Kurmanji Grammar Series — Lesson 10. A comparative English-language guide to the nine English modal auxiliary verbs and their Kurmanji equivalents. Download the illustrated PDF workbook.
What are modal auxiliaries?
English can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will and would are auxiliary verbs. Kurmanji conveys comparable meanings using different grammatical constructions. The following are functional translations, not claims that Kurmanji has nine matching auxiliary verbs.
CAN — ability
Ez dikarim biçim. — I can go. Ez nikarim biçim. — I cannot go. Tu dikarî biçî? — Can you go? The inflected verb karîn expresses ability.
COULD — past ability, possibility, polite request
English could has several meanings. Past ability can be expressed with past forms of karîn; possibility may use dibe ku; polite requests require context-sensitive question forms. Do not translate every could as a past form of karîn.
MAY — permission or possibility
For permission, a question involving destûr (permission) is possible: Destûr heye ku ez biçim? — May I go? For possibility: Dibe ku ew were. — He/she may come.
MIGHT — tentative possibility
Dibe ku ew were. — He/she might come. The same Kurmanji possibility construction can correspond to English may and might; context determines strength.
MUST — necessity and inference
Divê ez biçim. — I must go. Divê tu bixwînî. — You must/should study. English must can also express inference (She must be home), which does not necessarily use the same Kurmanji necessity expression.
SHOULD / OUGHT TO — advice
Baş e ku tu bixwînî. — You should study / It is advisable that you study. Divê tu bixwînî. can express stronger advice or necessity depending on context.
SHALL — suggestion, offer or formal future
In contemporary English, shall often introduces first-person suggestions and formal statements. Werin em biçin. — Come, let’s go. This is a natural suggestion, not a literal equivalent auxiliary.
WILL — future and willingness
Ez ê biçim. — I will go. Tu yê biçî. — You will go. Em ê biçin. — We will go. The future marker ê/dê combines with a non-indicative verb; willingness can require a different expression.
WOULD — hypothetical, polite or habitual
English would can express conditional outcomes, politeness or past habits. Ez berê her roj diçûm. — I used to go every day / I would go every day. A conditional would requires a conditional construction, not the verb xwestin (‘want’).
Negation and questions
Ez nikarim biçim. — I cannot go. Ez ê neçim. — I will not go. Divê ez biçim? — Must/should I go? Tu yê biçî? — Will you go? English must not (prohibition) differs from do not have to (lack of necessity).
Comparison chart
| English | Primary meaning | Kurmanji strategy |
|---|---|---|
| can | ability | karîn |
| could | past ability / possibility / politeness | past karîn / dibe ku / polite questions |
| may | permission / possibility | destûr / dibe ku |
| might | tentative possibility | dibe ku |
| must | necessity / inference | divê / contextual inference |
| should | advice | baş e ku / divê |
| shall | suggestion / formal future | hortative / future |
| will | future | ê / dê + verb |
| would | hypothetical / polite / habitual | conditional / polite / past habitual |
Practice exercises
A. Does English may express permission or possibility in ‘May I enter?’ and ‘It may rain’? B. Match: Ez dikarim biçim, Divê ez biçim, Ez ê biçim, Dibe ku ew were. C. Translate: Ez nikarim biçim; Baş e ku tu bixwînî; Tu yê biçî? D. Explain why xwestin is not a general translation of would. E. Which English modal can mark both obligation and inference?
Answer key
A. Permission; possibility. B. I can go; I must/should go; I will go; He/she may/might come. C. I cannot go; You should study; Will you go? D. Xwestin means ‘want’, whereas would has conditional, polite and habitual functions. E. Must.
References and language note
Huddleston & Pullum, The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (2002); W. M. Thackston, Kurmanji Kurdish: A Reference Grammar (2006); linguistic research by Geoffrey Haig and Ergin Öpengin. Kurmanji varieties differ; independent native-speaker review has not been conducted.
Next lesson
Lesson 11 — Imperative, Subjunctive and Conditional: essential structures for requests, hypothetical meanings and the English could/would contrast.
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