—Kurmanji Kurdish— A Reference Grammar with Selected Readings

Ez pê bawer bûm ku meriv ê bikaribûya,
bi zimanê kurdî, romanek ava
bikira.
Ji rûniştevanên wê, mirov dê bigotaya
Kurdistan e.
I believed that one should be able to produce
a novel in Kurdish.
To judge by the inhabitants of it, one
would say it was Kurdistan.
Ew ê gelek nebaş bibûya. It would have been very bad.
(4) After xwezî ‘would that, I wish’ or the verb xwiziyan ‘to wish’ for
unfulfillable wishes in the past, often without the bi- prefix.
Ax, xwezî wî zanîbûya ez çiqasî bi vê
peyvê diêşiyam.
Xwiziya wî satila Nazî jî bi xwe re anî
ba bo tijî av bike.
THE VERB
Oh, would that he had known how
pained I was by those words.
He wished he had brought Nazi’s bucket
too to fill it with water.
§ 26. The Passive Voice. The passive voice is constructed from the verb
hatin (conjugated in all persons, moods, and tenses) plus the infinitive. Examples
of the passive are the following conjugations of hatin dîtin ‘to be
seen.’ For any other passive verb, simply substitute the infinitive for dîtin.
PRESENT INDICATIVE PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE
‘I am seen, &c.’ ‘that I be seen, &c.’
ez têm dîtin em tên dîtin ez bêm dîtin em bên dîtin
tu têyî dîtin hun tên dîtin tu bêyî dîtin hun bên dîtin
ew tê dîtin ew tên dîtin ew bê dîtin ew bên dîtin
FUTURE SIMPLE PAST
‘I will be seen, &c.’ ‘I was seen, &c.’
ezê bêm dîtin emê bên dîtin ez hatim dîtin em hatin dîtin
tê bêyî dîtin hunê bên dîtin tu hatî dîtin hun hatin dîtin
ewê bê dîtin ewê bên dîtin ew hat dîtin ew hatin dîtin
PRESENT PERFECT PAST PERFECT
‘I have been seen, &c.’ ‘I had been seen, &c.’
ez hatime dîtin em hatine dîtin ez hatibûm dîtin em hatibûn dîtin
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