Avanîya tebatî · Passive voice
Put the person or thing affected at the centre of the sentence.
By the end of this lessonBuild present, past and negative passives with hatin and an infinitive.
The idea
The passive uses a conjugated form of hatin followed by the main verb in the infinitive. Compare Ez kitêbê dixwînim with Kitêb tê xwendin. The object becomes the passive subject: kitêbê becomes kitêb. Hatin carries tense and agreement: ez têm / hatim, ew (singular) tê / hat, em / hûn / ew (plural) tên / hatin. Xwendin stays unchanged.
See it in a sentence
Negate the auxiliary: nayê / nayên in the present and nehat / nehatin in the past. Keep the infinitive affirmative. The doer can be omitted; to name one, use ji aliyê … ve, as in Kitêb ji aliyê min ve tê xwendin. Hatin alone can mean come; look for the following infinitive to identify this passive pattern.
Build it step by step
- Promote the active object to passive subject and use its direct form: wê → ew, min → ez.
- Choose the tense and person on hatin; leave the main verb in its infinitive form.
- Omit the doer when unneeded, or name it with ji aliyê … ve. Negation belongs on hatin.
| Subject | Present passive | Past passive |
|---|---|---|
| ez | têm dîtin | hatim dîtin |
| ew (singular) | tê dîtin | hat dîtin |
| em / hûn / ew (plural) | tên dîtin | hatin dîtin |
| kitêb (negative) | nayê xwendin | nehat xwendin |
Take a sentence apart
the book: passive subject
by me: optional doer
present singular auxiliary
read: unchanged infinitive
English uses “be + past participle”; this Kurmanji pattern uses hatin + infinitive. Ez hatim means I came; Ez hatim dîtin means I was seen.
A common trap
Incorrect: Kitêb tê dixwîne.
Correct: Kitêb tê xwendin.
Only hatin is conjugated. The following verb must remain an infinitive.
Grammar reference: Thackston, § 26 · Passive with hatin + infinitive