19. The passive
🔴 Pêşketî · Dersa 19 ji 23
Ev rûpel niha bi îngilîzî ye.
hatin + infinitive
Kurmanji forms the passive with the verb hatin to come, conjugated in any tense, followed by the infinitive of the main verb: literally the bread came eating = the bread was eaten.
| tense | form of hatin | example | meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| present | tê | nan tê xwarin | bread is (being) eaten |
| past | hat | nan hat xwarin | the bread was eaten |
| present perfect | hatiye | nan hatiye xwarin | the bread has been eaten |
| future | dê bê | nan dê bê xwarin | the bread will be eaten |
| subjunctive | bê | divê nan bê xwarin | the bread must be eaten |
Because hatin is intransitive, the passive is never ergative: the patient is direct and hatin agrees with it: ez hatim girtin “I was arrested”, ew hatin girtin “they were arrested”.
hatin (هاتن) "to come": present stem ê, past stem hat, intransitive
| person | pronoun | Present | Simple past | Present perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg | ez | têm تێم | hatim هاتم | hatime هاتمە |
| 2sg | tu | têyî تێیی | hatî هاتی | hatiyî هاتیی |
| 3sg | ew | tê تێ | hat هات | hatiye هاتیە |
| 1pl | em | tên تێن | hatin هاتن | hatine هاتنە |
| 2pl | hûn | tên تێن | hatin هاتن | hatine هاتنە |
| 3pl | ew | tên تێن | hatin هاتن | hatine هاتنە |
| # | Kurdish | Arabic script | IPA | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ev pirtûk bi kurdî hatiye nivîsîn. | ئەڤ پرتووک ب کوردی هاتیە نڤیسین. | /ɛv pɪɾtuːk bɪ kʊɾdiː haːtɪjɛ nɪviːsiːn/ | This book has been written in Kurdish. |
| 2 | Derî tê vekirin. | دەری تێ ڤەکرن. | /dɛɾiː teː vɛkɪɾɯn/ | The door is being opened. |
| 3 | Name duh hat şandin. | نامە دوه هات شاندن. | /naːmɛ dʊh haːt ʃaːndɯn/ | The letter was sent yesterday. |
| 4 | Ez hatim vexwendin. | ئەز هاتم ڤەخوەندن. | /ɛz haːtɯm vɛxʷɛndɯn/ | I was invited. |
The state: participle + copula
For a resulting state, use the past participle (past stem + -î) with the copula: derî vekirî ye “the door is open”. Compare:
| event (passive) | state |
|---|---|
| derî tê vekirin the door is being opened | derî vekirî ye the door is open |
The agent
The doer is usually left out. It can be expressed with ji aliyê … ve from the side of: ji aliyê hikûmetê ve hat ragihandin “it was announced by the government”.
Summary
- Passive = hatin (any tense) + infinitive: tê xwarin, hat xwarin, hatiye xwarin.
- Not ergative: the patient is direct, hatin agrees with it.
- State: participle + copula (vekirî ye).