—Kurmanji Kurdish— A Reference Grammar with Selected Readings

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