Fermanî · Instructions and requests
Speak directly to one person or a group.
By the end of this lessonForm affirmative and negative commands and recognize irregular were / werin.
The idea
A direct command normally addresses tu or hûn, often without saying the pronoun. For consonant-final present stems here, use bi- + stem + -e for one person, and -in for a group: bixwîne / bixwînin. Negative commands replace bi- with ne-: nexwîne / nexwînin.
See it in a sentence
Learn irregular commands separately: hatin gives were / werin (come). Çûn also has here / herin alongside biçe / biçin. The exercises specify a stem when more than one form is possible. Ji kerema xwe adds “please”; context and tone still matter.
Build it step by step
- Choose your addressee: one person (tu) or a group (hûn). The pronoun can be omitted because the command form already indicates the addressee.
- For xwîn- and k-, attach -e in singular commands and -in in plural commands. Do not copy the tu subjunctive ending -î into a singular command.
- Use ne- for negative commands in these examples. Learn irregular stems separately, such as were / werin. Vowel-final stems and compound verbs do not all follow the consonant-stem template.
| Verb | One person | A group |
|---|---|---|
| xwendin | bixwîne | bixwînin |
| xwendin (negative) | nexwîne | nexwînin |
| kirin | bike | bikin |
| kirin (negative) | neke | nekin |
| hatin | were | werin |
| çûn | biçe / here | biçin / herin |
Take a sentence apart
negative command marker
present stem of reading
addressing a group
“Read!” is the same for one person or a group in English. Kurmanji distinguishes bixwîne and bixwînin. Requests can add ji kerema xwe, but a command is not automatically polite.
A common trap
Incorrect: Bixwînî!
Correct: Bixwîne!
For the intended direct command to one person, use -e. Bixwînî is the tu subjunctive used inside forms such as divê tu bixwînî.
Grammar reference: Thackston, § 17 · Imperative and negative commands