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uilt into dît. The second conjugation reflects changing patients.<br />
DIFFERENT AGENTS; STABLE PATIENT<br />
min ew dît I saw him me ew dît we saw him<br />
te ew dît you saw him we ew dît you saw him<br />
wî ew dît he saw him wan ew dît they saw him<br />
STABLE AGENT; DIFFERENT PATIENTS<br />
wî ez dîtim he saw me wî em dîtin he saw us<br />
wî tu dîtî he saw you wî hun dîtin he saw you<br />
wî ew dît he saw him wî ew dîtin he saw them<br />
Negatives are formed by prefixing né- to the affirmative.<br />
wî ez nedîtim he didn’t see me wî em nedîtin he didn’t see us<br />
wî tu nedîtî he didn’t see you wî hun nedîtin he didn’t see you<br />
wî ew nedît he didn’t see him wî ew nedîtin he didn’t see them<br />
The past habitual/progressive is regularly formed by adding the dí- prefix<br />
to the verb and nédi- for the negative.<br />
min ew didît I used to see him wî ez nedidîtim he didn’t use to see<br />
me<br />
Pronouns in the oblique case are the clearest indicators of agency. Noun<br />
agents are also in the oblique case; however, masculine singular nouns are<br />
not marked for the oblique.<br />
Alfred Nobel piştî mirina xwe, serweteke<br />
mezin li dû xwe hişt.<br />
THE VERB<br />
Alfred Nobel left behind a large fortune<br />
after his death.<br />
Mêrik bi kenekî ne ji dil got… The fellow said with a smile not from<br />
the heart…<br />
Feminines, of course, are marked in the oblique, as are masculines modified<br />
by a demonstrative and all plurals.<br />
Jinikekê çaya me anî. A woman brought our tea.<br />
Wî mirovî çay anî. That man brought tea.<br />
Gundiyan tiştek negot. The villagers didn’t say anything.<br />
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