Let’s learn KurmanjiLesson
Kurmancî
UNIT 24 · LESSON 46

Reha demên borî · Past stems

A stem is a building block, not a fully conjugated verb.

By the end of this lessonFind the past stems in the reference table and use them with the right agreement.

The idea

For many infinitives ending in -in, remove that ending to identify the past stem: xwendin → xwend-, dîtin → dît-, kirin → kir-. For the vowel-final examples çûn and bûn, remove -n: çû-, bû-. Learn the pair explicitly rather than assuming every infinitive follows one spelling rule.

See it in a sentence

Ez hatim.I came: hat- + -im.
Em çûn.We went: çû- + -n.
Min ew dît.I saw him/her: dît- with a singular object.
Wê ez dîtim.She saw me: ez controls -im.
Ez dihatim.I was coming / used to come: di- with the past stem.
Ez hatibûm.I had come: a past-perfect formation from hat-.

The past stem is used across several past formations, but each has its own markers and endings. Simple past intransitives agree with the direct subject; past transitives use an oblique agent and object agreement. Do not add -im just because the English translation starts with “I”.

GRAMMAR IN DEPTH

Build it step by step

Useful before this lesson:
  1. For many infinitives ending in -in, remove that ending to identify the past stem: xwendin → xwend-, dîtin → dît-, kirin → kir-. For the vowel-final examples çûn and bûn, remove -n: çû-, bû-. Learn the pair explicitly rather than assuming every infinitive follows one spelling rule.
  2. Do not confuse a stem with an infinitive: hat- is a stem, hatin is an infinitive and can also be a plural past form in Em hatin. The sentence identifies the use.
  3. Recognize one past stem across formations: hatim, dihatim, hatime, hatibûm. The shared hat- does not make these forms interchangeable in meaning.
  4. The past stem is used across several past formations, but each has its own markers and endings. Simple past intransitives agree with the direct subject; past transitives use an oblique agent and object agreement. Do not add -im just because the English translation starts with “I”.
Compare the forms
InfinitivePast stemPresent stem / special form
xwendinxwendxwîn
xwarinxwarxw
dîtindîtbîn
kirinkirk
nivîsandinnivîsandnivîs
çûnçûç
hatinhatspecial: têm, tê
rabûnrabûra- + b-

Take a sentence apart

Wê

oblique past agent: she

ez

direct object: me

dît-im

past stem plus agreement with object ez

Connect it to English

Use English and Turkish meanings to understand the situation, but choose Kurdish stems and agreement from the Kurdish construction. A translation does not determine the conjugation.

A common trap

Incorrect: Ez têim.

Correct: Ez hatim.

For “I came”, choose past hat- and then -im, not the special present of hatin.

Grammar reference: Thackston, Course grammar reference: Thackston, verb formation and tense chapters; forms selected for this lesson.