Everyday Kurmanji Phrases: Greetings, Numbers and Time

Learning a language rarely starts with long sentences. It starts with a handful of phrases you use every day. Greeting someone, saying your name, asking how they are, apologizing and telling the time are what make a conversation possible from the first days. In Kurmanji, these phrases are short and rhythmic, and they are easy to memorize if you repeat them out loud. This article gathers everyday expressions from lessons recorded by native teachers, with translations and real situations where you can use them.

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Context: Kurmanji is a language you learn out loud

Here Kurmanji is written in the Latin alphabet, and several letters carry marks that change their sound: î, û, ê, ş, ç. For English speakers that is good news, because most of the letters already look familiar. Some sounds still take practice, though, and that is why everyday phrases are a great place to start. They make you listen, repeat and fix your pronunciation on words you will use again right away.

The lessons recorded by our teachers point out a few pronunciation features to know before you even start speaking:

• î and i: when a student asks the teacher about the difference, the answer is simple: Î dirêj e, i kurt e. = Î is long, i is short.
• ş: the student asks whether it sounds like the French "ch". The teacher answers: Erê: şev tê wateya 'nuit'. = Yes: şev means 'nuit' (night). For English speakers, that is the "sh" sound in "shoe".
• ç: the teacher gives examples: Erê. Mînak: ciwan, çav. = Yes. Examples: ciwan (young), çav (eye). Comparing the two words helps you hear the difference between c and ç.
• x: Erê, x dengek gurr e, li paş devê. = Yes, x is a guttural sound, at the back of the mouth. The student had already called it a hard sound: Û x ? Ev dengek dijwar e. = And x? It's a difficult sound.
• q: Q jî li paş e, kurtir ji k. = Q is also at the back, deeper than k.

In the same lesson, the student closes with two very handy classroom phrases: Spas, mamoste! = Thank you, teacher! and Spas, ez fêm dikim. = Thanks, I understand. You can already see how a polite word can lead straight into a short sentence about yourself. That is how every everyday conversation works.

One tip before going further: don't try to translate everything word for word. Learn phrases as whole blocks. When you hear Navê te çi ye ?, think "What's your name?" right away, without breaking it apart. That is how the reflexes form.

Essential vocabulary: 12 words and phrases to remember

This is your foundation. The question words are especially valuable: with them you can ask simple questions and understand the ones people ask you.

How do you use them? Greetings depend on the time of day: Beyanî baş in the morning, Êvar baş in the evening, and Şev baş when someone is going to bed. Silav is a simple "hi" to open a conversation, as you will see in the recorded dialogues below.

For politeness, three words cover most situations: Spas, Ji kerema xwe and Bibore. They let you thank someone, ask nicely and apologize. When someone thanks you, answer Ser çavan, which works like "you're welcome".

The question words çawa, çend, çima and kîjan show up in lots of questions. You will find them in the lesson sentences: Tu çawa yî ? (How are you?), Saet çend e ? (What time is it?), Tu çend salî yî ? (How old are you?). Once you spot the question word, you already know roughly what the question is about.

Examples and dialogues: introducing yourself and asking how someone is

Dialogue 1: meeting for the first time

Two people meet and get to know each other. Read it out loud and pay attention to vowel length.

• Claire: Silav! Navê te çi ye ? (Hi! What's your name?)
• Julien: Navê min Julien e. Tu çend salî yî ? (My name is Julien. How old are you?)
• Claire: Ez 22 salî me. Tu jî ? (I'm 22. And you?)
• Julien: Ez 25 salî me. Ez fransî me. (I'm 25. I'm French.)
• Claire: Ez jî fransî me! (I'm French too!)

The lessons also include Claire's own introduction: Navê min Claire e. Û tu ? = My name is Claire. And you? Remember the pattern: Navê min ... e to give your name, and Û tu ? to turn the question back to the other person.

Notice how age and nationality work too: Ez 22 salî me, Ez fransî me. The sentence starts with Ez (I) and ends with a short form that does the job of the verb "to be". You don't need more grammar than that to reuse these models, swapping the number based on the recorded examples.

Dialogue 2: catching up

• First speaker: Silav! Tu çawa yî ? (Hi! How are you?)
• Second speaker: Ez baş im. Tu li ku dijîyî ? (I'm fine. Where do you live?)
• First speaker: Ez ji Almanyayê me. Tu çi dikî ? (I'm from Germany. What do you do?)
• Second speaker: Ez xwendekar im. Tu hevalê min î ? (I'm a student. Are you my friend?)
• First speaker: Erê, bê guman! (Yes, of course!)

This dialogue shows how a simple conversation flows: you greet, ask how the other person is, talk about where you are from and what you do, then end on a warm note with Erê, bê guman! That last phrase is very useful: Erê means "yes", and bê guman adds "of course".

Family: everyday questions

Talking about family is a classic topic in first conversations. Here are the recorded phrases:

• Ev malbata min e. = This is my family.
• Ev kî ye ? = Who is this?
• Tu xwişk û bira hene ? = Do you have brothers and sisters?
• Tu zarokên xwe hene ? = Do you have children?
• Erê, du zarokên min hene. = Yes, I have two children.

With Ev malbata min e., you can show someone a photo. With Ev kî ye ?, you ask who the person in it is. These are two very concrete sentences, perfect for chatting with a language partner or a neighbor.

Real-life case: counting and telling the time

Two skills come up constantly in daily life: numbers (prices, ages, phone numbers) and time (appointments, schedules). Our teachers' lessons cover both through lively exchanges.

Numbers from 1 to 10

The teacher starts: Em bijmêrin: yek, du, sê, çar, pênc. = Let's count: one, two, three, four, five. Then continues: Şeş, heft, heşt, neh, deh. = Six, seven, eight, nine, ten.

Repeat the whole series several times, slowly at first, then without hesitating. A good method is to count things around you out loud, like the steps on a staircase or the items in your shopping basket.

Bigger numbers

The lesson then shows how to build longer numbers through questions and answers:

• Pir baş. Û 21 ? = Very good. And 21?
• Bîst û yek. = Twenty-one.
• Erê. Û 58 ? = Yes. And 58?
• Pêncî û heşt. = Fifty-eight.
• Mîna sed! Spas. = Like 100! Thanks.

Look at how it works: for 21 you say bîst û yek, literally "twenty and one", with the little word û (and) in between. For 58 you say pêncî û heşt. Tens come first, then units, linked by û. The recorded examples are enough to practice: replay the same game in your head with these numbers until they come out naturally.

Telling the time: a full exchange

Here is the lesson dialogue, which you can act out with a partner:

• Question: Saet çend e ? (What time is it?)
• Answer: Saet deh e. (It's ten o'clock.)
• Question: Niha yek û nîv e ? (Is it half past one now?)
• Answer: Erê, saet yek û nîv e. (Yes, it's half past one.)
• Question: Û saet çar û çarêk ? (And quarter past four?)
• Answer: Çaran çarêkek dibore. (It's quarter past four.)

The word saet means "hour" or "o'clock", and çend (how many) comes back in the question Saet çend e ? You can also see that "half past" is expressed with û nîv, as in yek û nîv. Above all, remember the standard question and answer: Saet çend e ? then Saet deh e.

Try it in context: you are meeting a friend. You start with Silav!, ask Tu çawa yî ?, then check the time with Saet çend e ?. If you are late, a simple Bibore smooths things over. Then you say thanks with Spas. With five expressions, you have handled a very realistic scene.

Recap and common mistakes to avoid

Recap by situation

• Greeting: Silav!, Beyanî baş, Êvar baş, Şev baş
• Introducing yourself: Navê min ... e, Ez ... salî me, Ez fransî me
• Asking: Navê te çi ye ?, Tu çawa yî ?, Tu li ku dijîyî ?, Tu çi dikî ?
• Being polite: Spas, Ji kerema xwe, Bibore, Ser çavan
• Counting: yek, du, sê, çar, pênc, şeş, heft, heşt, neh, deh
• Telling the time: Saet çend e ?, Saet deh e.
• Talking about family: Ev malbata min e., Tu zarokên xwe hene ?

The most common mistakes

1. Mixing up î and i. As the teacher said, Î dirêj e, i kurt e. Vowel length matters: get used to holding the î slightly longer.
2. Pronouncing x like a plain h or k. The x is guttural, produced at the back of the mouth. Listen to the native audio before trying to reproduce it.
3. Ignoring the difference between k and q. The q is deeper than the k. A careful ear can tell them apart, so practice comparing them.
4. Learning phrases without the intonation. A question like Tu çawa yî ? should sound like a real question. Listen and imitate instead of reading silently.
5. Mixing up times of day. Beyanî baş is for the morning, Êvar baş for the evening, Şev baş for bedtime. Don't swap them.
6. Forgetting politeness. Adding Ji kerema xwe to a request or Spas after someone helps you completely changes the tone of an exchange.

Going further

The expressions in this article come from lessons with native audio. That matters a lot for Kurmanji, because your ear has to learn to separate sounds like î and i, or k and q. Listen to a native teacher, repeat out loud, then record yourself and compare: this simple routine gets results quickly.

Here is a short one-week practice plan:

• Days 1 and 2: greetings and politeness (Silav, Beyanî baş, Spas, Bibore, Ji kerema xwe, Ser çavan).
• Days 3 and 4: introductions (Navê te çi ye ?, Navê min ... e, Ez ... salî me).
• Day 5: numbers from 1 to 10, then Bîst û yek and Pêncî û heşt.
• Day 6: time with Saet çend e ? and the three answers from the dialogue.
• Day 7: act out both full dialogues out loud without looking at the translation.

If you want to know exactly where to start, take the level test: Assess your Kurmanji level. It will show you what you already know and what to work on first.

In short: a few dozen words and phrases are enough to hold your first conversation in Kurmanji. You can now greet people, introduce yourself, ask how someone is, talk about your family, count, tell the time and apologize. Go back over the dialogues, repeat them out loud with the native audio, and add new expressions at your own pace. Consistency matters more than volume: ten minutes a day beats one long session now and then.

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