyan zeviyên xwe av nedan. The villagers did not water their fields.
Elîxanî dersa xwe nekir. Elîxan did not study his lesson.
Ez zû ranebûm. I did not get up early.
Grammar 7 (Continue)
B) Past Continuous
For conjugating a verb in past continuous tense, either transitive or intransitive verb, we prefix di- to the
past stem of the verb. In this sense, the only difference from simple past tense is prefixing the di-, all other
processes being the same.
Gava ew gihişte malê ez dinivistim. When s/he arrived at home I was sleeping.
Rûbarê gundî mîna lehiyê diherikî. The village river was flowing like a flood.
Dema ji dukanê derket, dinya êdî tarî dibû. When he got out of the shop it was getting dark.
Gava min ew dît, wî cil û berg dikirîn. When I saw him, he was buying clothes.
Note that the same construction is also used for expressing past habits. See the examples below:
Dema ez zarok bûm, ez tim diçûm ser daran. When I was a child, I used to climb trees.
Hingî, em hergav bi hev re digeriyan. Then, we always used to hang out together.
Min stran digotin te jî guhdarî dikir. I used to sing and you used to listen.
Ber mala me darek hebû û hergav çivîk diçûne ser. There used to be a tree in front of our
house and the birds would go on it all the time.
As for the negative form of the past continuous and past habitual, the negative marker ne- is prefixed to the
verb. Note that, unlike the present tense negation, the past continuous prefix di- remains intact; it is not
replaced by the negation marker. Check the examples below:
Dema ez li hundir bûm, baran nedibarî. When I was inside, it was not raining.
Heynê ez li Wanê bûm, min çu kes nas nedikir? When I wan in Wan, I did not know anybody.
Hindî min jê re digot, fam nedikir. No matter how much I was telling to him, s/he would not
understand.
Wextê ez hatim vira, min ji bilî Kurdî bi çu zimanan nedizanî. When I came here, I did not
know any language other than Kurdish
Compound verbs in the past tenses

Note that as it was the case with the compound verbs in present tense, all the grammatical processes are
applied to the verbal part of the compound verb. See the examples below:
Min sê lîra ji wî wergirtin. (wer+girt+in) ‘I received three liras from him’
Min her roj sê lîra ji wî werdigirtin. (wer+di+girt+in) ‘Every day I used to ...’
Me behsa edebiyata kurdî ya nûjen kir. (behs … kir) ‘We discussed modern Kurdish literature’
Me behsa edebiyata kurdî ya nûjen dikir. (behs … di+kir) ‘We used to discuss ...’
Me behsa edebiyata kurdî ya nûjen nedikir. (behs … ne+di+kir)
2. Exercise
Below there is the folk story that we worked on for conjugating the verbs in present tense
in the fourth lesson. Now, read the story and then rewrite it in the simple past tense. The
first two sentences are already done and the words that you will need to change are
shown in italics.
Text: Kêr û Kevçik

In present tense:
Rojekê, mirovek li malekî dibe mêvan. Dema xwarinê ye. Kebaniya malê sifreyê radixe,
xwarinan li ser rêz dike. Dû re, mêvan gelek li benda kevçikan dimîne, lê kebaniya malê
kevçikan naîne. Mêrik ji kebaniya malê re dibêje: “Sitiya kebanî, ji kerema xwe ji min re
kêrekê bîne.” Kebanî li ser sifreyê dinihêre, tu tiştê ku bi kêrê bête birîn nîne û dibêje:
“Mêvanê birêz, tu dê çi bi kêrê bikî?” Mêvan dibêje: “Ez dê guhê xwe jê bikim, bikim
kevçik da ku ez xwarinê pê bixwim.”
In simple past tense:

Rojekê, mirovek li malekî bû mêvan. Dema xwarinê bû. Kebaniya malê sifre
raxist,…………………………………………….……………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………………………..…
…………………………………………………………………………………………..…
…………………………………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………………………….
3. Rast (R) an Xelet (X) /Right (R) or Wrong (X)

Choose the correct conjugation of the verb, simple past or past continuous/habitual.
1. R Ez duhî çûm melevaniyê.
X Ez duhî diçûm melevaniyê.
2. Min her roj serê xwe dişûşt.
Min her roj serê xwe şûşt.
3. Dema ez zarok bûm min şîr vexwar.
Dema ez zarok bûm min şîr vedixwar.
4. Duhî êvarî ez li sûkê rast wî ketim.
Duhî êvarî ez li sûkê rast wî diketim.
5. Me her sibeh bi hev re taştê dixwar.
Me her sibeh bi hev re taştê xwar.
4. Below there are questions about your Saturday. Try to provide real answers.
1. Tu roja şembiyê sibehê li kêrê bûyî?
………………………………………..
2. Tu roja şembiyê saet çendê rabûyî?
………………………………………..
3. Tu kengî ji malê derketî?
………………………………………..
4. Te firavîn li kû xwar?
………………………………………..
5. Piştî nîvro te çi kir?
………………………………………..
6. Tu saet çendê hatî malê?
………………………………………..
7. Te piştî şîvê çi kir?
………………………………………..
8. Tu saet çendê nivistî?
………………………………………..
5. In each of the sentences below the pronoun is wrong. Rewrite the sentences with the
correct form of the pronoun.
1. Min sibehê zû rabûm.
Ez sibehê zû rabûm.
2. Tu min dît.
…………………….
3. Wî duhî li sûkê geriya.
…………………….
4. Ew li zarokî dinihêrî.
…………………….
5. Em her sibeh bi hev re çay vedixwar.
………………………………………
6. Min pênc salan li dukana wî xebitîm.
………………………………………
6. Conjugate the verbs in brackets in the correct tense and form.
25 Eylûl / Çarşembî
Hevala delal Şagul,
Ez duhî êvarî …………. (gihiştin) vira, Kirmaşanê. Bi rastî şansê min hebû, min otêleke
pir rehet û erzan …………… (peyda kir). Îro sibehê zû ………… (rabûn) û min di
kafeteryaya otêlê de taştêyeke edetî ………… (xwar). Bi rastî pir xweş …………(bû).
Min pir jê ………… (hez kirin). Dû re ………….(derketin) da ku di nav bajar de
bigerim.. Li trimbêlekê siwar bûm û ………… (çûn) Taqê Bostanê. Taqê Bostan hem
parkeke pir mezin e û hem jî ciheke pir qedîm …….. (bûn). Paşî dîsa li trimbêlekê
……….. (siwar bûn) û çûm Bîstûnê. Li wir min fîgûrên qedîm ên li ser zinaran
………(dîtin). Ya Rebbî! Çend seyr û delal bûn! Min li wir gelek …………… (wêne
girtin). Îro pir westiyam û niha li odeya xwe ………….. (bêhn vedan) û sibe jî dê (çûn)
Cuwanruyê. Li Cuwanruyê Xorî Qela ………… (hebûn). Keleheke pir mezin e. Ez dê li
wir jî wêneyan bigirim û dê ji te re ………… (şandin). Ez dê heta sê heftiyan ………….
(vegeriyan) Wanê. Hingî dê ji te re bi dûr û dirêjî behsa sefera xwe bikim. Niha bi xatirê
te…
Bi xêr û xweşî.
Aram
baran f. rain
bêhna xwe veda ‘he/she took a rest’ Selîmî bîstekê bêhna xwe veda ‘Salim
rested for a while’ (3 sg. of the simple past tense for the verb
bêhna xwe vedan ‘to rest’)
bername f. syn. program program
bi dûr û dirêjî in detail, at length
bi hev re together
birêz dear, worthy
bîstekê syn. bêhnekê for a while
çend how many/how much (It has also a usage for surprise:
çiyayekî çend bilind e! ‘What a high mountain’)
cil li xwe kirin ant. cil ji to put on ant. to take off one’s clothes
ber xwe kirin
cil f. syn. kinc clothes
cil û berg m. dress, costume
cîran f.m. neighbour (çû mala cîranan. ‘(S/he) went to neighbours.’)
çîrok f. story
çivîk f. bird
cotek pêlav a pair of shoes (cot: pair; cot+ek: a pair)
çu kes also tu kes anybody, nobody
çûn ‘we, you, they went’ zarok çûn bo dibistanê ‘the children
went to school’ (pl. of the simple past tense for the verb çûn
‘to go’)
da ku syn. da, ji bo ku so that (cilên germ li xwe bike da ku nesax nebî ‘wear warm
clothes so that you do not get sick’ )
daran (dar f.) the plural oblique form of the noun dar: tree, stick (min jê re
got wan daran nebire ‘I told him not to cut those trees.’)
dawî last, end (cara dawî ‘last time’)
dema syn. wextê, gava, when, while, at the time (dema em li gundî bûn, halê me baş
heynê bû ‘When we were in the village, our situation was good’)
derbas bû ‘he/she passed’ Ciwanî zû derbas bû ‘Jiwan passed quickly’
(3 sg. of the simple past tense for the verb derbas bûn ‘to
pass’)
dereng ant. zû late
dibîne ‘he/she sees’ Şerîf bi berçavkan baştir dibîne ‘Sharif sees
better with glasses’ (3 sg. of the simple present tense for the
verb dîtin ‘to see’)
diçûne ser daran ‘We, you, they used to climb trees’ (pl. form of the past
contiunous tense for the verb çûn ‘to go’; -e: directionality
suffix; ser: on)
diherikî ‘it was flowing’ ava rûbarî bi aramî diherikî ‘the water of the
river was flowing quietly’ (3rd pers. sg. form of the past
continuous tense for the verb herikîn ‘to flow’)
dîtim ‘…saw me’ Xezalê ez dîtim ‘Khazal saw me’ (1sg. form of the
simple past tense for the verb dîtin ‘to see’)
dor f. turn (dora min e. ‘It is my turn.’)
dû re syn. paşî, piştre then, afterwards
edetî traditional, customary
erzan ant. biha cheap
fîlmê dawî last film
gava syn. wextê, dema, when, while, at the time (hava min mar dît, dest û pêyên min
heynê lerizîn ‘When I saw the snake, I shuddered’)
geriyan to wander, to travel
gihişte ‘he/she arrived’ Zelal duhî êvarî dereng gihişte malê ‘Zalal
arrived home late yesterday’ (3 sg. form of the simple past
tense of the verb gihiştin ‘to arrive, to reach’)
guh ear
guhdarî kirin to listen to
hêkên kelandî boiled eggs
her each; (2) all through ez duhî her li malê bûm ‘yesterday I was
at home the whole day’
hergav syn. tim, herdem always
heyn syn. heyam period, term
hîç none, never
hindî syn. bi qasî as much as
hinek also hindek some
hingî syn. wê demê then
hingivîn m.also hingiv honey
hosta m. master
hundir syn. jûr inside
jê a contracted preposition meaning from (him/her/somebody)
Ex: min duhî Elî dît û min kitêba xwe jê xwest ‘yesterday I
saw Ali and I wanted my book from him’ see Lesson 4
ji bîr neke do not forget
kebanî f. housewife
keleh m. castle
kêr f. knife
kevçik m. spoon
kir ‘he/she did’ wî qederê deh salan li wir kar kir ‘he worked
some ten years there’ (3 sg. of the simple past tense of the
verb kirin ‘to do, to make’)
kirîn to buy
lewma hence, therefore
li benda (somebody) to wait for somebody; Ex: em du saetan li benda otobûsê man
man ‘we waited for the bus for two hours’
meşhûr syn. navdar famous
mêvan m. guest
naîne ‘he/she does not bring’ jinik kevçikan naîne ‘the woman does
not bring spoons’ (3 sg. of the simple present tense of the
verb anîn ‘to bring’)
nedibarî ‘it was not raining/snowing’ hewa hinekî sar û bi ewr bû lê
belê berf nedibarî ‘the weather was a little bit cold and cloudy
but it was not snowing’ (3 sg. of the past continuous tense of
the verb barîn ‘to rain, to snow’)
nîgar f. figure
penêr m. cheese
peyda kir ‘…found it’ Zelalê duhî kêrek peyda kir ‘Zalal found a knife
yesterday’ (3rd prs. sngl. form of the simple past tense of the
verb peyda kirin ‘to find’)
qedîm ancient
qeymax f. syn. sertû cream
rastî yekî ketin/li yekî to run into somebody
rast hatin
rehet ant. nerihet comfortable
rêz dike ’he/she puts in order’ garson piyalan li ser maseyê rêz dike
’the waiter puts the glasses in order on the table’ (3 sg. simple
present tense of the verb rêz kirin ‘to put (orderly)’, ‘to
arrange’)
şandin to send
şans m. luck
sefer f. voyage
ser m. head
serûber kirin To put in order, to arrange

seyr syn. balkêş, ecêb interesting
şîr m. milk
sitî lady, an address form for women.
siwar bûn to get on
stran gotin to sing
tim syn. hergav always
vegeriyan to return
wêne m. picture
wêne girtin to take picture
wextê when, while, at the time
xwar ‘…ate it’ 3 sg. simple past tense of the verb xwarin ‘to eat’
xweziya we! I wish I were in your (pl.) shoes.
ya Rebbî! oh my God!
yanî that is to say, I mean, namely
zeytûn f. olives
zinar m. rock
LESSON 8
INTRODUCTION
In this unit you will discover about the present perfect tense and past perfect tense; and at
the same time you will continue to discover more about the usages of the simple past
tense.
By the end of this lesson you will:
• have learned how to narrate an event or story by present perfect tense and past
perfect tense.
• have learned how to express an event in the past following a previous event in
past perfect tense.
• have practiced and deepened your knowledge of all the basic verb forms and also
vocabulary related to vegetables and fruits as well as animals.
1. Text: Çîroka Ker û Guran / The story of the donkey and the wolves
Hebû nebû, carekê ji caran, li dora gundekî kerekî bêxwedî hebû. Pir rezîl bûbû. Ji ber ku her kesekî ku
tiştekî wî hebûye bi wî kerî kiriye û her kesekî ku barekî wî hebûye li wî bar kiriye. Ker êdî ji xelkê bêzar
bûye, û bi ber çiyê ve çûye. Di rê de rastî roviyekî hatiye. Rovî gotiye:
Ho kero, tu diçî ku?
Kerî gotiye:
- Ez ji ber gundiyan bêzar bûme, ber bi çiyê ve diçim.
Rovî gotiye:
- Tu min bi xwe re nabî?
Kerî gotiye:
- Ma çima nabim?
Her du bi hev re çûne, çûne rastî beranekî hatine. Beranî gotiye:
- Ho kero, tu diçî ku?
Kerî gotiye:
Beranî gotiye:
- Tu min jî bi xwe re nabî?
Kerî gotiye:
- Ma çima nabim?
Ker, rovî û beran bi hev re çûne, çûne rastî dîkekî hatine. Dîkî gotiye:
Kerî gotiye:
Dîkî gotiye:
Kerî gotiye:
- Ma çima nabim?
Ker, rovî, beran û dîk bi hev re çûne, çûne rastî kêvroşkekê hatine. Kêvroşkê gotiye:
Kerî gotiye:
- Kêvroşkê got:
Kerî got:
- Ma çima nabim?
Ker, rovî, beran, dîko û kevroşk bi hev re çûne, çûne di rê de kerî gotiye:
- Gelî hevalan, zirra min hat, divê ez bizirrim.
Hevalên wî jê re gotine:
- Mal ava, tu dê çawa bizirrî. Em di nav vî çiyayî de ne, gur dê me seh bikin, û dê me hemûyan
bixwin.
Kerî got:
- Nabe, divê ez bizirrim.
Axir, kirine nekirine, ker qayil nebûye. Kerî serê xwe bilind kiriye û dest bi zirrînê kiriye:
- Ahîîî, ahîîî, ahîîî!
Li deverekê nêzîkî wan heft gur hebûne. Wan dengê kerî bihîstiye. Her heftan ji hev re gotine:
- Gelo ev çi deng e?
Yekî ji wan gotiye:
- Ka ez biçim, bizanim ev çi deng e.
Hevalên wî gotine:
- De here.
Gur hatiye dîtiye ku ker û hevalên wî di nava mêrgê de ne, bêxwedî ne, hema kêfa wî hatiye û
nêzîkî wan ve çûye. Ji nişkê ve çûye, xwe avêtiye ser kerî. Kerî jî sitûyê gurî şidandiye û ew zeft
kiriye. Beran, Dîko, Rovî û Kevroşk çûne ser gurî û bi vî awayî gur bê bêhn hiştine û paşî berdane.
Gur nîvmirî çûye cem hevalên xwe. Hevalên wî jê pirsîne:
- Birayo, te çi dît?
Gurê nîvmirî gotiye:
- Birano, qet deng nekin. Ez çûm min qewmek li wê derê dît , kes nebîne. Wan meraq kirine û
gotine:
- Çawa?
Wî gotiye:
- Gava ku ez çûm, hema serê min kirin nava du keviran, û bi du çekûçan li min dan. Yekî ji wan
yasîn li ser min xwend, yekî çermê min dirand. Yekî jî gora min kola.
Gava guran ev xeber bihîstine, tirs ketiye dilê wan û hemû bi hev re ji wî cihî revîne, û gotine:
- Şikir ji Xwedê re ku em ji lepên wan xelas bûne.
Werger / Translation
Once upon a time there was a donkey without an owner. He was in a terrible state, because anyone who had
some work would do it with the donkey, and anyone who had a load would load it up on to the donkey. The
donkey was tired of the people and headed off towards the mountain. On the way, he met a fox. The fox
said:
- Hey Donkey, where are you going?
The donkey said:
- I have become tired of the villagers, I am going towards the mountain.
The fox said:
- Would you take me with you? (literally: you don’t take me with you)
The donkey said:
- Why not? (literally: Why do not I take? meaning: yes, ok!)
Both of them set off together, and then they met a ram. The ram said:
The donkey said:
The ram said:
- Would you take me with you?
The donkey said:
- Why not?
The donkey, the fox and the ram went on together, and met a rooster. The rooster said:
The donkey said:
The rooster said:
The donkey said:
- Why not?
The donkey, the fox, the ram and the rooster continued on together, then they met a rabbit. The rabbit said:

The donkey said:
The rabbit said:
The donkey said:
- Why not?
The donkey, the fox, the ram, the rooster and the rabbit went on together, on the way the donkey said:
- Oh friends, I feel the urge to bray (literally: my braying came), I must bray.
His friends said to him:
- Hey, what do you mean, bray! (lit. how will you bray). We are in the middle of this mountainous
region (lit. within this mountain), the wolves will become aware of us and they will eat us all.
The donkey said:
- There is no other way, I must bray.
Finally, no matter what they did (lit. they did, they did not), the donkey refused to agree. The donkey raised
his head and began to bray:
- Ahîîî, ahîîî, ahîîî!
At a place near to them there were seven wolves. They heard the voice of the donkey, all seven said to each
other:
- What could that noise be?
One of them said:
- Let me go and find out (literally: know) what that noise is?
His friends said:
- Yes, go.
The wolf went and saw that the donkey and his friends were in the middle of the pasture, without an owner,
immediately he was pleased and approached them. Suddenly he ran and threw himself at the donkey. But
the donkey squeezed the wolf’s neck and held him tight. The ram, the rooster, the fox and the rabbit got on
top of the wolf and in this manner knocked the breath out of him (literally: left him without breath), then let
him go. The wolf, half dead, went back to his friends. His friends asked him:
- Oh brother, what did you see?
The half-dead wolf said:
- Oh brothers, how could I tell you (lit. don’t make a sound). I went and saw a kind/sort (of creatures),
that I hope nobody will ever meet (lit. such that may no one see).
The other wolves were curious, saying:
- What were they like?
- When I went they immediately put my head between two stones, and beat me with two hammers. One
of them read a Sura of the Koran over me, one of them skinned me (tore my skin). And one of them dug my
grave.
When the wolves heard this news, fear came into their hearts and they all fled together from that place,
saying:
- Thanks to God that we have been saved from their paws!
1.1 Exercise
a) Read the folk story above once and answer the questions below.
1. Di çîrokê de kîjan heywan hene?
2. Kî ji xelkê bêzar bûye?
3. Ker diçe ku?
4. Ker di rê de ewil rastî kîjan heywanî tê?
b) The sentences below are taken from the text above. Fill in the blanks paying attention to the form of the
verbs.
1. Her kesekî ku barekî wî hebûye li wî bar ……….. (kirin)
2. Di rê de rastî roviyekî ……….. (hatin)
3. Ez ji ber gundiyan ……………. (bêzar bûn), ber bi çiyê ve diçim.
4. Ker û rovî bi hev re ……… (çûn), çûne rastî beranekî ………. (hatin)
5. Kirine nekirine, ker qayil ............. (ne/bûn)
6. Li deverekê nêzîkî wan heft gur ............... (hebûn)
7. Kerî jî sitûyê gurî ………… (şidandin) û ew zeft kiriye.
8. Beran, Dîko, Rovî û Kevroşk çûne ser gurî û bi vî awayî gur bê bêhn hiştine û paşî .……..(berdan)
9. Wan …….……(meraq kirin) û …………(gotin)
10. Gava guran ev xeber ………….. (bihîstin), tirs ketiye dilê wan û hemû bi hev re ji wî cihî
………. (revîn), û gotine:
c) Answer the questions according to the fable. Note that the questions are proposing something
wrong according to the fable. Try to write the correct answer.
1. Ker di gundê xwe de xweşhal (happy) e?

Ne, Ker di gundê xwe de ne xweşhal e. Ker êdî ji xelkê bêzar bûye.
2. Ker di rê de ewil rastî kûçikekî hatiye?
……………………………………………………………………….
3. Ker bi tenê ber bi çiyê ve çûye?
……………………………………………………………………….
4. Di rê de dîkî bang daye (sing out) lewma gur bi wan hesiyane?
……………………………………………………………………….
5. Dema gur nêzîkî ker û heywanên din bûye heywan revîne?
……………………………………………………………………….
6. Gurî her pênc heywan xwarine?
……………………………………………………………………….
7. Gur sax û peyt vegeriyaye cem hevalên xwe?
……………………………………………………………………….
8. Dawiyê, hemû gur kêfxweş bûne û hemû bi hev re çûne ser heywanan?
……………………………………………………………………….
2. Peyv / Vocabulary
Navên Heywanan/Animals Mêwe û Sebze/Fruits and Vegetables
beran m. ram alûçe f. plum

bizin f. goat bihok f. quince
çêlek f. cow çelîk f. strawberry
çûçik/teyr m. bird findiq f. hazelnut
dîk m. cockerel, rooster gêlaz f. cherry
ga m. ox gûz f. walnut
gur m. wolf hêjîr f. fig
hesp m. horse hinar f. pomegranate
hirç m. bear hirmî f. pear
ker m. donkey lîmon f. lemon
kêvroşk/kêrguh f. rabbit mûz f. banana
kew f. partridge porteqal f. orange
kûsel/kûsî m. turtle sêv f. apple
mar m. snake tirî m. grape
masî f. fish tû f. mulberry
mêş m. bee xox m. peach
meymûn f. monkey zebeş m. watermelon
mihî f. sheep tamatês/fringî/bacan f. tomato
mirîşk f. chicken gêzer f. carrot
mişk f. mouse bîber f. pepper
pisîk/pişîk f. cat petat/kartol f. potato
rovî m. fox pîvaz f. onion
se/kûçik m. dog xiyar f. cucumber
şêr m. lion
Hesp û çêlek heywanên kedî ne. Lavînê heta hingî qet tû nexwaribûn.
Horse and cows are domestic animals. Lavîn had not eaten mulberries up to then.
Teyrê kew di nav Kurdan de pir muhîm e. Ez nikarim bîberên tûj bixwim.
The bird partridge is very important among the I can not eat hot peppers.
Kurds.
Alanî wê rojê hirçek dîtibû li nav rêlê. Li Kurdistanê ji gûzê bigire heta hejîrê gelek cure
Alan had seen a bear that day in the forest. mêwe digihin.
In Kurdistan from walnut to figs many kinds of fruits
Gur ketibûn nav keriyê wan û deh mihî û bizinên are grown.
wan xwaribûn. Zebeşê Diyarbekirê li hemû Kurdistanê meşhûr e.
The wolves had raided in their herd and had The watermelon of Diyarbekir is famous all around
eaten ten sheeps and goats. Kurdistan.
Grammar 8
A) Present Perfect Tense
In Kurmanji present perfect tense is used to express an event that has taken place in the past and its effect is
related to the present situation. In this sense it can be compared to the present perfect tense in English. But
it is also often used for the narration of the traditional tales, fables etc. as in the above text. As for the
formation of the verbs in the present perfect tense, it changes in intransitive and transitive verbs.

Consider first the present perfect tense forms of the intransitive verbs ketin ‘fall’ and nivistin ‘to sleep’:
Ez ji darê ketime. I have fallen from the tree.Ez duhî şevê zû nivistime.I fell asleep early last night.
Tu ji darê ketiye. Tu duhî şevê zû nivistiye.
Ew ji darê ketiye. Ew duhî şevê zû nivistiye.
Em ji darê ketine. Em duhî şevê zû nivistine.

Hûn ji darê ketine. Hûn duhî şevê zû nivistine.
Ew ji darê ketine. Ew duhî şevê zû nivistine.
The above sentences can be expressed in simple past tense as well but when they are expressed in present
perfect tense either:
(a) the event is related to present as in:

A- Ekrem çima îro pir westiyayî xuya dike? “Why does Ekrem seem very tired today?”
B- Ew duhî şevê dereng nivistiye. “He has slept late last night?”
(b) an event or story is narrated as in:

Rojekê kûsî û rovî li rêkê rastî hev hatine. Rovîyî ji kûsî re gotiye…
“One day the turtle and the fox ran into each other on the way. The fox told the turtle that…”
(c) the speaker is not the witness of the event; s/he narrates a hearsay as in:
A- Mîrza çima îro nehatiye dibistanê? “Why has not Mîrza come to school today?”
B- Dayika wî got ku duhî ji darê ketiye. “His mother said that he has fallen from the tree yesterday?”
As for the form of present perfect tense, we had learned how to derive the past stems of the verbs to
conjugate them in the simple past tense in the previous lesson; for present perfect tense of intransitive
verbs, as it is seen above, we again add a set of personal endings to the past tense stems of the verbs. The
personal endings, in bold type in the examples above, are shown in the chart below:
After a vowel After a consonant
Ez –me Em –ne Ez –ime Em –ine
Tu –ye Hûn –ne Tu –iye Hûn –ine
Ew --ye Ew –ne Ew –iye Ew –ine
Some examples of present perfect tense of some intransitive verbs:

çûn çû Ez heta niha sê caran çûme Mehabadê. I have been to Mehabad three times.
axaftin axaft Mamoste di civînê de baş axaftiye. The teacher has spoken well in the meeting.
nivistin nivist Di wê navberê de du saetan nivistine. They slept two hours during that while.
hatin hat Ker di rê de rastî roviyekê hatiye. The donkey has run into a fox on the way.
ketin ket Te zaniye ku kurê wan ji darê ketiye xwarê? Have you known that their son has
fallen from the tree?
kenîn kenî Wê şevê heta sibehê ji xwe re suhbet kirine û kenîne. That night they have
chatted and laughed until morning.
bûn bû Em winda bûne li van bajarên mezin. We have been lost in these big cities.
The present perfect tense of transitive verbs in Kurmanji works exactly in the same way as it is with their
simple past tense forms, except for the personal endings. In this sense, keeping stable all other rules related
to simple past tense, we should simply replace the simple past tense personal endings with the present
perfect tense personal endings. Thus, there are three major changes in the present perfect tense transitive
sentences that must be learned:
First, the same set of personal endings is added to the past stem as we learned above. But the personal
endings do NOT refer to the subject, but the OBJECT.
Second, the SUBJECT goes into the Oblique case.
Consider the following examples, noting these two differences: the oblique case of the subject pronouns,
and the ending of the verb:
Min helbestek xwendiye. I have read a poem Min ew dîtiye. I have seen him/her
Te helbestek xwendiye. Te ew dîtiye. You have seen him/her.
Wî helbestek xwendiye. Wî/wê ew dîtiye. He/she has seen him/her.
Me helbestek xwendiye. Me ew dîtiye. We have seen him/her.
We helbestek xwendiye. We ew dîtiye. You have seen him/her.
Wan helbestek xwendiye. Wan ew dîtiye. They have seen him/her.
As it is seen, the verb forms are in the form for the third person singular (which is past stem+iye), because
the object in all sentences is third person singular (a poem, or him/her).
The differences between present perfect tense of intransitive and transitive verbs are summed up below:
Intransitive Transitive
Case of subject Absolute Oblique
Case of object - Absolute
Person endings on verb Agrees with subject Agrees with object
Check the below examples with different objects and pay attention to the application of the above
principles.
a) Wê ez dîtime. She has seen me. Wê em dîtine. She has seen us.
Wê tu dîtiye. She has seen you. Wê hûn dîtine. She has seen you (pl.).
Wê ew dîtiye. She has seen him/her. Wê ew dîtine. She has seen them.
b) Min îro sê piyalên avê vexwarine. I have drunk three glasses of water today.
Te çend kitêbên kurdî xwendine heta niha? How many books in Kurdish have you read up to now?
Avestayê gelek kitêbên kurdî çap kirine. Avesta has published many books in Kurdish.
Xanzadê em duhî di konserê de dîtine. Xanzad has seen us in the concert yesterday.
Herwiha wî gelek nivîs di kovara… Also, he has published a lot of articles in…
Hawarê de weşandine. the Hawar magazine.

For yielding the negative form, all other rules being the same, the negative marker ne- is prefixed, as in:
Min îro nan nexwariye. I have not eaten today.
Ew hat lê zarok bi xwe re neanîne. He came but he has not brought the children with him.
Xezalê hêj ez ferq nekirime. Xezal has not noticed me yet.
Ev mehek e gundiyan zeviyên xwe av nedane. It is one month that the villagers have not watered
their fields.
Ders dest pê kiriye lê şagirt hêj neçûne di sinifên xwe de. The lesson has started but the students have
not entered into their classes yet.
B) Past Perfect Tense (or Pluperfect)

Past perfect tense in Kurmanji functions just as the past perfect tense in English. In this sense, it is used to
express an event or situation in the past preceding another past event or situation. Thus, for expressions
such as ‘we had eaten’ (me xwaribû) ‘they had left’ (ew derketibûn) past perfect tense is used in Kurmanji.
Moreover, past perfect tense works, as all other tenses in Kurmanji, in different ways with intransitive and
transitive verbs.
Consider first the simple past tense forms of the intransitive verbs axaftin ‘speak’ and man ‘stay’:
Ez ligel wî axaftibûm. I had talked to him. Ez li wir mabûm. I had stayed there.
Tu ligel wî axaftibûyî. Tu li wir mabûyî.
Ew ligel wî axaftibû. Ew li wir mabû.
Em ligel wî axaftibûn. Em li wir mabûn.
Hûn ligel wî axaftibûn. Hûn li wir mabûn.
Ew ligel wî axaftibûn. Ew li wir mabûn.
The past perfect tense is formed by (1) the past stem+(2) past tense form of bûn ‘to be’. In the past stems
ending with a consonant, such as axaftin-axaft in the above examples, ‘i’ is inserted between the past stem
and the past tense form of bûn.
Some examples to past perfect tense of some intransitive verbs:
Ez wê rojê qederê neh saetan nivistibûm. That day I had slept more or less nine hours.
Ma tu par çûbûyî Lalişê? Had you been to Laliş last year?
Xelîl bi halekî xerab vegeriyabû malê. Xelîl had returned home in a bad situation.
Di qezayê de bi tenê tiliyeke wî şikestibû. In the accident only one of his fingers had broken.
Em hêj nû ji malê derketibûn ku telefona min lêda. We had just gone out of the house that my phone rang.

Past perfect tense of the transitive verbs are formed in the same way with the intransitive verbs, that is past
stem+past tense form of the bûn; however, as it is with the other past tenses, the subject goes into oblique
case and the verb agrees with the object. Note that in the below examples the verb is conjugated according
to the same object (nan) so regardless of the different subjects the verb is in the same form.
Min nan xwaribû. I had eaten. Me nan xwaribû. We had eaten.
Te nan xwaribû. You had eaten. We nan xwaribû. You had eaten.
Wê nan xwaribû. She had eaten. Wan nan xwaribû. They had eaten
Note the changes in the conjugation of the verbs according to different objects in the below examples:
Gelek insan kom bûbûn di meydana Newrozê de. A lot of people had gathered in Newroz field.
Dema ez gihiştime malê wan çay vexwaribû. When I arrived at home they had (already) drank tea.
We ew kitêb bi hev re kirîbûn? Had you bought those books together?
Zîlanê Kerem li dibistanê nas kiribû. Zîlan had got acquianted with Kerem in the school.
Xurşîdî duhî tu li bazarê dîtibûyî. Xurşîd had seen you in the market place yesterday.
Babê min em ligel xwe nebiribûn dukanê. My father had not taken us to the shop (together with himself).

For the negative forms of the verbs the negative marker ne- is prefixed as in:
Min marekî hind mezin qet nedîtibû. I had not seen a snake as big as that.
Wî wê şevê em venexwendibûn şîvê. He had not invited us to dinner that night.
Wê rojê çu kesî sparteya xwe çênekiribû lê mamoste hîç nerihet nebûbû. Nobody had done his
homework but the teacher was not annoyed at all.
Wordlist
avêtibû ‘he had thrown’ Beydayê kilîla malê avêtibû nav deryayê ‘Beyda had
thrown the key of the house into the sea’ (3 sg. past perfect tense for
the verb avêtin ‘to throw’)
axaftin f. speech, talk
axir in conclusion, at the end

bal f. attention (bal kişandin: to attract attention)
bar m. load (bar kirin: to load)
bavo father (vocative case, which means direct address) (it has also a
general usage for a specific father similar to bavê min “my father”)
bê bêhn out of breath (bê: without, out; bêhn: breath)
bêhn dikirin ‘they were smelling’ gurên birçî hestiyên li ser berfê bêhn dikirin ‘the
hungry wolves were smelling the bones on the snow’ (3 pl. past
continuous tense for the verb bêhn kirin ‘to smell’)
beran m. ram
berdan to leave, to release, to set free
berî şîvê before dinner (berî: before; şîv f.: dinner)
bêxwedî ownerless (bê: without, less; xwedî also xwedan: owner)
bêzar bûn to get fed up with, to be tired of
ber bi çiyê ve towards the mountain (ber bi …… ve: towards somewhere)
bi carekê de at once
bi hev re together
bihîstin syn. seh kirin to hear, to perceive
bilind kirin to raise
birayo brother (vocative case, direct address) (“o and yo” are the vocative
case markers for masculine nouns as in bav+o; xal+o; heyran+o)
bizanim ‘that I know, I should know etc.’ ez dixwazim rastiya meseleyê bizanim
‘I want to know the truth about (lit. of) the issue’ (1sg. subjunctive
form for the verb zanîn ‘to know’)
bizirrim ‘that I bray, I should bray etc.’ ker dibêje divê ez bizirrim ‘The donkey
says that I need to bray’ (1 sg. subjunctive form for the verb zirrîn ‘to
bray’)
çekûç m. Hammer
çîrok f. Story
civandin ‘...gathered them’ dapîrê zarok li dora xwe civandin da ku ji wan re
çîrokekê bêje ‘The grandmother gathered the children around herself
to tell them a story’. (3 pl. of the simple past tense for the verb
civandin ‘to gather’)
çiyâ m. mountain, (also çiyayî; in oblique case)
da ku so that, so as to
danîbûn ‘...had put them’ Elî kitêbên xwe danîbûn ser maseyê ‘Ali had put his
books on the table’. (3 pl. of the past perfect tense for the verb danîn
‘to put, to leave’)
dayê Mother ( vocative case) (“ê and yê” are the vocative case markers for
feminine nouns as in yar+ê; xuşk+ê; dayik+ê)
de here let you go
delaliyên min my dears
dendik the seed
dest pê kirin to begin, start; they began (saet heştê dest bi leyîstinê kirin “They
started playing at eight” )
dev m. mouth
dever f. syn. cih region
di rê de on the way
dîk m. cock
domandin to continue
erûg syn. alûçe plum
gelî hevalan oh friends (gelî is a plural adress form (vocative) with the same
function with –(i)no as in heval-ino, bira-no)
gor f. grave
gotin to say; word, saying
gur m. wolf
hebû nebû once upon a time (lit. there was (and) there was not)
hejmartin to count
helbet of course
hema thus
hemûyan all of them (in the oblique case)
her du both
herî xirab the worst (herî + adj is the superlative form of the adjectives as in
pirsa herî zehmet, dersa herî hêsan, xaniyê herî mezin ‘the most difficult
question, the easiest lesson, the biggest house’)
heta until
hew no longer
hiştin to leave
ho kero oh donkey
jê from him/her
ji ber because of
ji hev re to each other
ji nişkê ve suddenly
ka attention-getting particle (ka ez lê binêrim çawa ye ‘now let me have a
look at it to see how it is’)
kêf f. enjoy, joy (kêf hatin: to be happy)
kefen m. shroud
kêm few; little; lacking
kenîbûn ’we, you, they had laughed’ em bi henekên wî pir kenîbûn ‘We had
laughed a lot at his jokes’ (pl. of the past perfect tense for the verb
kenîn ‘to laugh’)
ker m. Donkey
kes m.f. person (when used with a negative predicate it means ‘anybody’)
(bila) kes wî nebîne lit. may anybody do not see him
kêvroşk f. Rabbit
kirîbûn ’we, you, they had bought’ Xezalê du kîlo bacan û du kîlo jî porteqal
kirîbûn ‘Xezal had bought two kilos of tomatoes and two of oranges.’
(pl. of the past perfect tense for the verb kirîn ‘to buy’)
kirin nava tiştekî to put into something
kirine nekirine whatever they have done; no matter what they have done
kola ’…dug it’ Ev baxçe hemî min bi tenê kola ‘I dug the whole garden on
myself.’ (3 sg. of the simple past tense for the verb kolan ‘to dig’)
law m.syn. kur lad, son
lawir m.syn. heywan animal
lep claw
li dora around (smt.) (li dora malê ‘around the house’)
loma also lewma therefore, for this reason
ma interrogative particle (ma tu nayê bi me re? ‘are not you coming with
us?’)
mal ava (1) thank you; (2) hey! (an expression used at the beginning of a
contrasting statement)
maye ‘it remains, it is left’ di sarincê de bi tenê hinek penêr maye. ‘There is
only some cheese left in the fridge.’ (3 sg. of the present perfect tense
for the verb man ‘to remain’)
mêr m. husband, man
meraq kirin to wonder
mêrg f. meadow
mêrik m. man
mêwe f.syn. fêkî fruit
mezin ant. biçûk big
nebaş syn. xerab bad (ne‘not’ +baş ‘good’)
nebiriye ‘…has not taken it’ Sîdarî sêwana xwe bi xwe re nebiriye îro ‘Sîdar has
not taken his umbrella today.’ (3 sg. negative of the present perfect
tense for the verb birin ‘to take’)
nêzîk ant. dûr close

nîvmirî half-dead
parve kirin to share
pencere window
qayil bûn to be content, to be convinced
qet syn. hîç never
qewm race, people
qîriyan to scream
rahiştin to pick
rastî yekî hatin to come across smb., encounter, meet
revîne ’they have escaped’ dema gur dîtine hemû bi hev re revîne.. ‘Upon
seeing the wolf they all have escaped.’ (3 pl. of the present perfect
tense for the verb revîn ‘to escape, to flee’)
rezîl bûn to get into a desperate situation
rovî m. fox
rû m. face
sebze m. vegetable
seh kirin to hear, to realize
şidandin to press
şikir thank (God)
sitû m. neck
şîv m. dinner
sor bûbû ’he had blushed’ ji ber nexweşiyê rengê wî sor bûbû. ‘He had blushed
because of the illness’ (3 sg. of the past perfect tense for the verb sor
bûn ‘to blush, to redden’)
tas bowl
tirs fear (tirsîn: to fear)
tiştek something (anything when used with a negative predicate)
weha thus, such, like this
weke like, as
xal m. (1) uncle (mother’s brother); (2) dot, point
xeber m. news
(ji tiştekî/kesekî) xelas to get rid of something or somebody
bûn
xirabtir worse (xirab+tir: ‘tir’ is the comparision particle as in mezin+tir
‘bigger’; baş+tir ‘better’; reş+tir ‘darker’
xistin to drop, to beat
xwîn f. blood
yasîn f. the name of a sura in the Koran recited when somebody is about to
die
yekî ji wan one of them (one is masculine and in oblique)
zeft kirin to capture
zer bûn to become yellow
LESSON 9
INTRODUCTION
In this unit you will repeat some of the verb forms you have learned, and find a brief introduction to
two new verb forms: the past perfect (or pluperfect) tense, and the passive voice. At the end of this
lesson you will:
• be more fluent in the use of different verb forms
• be able to formulate passive sentences in the commonest tenses
• practice the pluperfect tense
• be able to use some common expressions related to the preparation of foods
1. Text: A short excerpt from the novel Siyabend û Xecê

This novel was written by Zeynelabidîn Zinar and published in 1992 by Pencînar publishers in
Stockholm. It is an attempt to adapt one of the most famous Kurdish legends, that of Siyabend û
Xecê, into the form of a novel. This short passage has been slightly modified compared to the
original work. The main character, Siyabend, is spending the night in a bleak and lonely place
alone. He has crawled into a thicket (bushes, in Kurdish devî (f.) and is trying to sleep, but he
cannot fall sleep. He keeps hearing a voice (deng), but cannot see where it is coming from.
Siyabend ji nava wê deviyê rabû çû kete nava deviyeke din û xwe dirêj kir ku rakeve, lê kir
û nekir êdi xewa wî nehat. Erê hêj di xew re neçûbû, dîsa ew dengê berê hat guhên wî mîna
ku yek bangî wî bike. Rabû ser lingan li derûdora xwe nihêrî lê tu tişt nedît, dîsa xwe li erdê
dirêj kir. Dîsa ew deng bihîst; gava kir ku rabe ser lingan, dît ku zilamek li ber lingên wî
sekiniye. Dema Siyabendî ew dît, hinek tirsiya. Paşî li zilamî nihêrî; lê şev tarî bû ji ber vê
hindê tiştek jê dernexist. Di wê navberê de qederek bihurî, zilamê şevê got:
-Siyabendê min. Metirse! Ez Xocê Xizir im û qasidê Xwedê me, bo alîkariya te hatime vir.
Xwedê sozek daye te ku tu bi destên mirovan neyêyî kuştin.
Zilamê şevê tîrek û kevanek dan Siyabendî, dîsa li axaftina xwe domand:
-Ha ji te re. Xwedê ev tîr û kevan ji bo te diyarî hinartine. Lê rabe, ji vî welatî here! Ev
welat êdî ji te re nabe war! [...]
Werger / Translation
Siyabend stood up from that bush, went into another bush and lay down so that he could
sleep but whatever he did, he could not sleep. No (lit. yes), he had not fallen asleep yet,
when he heard the same voice (lit. that former voice came to his ears) as if it called him. He
stood up (on his legs), wandered around but did not see anything, (and then) he lay down
again. He heard that voice again; when he was about (lit. when he did) to stand up, he saw
that a man was standing in front of his feet (lit. legs). When Siyabend saw him, he got a bit
afraid. Then he looked at the man, but the night was dark so he could not notice anything.
Meanwhile, some time passed and the man of the night said:
-Dear Siyabend (lit. My Siyabend). Do not be afraid! I am Hodja Xizir and I am a

messenger of God and I came to help you. God gave a promise to you that you will not
be killed by a human being.
The man of the night gave a bow and arrow and then continued his speech again:
- Here you are. God sent this bow and arrow for you as a gift but get up and leave this
country!
This country can’t be home for you anymore! [...]
1.1. Exercise
a) Read the text above and answer the questions below.
1. Siyabendî çi bihîst?
2. Zilamê şevê çima hatiye?
3. Zilamê şevê çi dan Siyabendî?
4. Xwedê çi soz da Siyabendî?
5. Li gorî we, Zilamê şevê çima ji Siyabend xwest ku ew biçe welatekî din?
b) The following verb forms are taken from the text. Identify the infinitive form of these
verb forms, and write which form they are in (check back to the preceding lessons if you are
not sure!). The first ones are done for you:
Conjugated Infinitive Meaning
rabû rabûn simple past verb form ‘get up’

çû çûn simple past verb form ‘go’
ket(e) ketin this is the simple past verb form plus a suffix -e often used with
verbs
denoting direction, here therefore: go into, enter (literally ‘fall’)
kir kirin simple past verb form ‘do’
rakeve raketin present subjunctive verb form ‘fall asleep’
nehat
bike
geriya
nedît
bihîst
rabe
sekiniye
hatiye
dernexist
Metirse! /this
could also be:
netirse!/
hatime
neyêyî kuştin
(go to the
grammar part
below)
domand
here
rabe
A) The Passive Voice
• When we use transitive verbs, we can express events and activities involving two things or people.
The simplest way of using such verbs is called the ‘active’ voice: the doer of the action is the
subject, and the thing that is done, or that is affected, is the object:
Ez xwarinekê çêdikim. ‘I (subject) am making a meal (object).’
Siyabend kitêbekê dixwîne. ‘Siyabend (subject) is reading a book (object)’
• However, we can also make sentences using the so-called passive voice, a particular sentence type
using a special form of the verb. In the passive voice, we are only interested in hearing about the
person or thing that has been affected, or had something done to it (for example, the meal, or the
book in the above sentences).
• To make the passive voice in Kurmanji, we take a form of the verb hatin ‘come’ and combine it
with the infinitive of the verb we wish to use:
ACTİVE PASSİVE
Ez xwarinekê çêdikim Xwarinek tê çêkirin. ‘A meal is being made’
Siyabend kitêbekê dixwîne Kitêbek tê xwendin. ‘A book is being read’
• In the passive voice, the old object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive one.
That means that the oblique case marker (-ê in the above examples) is not needed. The old
subject, on the other hand, is normally simply dropped from the sentence.
• The auxiliary verb hatin can be conjugated in all persons and tenses. In the above examples, it is
the third person of the present tense. The infinitive form of the main verb, on the other hand,
always stays the same. The above examples in the simple past tense would be:
PASSİVE, PRESENT TENSE PASSİVE, SİMPLE PAST TENSE

Xwarinek tê çêkirin. Xwarinek hat çêkirin.
Kitêbek tê xwendin. Kitêbek hat xwendin.
• As for the negative form of passive construction, we simply negate the helping verb hatin in the
same way as it is normally negated. But recall the negative form of hatin in the present tense.
Some examples in all persons in the most familiar tenses and moods are given below:
Simple Present Tense

(I am/will be known= recognised) (I am not/will not be known=recognised)
Ez têm nasîn Em tên nasîn Ez nayêm nasîn Em nayên nasîn
Tu têyî nasîn Hûn tên nasîn Tu nayêyî nasîn Hûn nayên nasîn
Ew tê nasîn Ew tên nasîn Ew nayê nasîn Ew nayên nasîn
Present Subjunctive
(that I be known= recognised) (that I be not known)
Ez bêm nasîn Em bên nasîn Ez neyêm nasîn Em neyên nasîn
Tu bêyî nasîn Hûn bên nasîn Tu neyêyî nasîn Hûn neyên nasîn
Ew bê nasîn Ew bên nasîn Ew neyê nasîn Ew neyên nasîn
Simple Past Tense

(I was known= recognised) (I was not known= recognised)
Ez hatim nasîn Em hatin nasîn Ez nehatim nasîn Em nehatin nasîn
Tu hatî nasîn Hûn hatin nasîn Tu nehatî nasîn Hûn nehatin nasîn
Ew hat nasîn Ew hatin nasîn Ew nehat nasîn Ew nehatin nasîn
Present Perfect Tense
(I have been known= recognised) (I have not been known= recognised)
Ez hatime nasîn Em hatine nasîn Ez nehatime nasîn Em nehatine nasîn
Tu hatiyî nasîn Hûn hatine nasîn Tu nehatiyî nasîn Hûn nehatine nasîn
Ew hatiye nasîn Ew hatine nasîn Ew nehatiye nasîn Ew nehatine nasîn
Past Perfect Tense

(I had been known= recognised) (I had not been known= recognised)
Ez hatibûm nasîn Em hatibûn nasîn Ez nehatibûm nasîn Em nehatibûn nasîn
Tu hatibûyî nasîn Hûn hatibûn nasîn Tu nehatibûyî nasîn Hûn nehatibûn nasîn
Ew hatibû nasîn Ew hatibûn nasîn Ew nehatibû nasîn Ew nehatibûn nasîn
It is possible to express the doer of the action by using a complex circumposition ji aliyê............ve
in front of the helping verb. This is really only used in more formal styles of written Kurdish; it is not
part of normal everyday speech.
Du romanên nû ji aliyê Enstituya Kurdî ya Stenbolê ve hatin wergerandin û weşandin.

Two new novels have been translated and published by Istanbul Kurdish Institute.
Lîstika bi navê ”Rojnivîska Dînekî” ji aliyê Gogol ve hatiye nivîsandin.

The play named Diary of a Madman was written by Gogol.
Divê mirov bibêje ku di destpêkê de îthamên weha ji aliyê piraniya mirovan ve jî dihatin
qebûlkirin.
It should be said that in the begining such claims were being accepted by most of the people.
Exercise
Change the active sentences below into passive sentences.
a) Mirov bi şev bûryanê naxwin. Bûryan bi şev nayê xwarin.

b)Êdî mirov cil û bergan bi cilşoyan dişon. ............................................
c) Heval nameyan ji hev re dişînin. ............................................
d)Kurd piranî çayê vedixwin. ............................................
e) Li Tirkiyeyê mirov zêde kovaran naxwînin. ............................................
f) Em herroj di mal de xwarinê çêdikin. ............................................
Wordlist
alîkarî f. also arîkarî help

an / yan or
ango in another term, namely
axaftin to speak
bang (-î yekî) kirin to call (smb.), (bang: message)
bêbextî f. treachery, mercilessness
berê before
bi with, by, (bi is a preposition which functions as the initial particle of
many circumpositions. Ex. Ez bi te re me. ‘I am with you.’)
bihîst ‘…heard it’ Siyabendî dengek bihîst. ‘Siyabend heard a voice’ (3rd prs.
sng. past simple form for the verb bihîstin ‘to hear’)
bihurî ‘he/she passed’ Siyabend di ber mala me re bihurî. ‘Siyabend passed by
our house’ (3rd prs. sng. past simple form for the verb bihurîn ‘to pass
by’)
bike ‘do!’ Wan petat û balîcanan sor bike bo şîvê. ‘Fry those potatoes and
aubergines for dinner’ (imperative form for the verb kirin ‘to do’)
bûryan f. a traditional kurdish dish with meat
çilo also çawa, çito how
dan to give
daye ‘…have/has given it’ Siyabendî hespê xwe daye qaçaxçiyan. ‘Siyabend
has given his horse to smugglers.’ (3rd prs. sng. present perfect of the
verb dan ‘to give’)
di…………….de in, at (di is a preposition used together with the postposition de ) di
çîrokê de ‘in the story’
dema when
deng m. voice
dernexist ‘did not take it out’ Siyabendî şûrê xwe dernexist. ‘Siyabend didn’t take
out his sword’ (3rd prs. sng. past simple form for the verb derxistin ‘to
take out’) (tê derxistin (as in the text): to understand, to notice)
dest m. hand
devî f. bush
dew m. airan (a cold drink made of youghurt, in India called lassi, in Iran
dugh)
dike ‘he/she does’ Evîn çi karî dike. ‘What does Evîn do?’ (3rd prs. sng. form
of the simple present tense for the verb kirin ‘to do’)
din other
dirêj long, tall
dîsa again
dît ‘…saw it’ Siyabendî zilamek dît. ‘Siyabend saw a man’ (3rd prs. sng.
past simple form for the verb dîtin ‘to see’)
diyarî f. gift
domand ‘continued it’ Siyabendî meşa xwe domand. ‘Siyabend continued his
walk’ (3rd prs. sng. past simple form for the verb domandin ‘to
continue’)
êdî anymore, no longer
erd m. land
erê yes
ev this
fikar f. concern
firotin to sell
gava when
geriya ‘he/she wandered’Siyabend li ber mala wê geriya. ‘Siyabend wandered
around her home’ (3rd prs. sng. past simple form for the verb
gerîn/geriyan ‘to wander around’)
giran heavy, expensive
girtin to grasp, to take, to hold
goşt m. meat
got ‘…said it’ Zilamê şevê got. ‘The man of the nigh said’ (3rd prs. sng. past
simple form for the verb gotin ‘to say’)
gram gram
guh ear
hat ‘he/she came’ Zilam hate nik Siyabend. ‘The man came near Siyabend’
(3rd prs. sng. past simple form for the verb hatin ‘to come’)
hatime ‘I have come’ Ez hatime suhbeta we. ‘I have come to your talk’ (1st prs.
sng. present perfect form for the verb hatin ‘to come’)
hatiye ‘he/she has come’ Zilam hatiye nik Siyabend. ‘The man has come near
Siyabend’ (3rd prs. sng. present perfect form for the verb hatin ‘to
come’)
hawîrdor syn. derûdor f. environment, aroundhood
hêj still
here ‘go’ Here mala birayê min.’Go to my brother’s home’ (imperative form
for the verb çûn ‘to go’)
hev also hevdu or hev û each other (Ex: Herdu hevalan bi hesret hev hembêz kirin. ‘The two
du friends embraced each other passionately.’
hinartine ‘…have/has sent them’ Wan çend diyarî hinartine bo me. ‘They have
sent some gifts for us’ (3rd prs. pl. present perfect form for the verb
hinartin ‘to send’)
hinek also hindek some
îsot f. hot pepper
jê from him/her
ji from
kete ‘he/she fell down’ Siyabend kete nav bîrekê. ‘Siyabend fell down in a
well’ (3rd prs. sng. past simple form for the verb ketin ‘to fall down)
kevan f. bow
kevanek a bow
kîlo f. kilo
kir ‘…made it’ Siyabendî daxwazek kir. ‘Siyabend made a wish’ (3rd prs.
sng. past simple form for the verb kirin ‘to do/ make’)
kir nekir whatever he/she did.
ku ku has many different functions in Kurdish, which cannot all be
covered here. An easy way to begin to underestand ku is to translate
it with English that, which also has many different functions. The
most important uses of ku are the following: (1) It introduces a
relative clause, as in jinika ku hat li vir ‘the woman who/that came
here’, (2) It introduces complement clauses, as in: gava dît ku zilamek
li ber lingên wî sekiniye ‘(he) he saw that a man was standing in front
of his feet’; (3) It introduces purpose clauses: kir ku rabe ser lingan
‘(he) intended (lit. did) so that he would get up / he was about to
get up’.
kuştin to kill
lê but, however
li in
metirse! don’t be afraid!
mîna like, as
mirov person, human being
mirovan plural onlique form of mirov
nabe ‘it does not become’ Ev welat êdî ji te re nabe war! This country can’t
be home for you anymore! (3rd. pr. sng. form of the simple present
tense for the verb bûn ‘to be’)
nav inside
nayê ‘he/she does not come’ Siyabend nayê daweta me. ‘Siyabend is not
coming to our invitation’ (3rd prs. sng. simple present tense form for
the verb hatin ‘to come’)
neçûbû ‘he/she had not gone’ Siyabend neçûbû daweta wan. ‘Siyabend had not
gone to their invitation’ (3rd prs. sng. past perfect tense form for the
verb çûn ‘to go’)
nedît ‘…did not see him/her/it’ Siyabendî tu tişt nedît. ‘Siyabend didn’t see
anything’ (3rd prs. sng. past simple form for the verb dîtin ‘to see’)
nehat ‘he/she did not come’ Siyabend nehat daweta me. ‘Siyabend didn’t
come to our invitation’ (3rd prs. sng. simple past tense form for the
verb hatin ‘to come’)
nekir ‘…did not do it’ Siyabend tu tişt nekir. ‘Siyabend didn’t do anything’
(3rd prs. sng. past simple form for the verb kirin ‘to do/ make’)
nihêrî also nêrî ‘looked at him/her/it’ Siyabendî li zilamî nihêrî. ‘Siyabend looked at
the man’ (3rd prs. sng. past simple form for the verb nihêrîn ‘to look
at’)
neyêyî also neyê ‘if etc. you don’t come’ Divê tu li vir pir hişyar bî da ku neyêyî
xapandin. ‘You should be very careful here not to be deceived.’ (2nd
pr. sngl. form of the present subjunctive form for the verb hatin ‘to
come’; the same verb is used in forming passive forms as in the
example above.)
ling m. leg, foot
nîvro f. noon
pê with her/him or smth/smb (it is a contracted form of ‘bi wê/wî’)
paşî also piştre then, later on
qasid envoy
qederek f. for a time
rabû ‘he/she stood up’ Siyabend rabû ser piyan. ‘Siyabend stood up’ (3rd prs.
sng. past simple form for the verb rabûn ‘to stand up’)
rakeve ‘sleep!’ Bi şev zû rakeve da ku sibehê zû rabî. ‘Sleep early in the night
so that you get up early in the morning.’ (2nd pr. sngl. imperative
form for the verb raketin ‘to sleep’)
rehet comfortable, easy
selete f. salad
sed hundred
sekiniye ‘he/she has stopped’ Siyabend li ber derî sekiniye. ‘Siyabend has
stoopped in front of the door’ (3rd prs. sng. present perfect form for
the verb sekinîn ‘to stop, to stay’)
ser on, over
şev f. night
sêv f. apple
şevan at nights
sibeh also sibê f. morning, in the morning
sozek a promise
tarî f. dark, darkness
te you (in oblique case)
tê ‘he/she comes’ Siyabend ji gund tê. ‘Siyabend is coming from the
village’ (3rd prs. sng. simple present form for the verb hatin ‘to come’)
tên ‘they come’ Gundî ji mizgeftê tên. ‘The villagers are coming from the
mosque’ (3rd prs. pl. simple present form for the verb hatin ‘to come’)
tenê also bi tenê alone, only
têr kirin yo be enough (Ew xwarin têra min dike ‘This food will be enough for
me’)
tîr f. arrow
tîrek an arrow
tirşî m. pickles
tirsiya ‘he/she was afraid’ Siyabend ji zilamî tirsiya. ‘Siyabend was afraid of
the man’ (3rd prs. sng. past simple form for the verb tirsîn/tirsiyan ‘to
be afraid of’)
vê oblique form of ev ‘this’ (feminine)
vî oblique form of ev ‘this’ (masculine)
vira here
wa here
war m. place, land
welat m. country
welatî citizen
wî oblique form of ew ‘he’
wisa also wesa like that, in that way
xwarin to eat, food
Xwedê God
yekê one of them (one is feminine and in oblique)
yekî one of them (one is masculine and in oblique)
zilam m. man
zilamek a man
Extra material for all interested (not included in the examination)
Lêkerên têkildarî xwarin û xwarin-çêkirinê /

Verbs related to foods and preparing meals
qelaştin to slice kelandin to boil

sor kirin to fry qewartin to hollow out
qijilandin to fry sar kirin to cool
biraştin to grill xwê pê werkirin to salt
pehtin to cook sotin/şewitandin to burn
qelandin to roast
Xwarinên Taştê
penîr cheese xoşav compote

mast yoghurt jajî a kind of soft cheese
hingivîn honey xiyar cucumber
şîr milk tamates/bacan tomates
zeytûn olives
rîçal jam
nivîşk butter
hêkên kelandî boiled egg
Hindek xwarin û vexwarinên sereke

/ some essential food and beverages
selete salad
goşt meat
nîsk lentil
birinc rice
fasûliye bean
savar dried crushed wheat
masî fish
çay tea
qehwe coffe
dew airan (a drink consisting of
yoghurt and water, Indian:
lassi)
LESSON 10
INTRODUCTION
In this unit you will have an opportunity to practice the things you have learned by working on a
selection of genuine Kurdish texts. We have attempted to select texts from fairly typical genres,
and provide translations and notes to the texts as well as complementary exercises for each of
them. The texts we have chosen include a contemporary short story from Firat Cewerî, a poem
from Berken Bereh and a folk tale.
In addition, we would like to draw your attention to the website:

http://www.dibistanakurdi.com/index.php
a Swedish-based website with a lot of very useful resources for learning Kurdish. Under the menu
‘çîrok’ (story) you will find some short traditional texts which can also be listened to (you will
need Flash player on your computer). For this lesson you will need to listen to the the story Pîrê û
Rovî first (‘The old lady and the fox’) on the following link:
http://www.dibistanakurdi.com/cirok2004/pire_rovi.htm
Text 1: Çîrok / Short story
Hindek agahî li ser nivîskar û çîrokê

Nivîskarê vê çîrokê, Firat Cewerî, di sala 1959’an de li gundekî Mêrdînê hatiye dinyayê. Ji serê salên
1980’î ve li Swêdê dijî ku li wê derê wek nivîskar, wergêr û weşangerekî kurd pir navdar bûye. Heta niha
romanek û çend kitêbên çîrokan nivîsandine û herwiha berhemin ji Dostoevsky, Steinbeck, Chechov û
Yaşar Kemal wergerandine bo kurdî. Qederê deh salan bi navê Nûdem kovareke edebî derxistiye. Ji bilî
karê xwe yê nivîskariyê, wî weşanxaneyeke bi navê Nûdem jî ava kiriye ku bûye yek ji girîngtirîn û
serkeftîtirîn weşanxaneyên kurdî. Nûdemê, di sala 1998’an de bi edîtoriya Firat Cewerî, kolleksiyoneke du
cildî ya hemû hejmarên kovara Hawarê (pêşî di navbera salên 1932 û 1943 de çap bûbû) belav kirin. Di wê
kovarê de birayên Bedirxanî û rewşenbîrên din ên kurd, bingehên kurmanciya nivîskî ya standard danîbûn.
Berhemeke din a pir girîng a Firat Cewerî jî, amadekirina Antolojiya Çîrokên Kurdî (2003, du cild) ye; ku
bêguman, firehtirîn kolleksiyona berdest e bo edebiyata kurdî.
Çîroka ku me ji bo vê dersê neqandiye, li dor adeta kurdan a razana ser banan, ku havînan li Kurdistanê pir
berbelav e, hatiye hûnandin. Qehremanê çîrokê, mirovekî ji Mêrdînê ye, bajarekî Kurdistanê, ku bo demeke
dirêj li Ewrûpayê jiyaye. Gava ku di nav xeyalên rabirdûyê de li ser banê xanî li esman û stêrkên ronak
temaşe dike, dengedengek tê ji mala cînaran. Nivîskar, vê rûdanê ligel xuricîna stêrkekê eleqedar dike.
Çîrok ji kitêba nivîskarî ya bi navê Kevoka Spî hatiye wergirtin (Swêd, Nûdem, 1996).
Some information on the writer and the story

The author of this short story, Firat Cewerî, was born in 1959 near Mêrdîn in southeastern
Turkey, quite near the Syrian border. He has been living in Sweden since the early 1980’s, where
he has become extremely well known as a Kurdish writer, translator and publisher. He has
written a novel and several collections of short stories and has also translated works of
Dostoevsky, Steinbeck, Chechov and Yaşar Kemal into Kurdish. He directed a litarary magazine
called Nûdem for about ten years. Apart from his work as a writer, he has also established the
publishing company Nûdem as one of the most important and successful Kurdish publishers
world-wide. In 1998 Nûdem published a two-volume collection of all the issues of the journal
Hawar (originally published between 1932 and 1943), edited by Firat Cewerî. In that journal, the
Bedirxan (Bedirkhan) brothers and other Kurdish intellectuals had laid the foundations for
modern standard written Kurmanji. Another extremely important work of Firat Cewerî is the
recent publication of an anthology of Kurdish short stories (Antolojiya Çîrokên Kurdî, 2003, two
volumes), undoubtedly the most comprehensive collection of Kurdish literature currently
available.
The story that we have chosen, picks up a culturally very widespread custom in Kurdistan, namely
sleeping on the rooves of houses during the summer. The protagonist of the story is a man from
Mêrdîn, a city of Kurdistan, who has lived in Europe for a long time and returned home. While he
is deep into the retrospect on the roof of the house looking at the luminious sky and stars, there
comes a noise from the neighbour’s which the author relates to the slide of a star on the sky.
The story is taken from his collection of short stories titled as Kevoka Spî (Sweden, Nûdem, 1996).
Stêrkek ji ezmanê me xuricî A star slid (down)

from our sky
(1) Piştî programeke televîzyonê, ez bi After (watching) a TV programme, I climbed the

cangiranî bi mêrdewanê ve bi jor ketim û stairs sluggishly [can=body, soul, spirit;
çûm ser xênî. giranî ‘heaviness’, lit. ‘with body-
heaviness’] and went up on (to the roof of) the
house.
(2) Yek ji tiştên ku min deh salan li One of the things that I had longed for [lit.
Ewrûpayê hesreta wê kişandibû jî, ‘longing of-it draw’] for ten years in Europe,
razana li ser bana bû. was sleeping on the roof [razan-a, razan is the
infinitive from ‘to sleep’, the -a is an Izafe]
[ban-a, is the colloqual plural form of ban
‘roof’, whose written standard would be
banan ‘rooves’].
(3) Min gelekî ji razana li ser bên hez I liked sleeping on the roof very much [bên is
dikir û her êvar heta bi nîvê şevê min one of the two singular oblique forms for
xwe li ser nivînê xwe dirêj dikir, destên ban; the other and most commonly used
xwe dixistin bin serê xwe û min li stêrkên one being banî] and every evening until mid-
ezmanê welêt dinihêrî. night I would lie down on my bed, put my hands
under my head and stare at stars of the sky of the
country. [this sentence uses the past
progressive to express past habits, often
translatable as ‘used to ...’]
(4) Wê şevê jî min wilo kir. That night also I did like that. [wilo ‘so, in this
manner’ There are many regional variants
of this word, for example wesa, wisa,
wusa...]
(5) Bêî ku ez kincên xwe ji xwe bikim, Not having taken my clothes off, I lay down on my
min xwe li ser nivînên xwe dirêj kir, bed, put my hands under my head and looked at
destên xwe xistin bin serê xwe û di bin the stars in the sky under the soft and cool
bayê payizê yê sivik û hênik de li stêrkên autumn wind.
ezmên nihêrî.
(6) Gelo berê jî ezmanê welêt ewçend bi Were there so many stars in the sky of the
stêrk bû? homeland before as well? [lit. was the sky of
the homeland (welêt: oblique singular of
welat) with so many stars before also].
(7) Çiqas stêrkin xweşik, çiqas diçirisîn. How lovely stars, how much they were sparking.
(8) Ez di wê navê de li Leyla û Mecnûn At that moment I thought of Leyla û Mecnûn [a
fikirîm, min ew jî dîtin. constellation named after the beloved couple
Laila and Majnun], I saw them as well.
(9) Min çavên xwe li riya Kadizê gerand, I glanced at the Milky Way, I saw it as well.
min ew jî dît.
(10) Min demeke dirêj bala xwe berda For a long time I paid attention [the idiomatic
Leyla û Mecnûn û ez li benda expression is bala xwe berdan ‘pay one’s
ramûsandina wan rawestiyam. attention to’; the basic verb is dan ‘give’
with a preverb ber-] to Leyla û Mecnûn and I
waited for them to kiss [lit. ‘rested in the
expectation of ...’].
(11) Min ramûsandina wan bidîta, min ê If I had seen them kissing, I would have wished,
ji xwe re tiştin bixwesta, tiştin hêvî hoped some things [tişt+indefinite plural
bikira. ending] for myself.
(11) Qet nebe me bi zaroktî wilo bawer At least we used to believe it like this in
dikir. childhood.
(12) Em heta derengê şevê li benda We would wait until late at night for them to kiss
ramûsandina wan diman û em wilo di [see (10) above) stay in the expectation of
xew re diçûn. their kiss] and we would fall asleep in that way.
(13) Tiştê ecêb, gava ez li wan rojên xwe The interesting thing (was that), when I was
yên zaroktiyê difikirîm, min xwe mîna thinking of my childhood days [lit. ‘days of own
zarokan hîs dikir. childhood’], I would feel like a child [lit. I
would feel myself like the children].
(14) Şewqa stêrkên ezmên ez dibirim The luminosity of the stars of the sky [ezmên is
salên min yên zaroktiyê. the Oblique singular of ezman] would take
me to my childhood years.
(15) Di salên xwe yên zaroktiyê de ez In my childhood days I admired the luminosity of
heyrana şewqa elektrîka bajarê Mêrdînê the electricity (lights) of the city of Mêrdîn.
bûm.
(16) Nizanim gelo we tu carî bi şev di I wonder, have you ever travelled close to Mêrdîn
nêzîkî Mêrdînê re rêwîtî kiriye? in the night time? [lit. I do not know whether
you have ever travelled close to Mêrdîn in
the night time?].
(17) Şewqa elektrîkên bajêr wilo germ, The luminosity of the city lights is so warm, so
wilo dostane ye, bajar ewçend bilind e ku friendly, the city is so high that you [lit. man]
mirov dibêje qey ew bi stêrkên li ezmên might think that it challenges the stars in the sky.
re qayişê dikişîne.
(18) Ez di xeyalan de kûr çûbûm. I was deep in imagination [lit. I had gone (past
perfect tense, see Lesson 8) deep in
imagination].
(19) Ez li ezmanê ewqas bilind û bêstûn I was [past perfect of man] surprised at the so
ecêbmayî mabûm. high and columnless sky.
(20) Di wê navê de ne ji dengê diya min At that moment, if it was not for my mother’s
nebûya, belkî ez bi saetan ji xeyalên xwe voice, perhaps I would not return from my
venegeriyama jiyana rastî. imagination to the real life for hours.
(21) Ma tu firrek çeqilmast venaxwî Would you not like to drink a sip of buttermilk,
lawê min? my son?
(22) Ez bi dengê diya xwe veciniqîbûm, [this sentence is in the past perfect
min ew tasa çeqilmêst a ko hîn qeşa wê throughout] I was startled by my mother’s
neheliyabû ji destê wê girtibû, çend gulp voice, I had taken that bowl of buttermilk whose
jê vexwaribûn, min paşê ew tas danîbû glace had not melted from her hand, I had taken
ser pirêketekî li ber serê xwe, min dîsa several gulps (sips) from it, than I had put that
xwe li ser piştê dirêj kiribû û li ezmanê bê bowl on a briquet next to my head, I had lied
ser û bin û li stêrkên bi şewq û rohnî down on my back again and I had looked at the
nihêrîbû. endless [lit. without top or bottom] sky and
the luminous and shiny stars.
(23) Û ez wilo di xew re çûbûm. And I had thus fallen asleep.
(24) Lê ez nizanim çiqas tê de çûbû, ez bi However I do not know how much (time) had
dengê teqîneke ku bêdengî û kerritiya passed through [lit. ‘in-it had gone’, see
şevê çirand ve şiyar bûm. prepositions in Lesson 4], I woke up by the
sound of a blast which tore apart the silence and
stillness of the night.
(25) Bi şiyarbûnê re min dît ku ew stêrka Upon waking up I saw that the star next to Leyla û
li nêzîkî Leyla û Mecnûn rijiya erdê. Mecnûn slid to the Earth.
[...] [section omitted here]
(26) Sibehê zû li mala cîranê me dengên Early in the morning, at our neighbour’s house,
lîlandin û çepikan dihat. there was coming the sound of cheering and
applauses.
(27) Min ji diya xwe pirsî, wê got: I asked my mother and she said: “A star slid from
“Stêrkek ji ezmanê me xuricî, keçika our sky, our neighbour’s daughter who was at the
cîrana me ya berzewacê şehîd ket”. age of marriage has fallen as a martyr” [the verb
is şehid ketin, used generally for people
who die in heroic struggles].

[...] [section omitted here]
(28) Her ku roj bilindtir dibû, dengên As the sun was getting higher, the sound of
lîlandin û çepikan zêdetir dibûn. cheering and applauses was getting more and
more.
Key expressions from the story.

ji tiştekî/kesekî hez kirin: like, love something/someone
bala xwe berdan: pay attention to
li tiştekî ecebmayî bûn: be amazed at something
xwe dirêj kirin: lie down, lit. make oneself long
di xew re çûn: fall asleep, lit. go through sleep
şiyar bûn: wake up
ji kesekî pirsîn: ask someone ((question)/whether ….) (ex: Min ji Zelalê
pirsî ka îmtihana wê çawa derbas bûye.)
li benda kesekî/tiştekî man/bûn: to wait for somebody or something
Text 2: Helbest / Poem

Hindek agahî li ser helbestvan û helbestê
Berken Bereh
Berken Bereh di sala 1954’ê de li Şirnexê hatiye dinyayê. Di sala 1978’ê de dest bi nivîsandina bi zimanê
kurdî kir. Helbestên wî yekem car di Tîrêjê de, yekem kovara bi kurdî li bakurê Kurdistanê, belav bûn. Dû
re di gelek kovarên kurdî de helbest û nivîsarên wî hatine belavkirin. Heta niha sê dîwanên (collection of
poems) wî derçûne: Êş (2001), Şagirtên Evînê (2003) û Pandomîm (2006).
Ev helbest ji yekem dîwana wî hatiye wergirtin û di vê helbestê de taybetiyên girîng ên welatê helbestvanî
li pêş in.
Berken Bereh
Berken Bereh was born in Shirnakh (Şirnex) in 1954. He started to write in Kurdish in 1978. Initially, his
poems appeared in Tîrêj, the first magazine in Kurdish in the north Kurdistan. Afterwards, his poems and
writings were published in many Kurdish magazines. Up to now three poem collections by him have
appeared: Êş (2003), Şagirtên Evînê (2003) and Pandomîm (2006).
This poem has been taken from the first poem collections and in this poem some important features of the
poet’s country are thematized.
Ger hûn bixwazin If you want

(1) Ger hûn bixwazin If you want [ger=if, also. heke, eger. In each stanza the
Binasin êş û jan û kovaniyê present conditional form is used (See lesson 6); in
Şevekê li welatê min bibin mêvan this sense the first three sentences actually form one
single sentence)]
To get to know pain, sorrow and grief
Be guest one night in my country [bibin mêvan, is in imperative
form (see lesson 5)]
(2) Ger hûn bixwazin If you want

Binasin mirinê To get to know the death
Li baskên qulingên koçber binihêrin Look at the wings of the emigrant cranes
Bêhna şewatê tê ji wan. They smell burnt [lit. the smell of burning comes from them]

Evînê binasin To get to know the love
Taldeya rojhilata dilê xwe bipelînin Look into the nook of the east of your heart
Bê çawa diteysin bi ken stêrk. How the stars glare merrily. [bê is a particle giving some
emphasis to the word çawa; it cannot be readily
translated into English]
Welatê min binasin To get to know my country
Vekin deriyê agir û rojê Open [imperative plural of vekirin] the door of fire and sun
Kevoka mirovhez a heftreng The human-lover pigeon with seven colors [mirov (human being)-
Dê bifire bi we. hez (the verbal element of the complex verb hez kirin ‘to like, to
love’); a very frequent way of word formation in Kurdish. Also
in similar forms, welat-parêz (patriot), kitêb-firoş (book-seller),
kef-gîr (colander) etc.]
Dê bifire bi we: ‘Will fly to you’. [dê is th future particle,

see lesson 6; bi we is used to give the meaning of an
action towards a certain direction; in this sense, it is
more common to use it with a postposition, namely
in the form of bi we de (towards you). (see lesson 4)]
Key expressions from the poem.
xwestin: to want (the verb following xwestin is always in subjuntcive form as in

bixwazin binasin/ biçin/bikirin)
mêvan bûn: to be a guest (As in the poem the verb can be in the form of bûn mêvan
also especially in imperative form. Ex: Min jê re got were bibe mêvanê
min.)
bê çawa: how (bê functions more like an attention getting particle here, it does
not add substantially to the meaning)
teyisîn: to glare
mirovhez: human-lover; human-friendly (mirov-hez)
heftreng: seven-coloured (heft-reng)
bêhna tiştekî hatin ji
tiştekî/kesekî: to smell (lit. the smell of something comes from smt./smb.)

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Kurdish alphabet: a comparative table

Roman Script Arabic Script

Online course in Kurmanji Kurdish,

Background information on Kurmanji and Kurdish

1. Introduction to Kurmanji Kurdish

1.2 The peripheral languages: Zazaki etc.

2. Literary tradition in Kurmanji Kurdish

2.1 The Classical

2.1 The Contemporary Kurmanji Literature

3.1 General interest on the Kurdish language

T. L. Todd 1985 A Grammar of Dimili (also known as Zaza). Diss.

3.2 Grammatical description and text collections

E’VDAL, E. (1958): Xebernama K’ördiye R’astnvîsandinê. Erivan: Akademia Ölmî ya R’SS

MACKENZIE, D. N. (1962): Kurdish dialect studies-II. London: Oxford University Press.

3.3 Pedagogical works

BLAU, J. & BARAK, V. (1999): Manuel de Kurde Kurmanji. Paris: L‘Harmattan.

RIZGAR, B. (1998). Dersên Zmanê Kurdi. Stockholm

BAKAEV, Č. CH. (1957): Kurdsko-russkij slovar’, Xebernama Körmancî-R’ûsî. Moskva:

Roman Script Example English example IPA

B,b baş (good), bira (brother) bell [b]

N,n nav (name), nan (bread, food) name [n]

X,x xewn (dream), baxçe (garden) cf. Scottish: loch [x]

Table 1. The Vowels in Kurmanji (approximate phonetic values)

Front Central Back

Table 2. The Consonants in Kurmanji

Zeyneb : Rojbaş. Navê min Zeyneb e. Navê te çi ye?

Merheba/Silav/Silamun eleykum Hello

Good bye (Xatirxwestin)

Bi xatirê te Good bye (to one person)

Response to bi xatirê te/we

Oxir be/Oxira te ya xêrê be/Bi xêr û silametî Good bye

and for the subjects of intransitive verbs in the past tenses.

Navê min Ehmed e. ‘My name is Ehmed’

B Expressing ‘to be’ in the present tense

After consonant: After vowel:

Ez ne kurd im ‘I am not a Kurd’ Ez ne ji Diyarbekirê me ‘I am not from D.’

Çend bajarên Kurdistanê / Some cities of Kurdistan

Navên din /other

Sêrt Siirt Tirkiye

a) Hekîm bavê Gulçînê ye.

C The indefiniteness suffix

Grammar / Rêziman 2 (continued)

Head noun Ezafe particle Possessive modifier

If the noun ends in a vowel, a -y- is put before the Ezafe:

1. FEMININE, NO INDEFINITENESS SUFFIX: FORM OF SUFFIX

Three further points about the Ezafe:

D1 The free or demonstrative Ezafe

D3 Possessors in the Oblique case

By the end of this lesson you will be able to:

• Ask about jobs

1. Text: Rojekê Min / My Day (literally: one day (roj-ek) of me)

I am a student. My name is Salih and I am 22 years old. I live in Istanbul, I am staying at my

1.Navê wî çi ye? ................................................................

2. Asking About Jobs

Tu çi karî dikî? What is your job?

The basis of expression is saet ‘hour’

Saet çend e? What time is it?

Write the time according to the pictures below.

Saet ..................... ............................. ............................. .............................

........................... ............................. ............................. .............................

present tense for the verb bihurîn ‘to pass’)

A Expressions of existence (‘there is / there are’)

Ez he-me ‘I am, exist’ Em he-ne

The negative form is tune/nîne: