Word Order and Sentence Building

Kurmanji generally follows a Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) word order. This means that unlike English (which is Subject-Verb-Object), the verb in a Kurmanji sentence usually comes at the very end.

For example, instead of saying "I eat bread," you would structure it as "I bread eat" (Ez nan dixwim).

While SOV is the highly preferred and standard order, Kurmanji is a somewhat flexible language. In poetry, casual speech, or when a speaker wants to emphasize a specific part of the sentence, the word order can shift. However, for beginners, sticking strictly to Subject-Object-Verb is the most reliable way to be understood clearly.

Here are examples demonstrating this SOV structure:

Ez nan dixwim. (I eat bread. / I bread eat.)

Ew sêvekê dixwe. (He/She eats an apple. / He/She an apple eats.)

Mamoste pirtûkê dixwîne. (The teacher reads the book. / The teacher the book reads.)

Zarok avê vedixwe. (The child drinks water. / The child water drinks.)

Em nameyekê dinivîsin. (We write a letter. / We a letter write.)

Jinik malê paqij dike. (The woman cleans the house. / The woman the house clean makes.)

Bavê min erebeyê diajo. (My father drives the car. / My father the car drives.)

Xwendekar waneyan dixwînin. (Students study lessons. / Students lessons study.)

Pisîk mişkekî digire. (The cat catches a mouse. / The cat a mouse catches.)

Karker xaniyekî çêdike. (The worker builds a house. / The worker a house builds.)

Ez te dibînim. (I see you. / I you see.)

Ew min fêm dike. (He understands me. / He me understands.)

Making Positive Statements

Forming a basic affirmative sentence relies on placing the subject first, any objects or descriptive information in the middle, and the verb at the end.

When using the verb "to be" (like "I am" or "you are"), a small copular form is placed at the end of the statement. The person and number of the copula are determined by the subject. Its surface form also depends on whether the preceding word ends in a consonant or a vowel.

For example, to say "I am a student," you say "Ez xwendekar im." "Ez" is 'I', "xwendekar" is 'student', and "im" is the verb 'am' acting as an ending.

Examples of positive statements:

Ez kurd im. (I am Kurdish.)

Navê wê Zîn e. (Her name is Zîn.)

Bajar mezin e. (The city is big.)

Av sar e. (The water is cold.)

Ew hevalê min e. (He is my friend.)

Mase li vir e. (The table is here.)

Ez mamoste me. (I am a teacher.)

Hewa xweş e. (The weather is nice.)

Cultural Tip: When stating facts or making positive statements about someone's hospitality or food, Kurds often use the phrase "Destê te sax be," literally meaning "May your hand be healthy," to thank someone who prepared food.

Making Negative Statements

To make a sentence negative in Kurmanji, you generally use the negative marker ne. When negating a state of being, ne is normally placed before the noun, adjective, or phrase being negated. For example, "Av ne sar e" means "The water is not cold," while "Pirtûk ne li vir e" means "The book is not here."

When negating regular action verbs in the present tense, the affirmative marker di- is replaced by the verb’s negative present form. Regular present-tense verbs normally use na-. Some common verbs have irregular negative forms, such as nizanim from zanîn. For example, "Ez dixwim" (I eat) becomes "Ez naxwim" (I do not eat), while "Ez dizanim" (I know) becomes "Ez nizanim" (I do not know).

Here are examples of various negative statements:

Ew ne xwendekar e. (He is not a student.)

Bajar ne mezin e. (The city is not big.)

Ez sêvan naxwim. (I do not eat apples.)

Em naçin bazarê. (We are not going to the market.)

Ew min nabîne. (He does not see me.)

Pirtûk ne li vir e. (The book is not here.)

Zarok ne nexweş in. (The children are not sick.)

Navê min ne Azad e. (My name is not Azad.)

Kiras ne sor e. (The shirt is not red.)

Ew fêm nakin. (They do not understand. Here, the plural verb nakin shows that ew means “they.”)

Ez wî nas nakim. (I do not know him [a person].)

Qehwe ne germ e. (The coffee is not hot.)

Forming Questions

Yes/No Question Formation

In Kurmanji, you can often turn a simple statement into a yes/no question by changing your tone of voice and raising your pitch at the end of the sentence.

Sometimes, the question particle gelo is placed at the beginning of a sentence to clearly signal a neutral yes/no question. The particle ma is also commonly placed at the beginning of a sentence to form a yes/no question. Depending on the context and intonation, it may also introduce a rhetorical question or suggest that the speaker expects a particular answer. In ordinary spoken language, neutral yes/no questions can also be formed through intonation alone.

Examples of yes/no questions:

Tu xwendekar î? (Are you a student?)

Gelo tu xwendekar î? (Are you a student? - explicit neutral question)

Av sar e? (Is the water cold?)

Ew tê malê? (Is he/she coming home?)

Gelo ew tê malê? (Is he/she coming home? - more explicit)

Hûn kurd in? (Are you [plural] Kurdish?)

Gelo hûn kurd in? (Are you [plural] Kurdish?)

Ew nexweş e? (Is he/she sick?)

Tu min fêm dikî? (Do you understand me?)

Gelo tu min fêm dikî? (Do you understand me?)

Ew pirtûk e? (Is that a book?)

Wh-Questions

When asking questions that require specific information (Who, What, Where, When, Why), Kurmanji uses specific question words.

The position of a question word depends on its grammatical role. It often appears in the position occupied by the requested information, although words such as çima and a question word functioning as the subject commonly occur near the beginning of the sentence.

Common question words include: Kî (Who), Çi (What), Li ku (Where), Kengî (When), Çima (Why), Çiqas (How much).

Examples of Wh-questions:

Navê te çi ye? (What is your name? / Name yours what is?)

Tu ji ku yî? (Where are you from? / You from where are?)

Ew kî ye? (Who is that? / He/She who is?)

Tu diçî ku? (Where are you going? / You go where?)

Pirtûk li ku ye? (Where is the book? / The book where is?)

Ew çi dixwe? (What is he eating? / He what eats?)

Hûn kengî tên? (When are you [plural] coming? / You when come?)

Ev çiqas e? (How much is this?)

Bavê te li ku dixebite? (Where does your father work?)

Kî tê bazarê? (Who is coming to the market? - 'Kî' is the subject here)

Çima tu naxwî? (Why aren't you eating? - 'Çima' often goes at the front)

Ew çi dixwînin? (What are they reading?)

Te kî dît? (Who did you see?)

How-Questions

To ask "how" something is done or someone's state, you use the word Çawa. Similar to other question words, it often sits near the verb or where the descriptive answer would go.

Examples of How-questions:

Tu çawa yî? (How are you?)

Ew çawa çêdike? (How does he/she make it?)

Hewa îro çawa ye? (How is the weather today?)

Karê te çawa diçe? (How is your work going?)

Ew çawa dixebite? (How does it work?)

Tu çawa dizanî? (How do you know?)

Xwarin çawa ye? (How is the food?)

Rêya malê çawa ye? (How is the road to the house/home?)

Hûn çawa diçin wê derê? (How are you going there?)

Dengê wî çawa ye? (How is his voice?)

Ew çawa fêm dikin? (How do they understand?)

Rewşa te çawa ye? (How is your situation/How are you doing?)

Nouns: Gender and Number

One of the most important aspects of Kurmanji grammar is that all nouns have a gender: masculine or feminine. There is no "neuter" gender.

You must usually learn the gender along with the noun, as it affects the Ezafe form used to connect the noun to an adjective or possessor (a system we will practice heavily).

To make a noun plural, the gender distinction normally disappears. In the direct case, a plural noun often has no visible plural ending, and its plural meaning is understood from the context, a number, or the verb. In the oblique case, plural nouns generally take -an. When a plural noun is connected to an adjective or possessor through the Ezafe construction, it takes -ên.

Examples of gendered nouns and plurals:

Bav (father) – Masculine

Bira (brother) – Masculine

Nan (bread) – Masculine

Jin (woman) – Feminine

Xwîşk (sister) – Feminine

Av (water) – Feminine

Mase (table) – Feminine

Birayên min (My brothers - plural)

Xwîşkên min (My sisters - plural)

Pirtûkên nû (New books - plural)

Articles and Determiners

Kurmanji handles definite articles ("the") differently than English. Often, a bare noun without any endings is automatically considered definite based on the context. If you say "Pirtûk li vir e," it generally translates to "The book is here."

For indefinite articles ("a" or "an"), Kurmanji attaches a suffix to the end of the noun. The basic indefinite suffix is -(y)ek for both masculine and feminine nouns. In the oblique case, it normally becomes -(y)ekî for masculine nouns and -(y)ekê for feminine nouns. In past transitive clauses, however, the direct object remains in the direct case, as in Min erebeyek kirî.

Examples of articles:

Pirtûk (The book / Book)

Pirtûkek (A book)

Zarok (The child / Child)

Zarokek (A child)

Mirov (The person / Person)

Mirovek (A person)

Sêv (The apple / Apple)

Sêvek (An apple)

Practice Section

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in each blank with the correct word, letter, or form based on what you learned.

1- Ev ne pirtûkek _________ (hint: meaning 'is', to complete 'This is not a book')

2- Pirtûk_________ (hint: convert 'book' to 'a book')

True/False

Circle T or F.

1- The standard word order in Kurmanji is Subject-Object-Verb (SOV). (T/F)

2- Kurmanji nouns do not have a gender; they are all neutral. (T/F)

Translation

Translate each English phrase or sentence into Kurmanji.

1- I am a student. (Hint: use 'xwendekar')

__________________________________________

2- Where is the book? (Hint: use 'li ku')

__________________________________________

3- The water is cold. (Hint: use 'sar')

__________________________________________