Qertafên tewangê · Noun endings
Choose -î, -ê and -an by gender, number and context.
By the end of this lessonRecognize when a noun is oblique, form common endings and distinguish them from ezafe.
The idea
First identify the noun’s role. Simple noun complements of adpositions, present-tense objects and doers of past transitive verbs can be oblique. In the patterns here, feminine singular takes -ê (jin → jinê), and plural nouns of either gender take -an (jin → jinan, mirov → mirovan). Masculine singular takes -î after vî/wî or her: ji vî mirovî. A bare definite masculine noun can remain unchanged: ji mirov. Do not add -î automatically to every masculine noun.
See it in a sentence
For indefinite singular nouns, -ek becomes -ekî (masculine) or -ekê (feminine): mirovekî, kitêbekê. Some vowel-final nouns use a linking y: ode → odeyê. Ezafe links a noun to a possessor or description: kitêba min, kitêbên min. Its -a / -ê / -ên endings have a different function. These exercises use simple noun phrases; internal vowel changes and longer ezafe chains need additional rules.
Build it step by step
- Find the grammatical role before choosing an ending: after an adposition, present object, or past transitive doer.
- Check gender, number and definiteness; look for a demonstrative such as vî, wê or wan.
- Separate an oblique ending from an ezafe link: ji jinê versus jina min; ji jinan versus jinên min.
| Pattern | Oblique ending | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Feminine singular | -ê | ji jinê |
| Masculine with vî/wî | -î | ji vî mirovî |
| Bare definite masculine | often no visible suffix | ji mirov |
| Plural, either gender | -an | ji jinan / ji mirovan |
| Indefinite masculine | -ekî | ji mirovekî |
| Indefinite feminine | -ekê | ji jinekê |
| Vowel-final feminine: ode | -yê | di odeyê de |
Take a sentence apart
from: takes an oblique complement here
those: plural oblique demonstrative
men: noun with plural oblique suffix
English usually leaves the noun unchanged after “from”. Kurmanji marks the relation with both an adposition and, in many forms, an oblique ending.
A common trap
Incorrect: ji wan jinên
Correct: ji wan jinan
This simple plural complement needs oblique -an. Ezafe -ên instead links a plural noun to something following, as in jinên me.
Grammar reference: Thackston, §§ 1–4 and 18.2 · Noun cases, demonstratives, indefinites and ergative agents