—Kurmanji Kurdish— A Reference Grammar with Selected Readings

OTHER SYNTACTICAL FEATURES
§ 29. Subordinate Clauses and Subordinating Conjunctions. Subordinating
conjunctions in Kurdish consist generally of prepositions + ku. A short
list of common subordinating conjunctions follows:
berî (or beriya) ku (+ pres. subj.)
before
bê(î) ku (+ pres. subj.) without
çaxê ku when
da ku (+ pres. subj.) in order that
digel ku although
dema (ku) when
gava (ku) when
gelo whether
gorî ku as
hema ku as soon as (+ past or
pres. subj.)
herwekî ku just as
heta (ku) (+ pres. subj.) in order
that; (+ past) until
ji ber ku because, on account of
the fact that
ji bo ku (+ pres. subj.) in order
that
jibona (ku) (+ pres. subj.) in
order that
ku (+ pres. subj.) in order that
madem ku as long as
mîna ku as though
paşê ku after
piştî ku after
ta ku as long as
weke (ku) as
wexta (ku) when
Conjunctions that mean ‘after’ (paşê ku, piştî ku) are followed by an indicative
verb, present or past according to sense.
Paşê ku min pîsîtiya wan dît, ez ji wan
bi dûr ketim.
Piştî ku vî merovî çend gotinên xwe
peyivî, şagirt rûniştin.
After I saw how bad they were, I avoided
them.
After this man spoke his few words, the
pupils sat down.
Conjunctions that mean ‘before’ are normally followed by a present subjunctive
verb. The correct tense for English translation is gained from context.
Berî ku ewrekî reş yê şînê bi ser vî
bajarî de bigire, ji pişt çiyan rojeke
bêhawe xweş bilind dibe.
Before a black cloud of mourning covers
this city, an extraordinarily nice day
breaks from behind the mountains.
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