—Kurmanji Kurdish— A Reference Grammar with Selected Readings

Beriya ku em dest bi dersên xwe bikin,
dixwazim ji we re çêlî tiştekî bikim.
Berî ku ez bersiva vê pirsa te bidim, ez
tiştekî biçûk li ser gotina we bêjim.
Berî ku ez derkevim derveyî welêt, min
soranî nebihîstibû.
Berî ku leşker li ber xwe binêrin, Ferzende
ajote ser wan
Before we start our lessons, I want to
discuss something with you.
Before I answer this question of yours,
let me say a little something about what
you all have said.
Before I wound up outside the homeland,
I hadn’t heard Sorani.
Before the soldiers looked in front of
themselves, Ferzende attacked them.
Conjunctions that mean ‘when’—dema (ku), gava (ku), çaxê (ku), wexta
(ku)—are normally followed by an indicative verb (past, present, or future
according to sense).
Gava ku mirov ji derve li avahiya
hotêlê dinihêrî, hotel gelekî xweş û
luks xuya dikir.
Pirr nivîskar, dema dixwazin li ser
kurdan binivîsin, jiyana kurdî di
pencerek teng de dibînin.
Dema em dê bighêjin Ewropa keçên
porzer li Ferensa û li Swêdê wê li ser
porê me dîn bibin.
Dibe ku anuha pir neyêşe, lê wexta ku
êşiya, tu bibêje, em derman bidine te.
When one was looking at the hotel building
from the outside, it looked very
nice and deluxe.
Many writers, when they want to write
about Kurds, see Kurdish life through a
narrow window.
When we get to Europe, blonde girls in
France and Sweden will go crazy over
our hair.
It shouldn’t hurt much anymore, but
when it hurts, you tell us so that we
may give you some medicine.
All conjunctions that mean ‘in order that’ are followed by a present subjunctive
verb (except karîn and zanîn, which use the past subjunctive form
for the present subjunctive).
Ji bo ku bê tirs û fikarê bikaribim
razêm, min di serê xwe de pîlana ku
ezê çawan bikaribim wî benderuhî
bikujim, çêdikir.
OTHER SYNTACTICAL FEATURES
73
In order that I might be able to sleep
without fear or worry, I was formulating
a plan in my head how I could kill
that creature.