How to Learn Soranî Kurdish

Short answer: Decide first which script you need. Soranî is written in an adapted Arabic script in Iraq and Iran, but the diaspora writes it in Latin letters online and in language courses — and if you only want to speak and text with family, Latin is enough. Then learn about twenty core sentences, and then three pieces of grammar: the endings that carry bûn (to be), the prefix de- for the present tense, and na- for the negative. Those three build hundreds of sentences. Twenty minutes a day gets most people to a simple conversation in two to three months.

This guide lays that out as a twelve-week path, with real examples from our own Soranî textbooks.

What you get here

• The script decision — Arabic or Latin, and how to tell which one you need
• The sounds that don't exist in English, and the two that trip up every beginner
• Twenty sentences that cover most first conversations
• The three grammar pieces that carry everything else
• Why Soranî has no verb "to have", and what it uses instead
• Five mistakes that are specific to Soranî learners
• A week-by-week plan you can actually follow

Before you start

One assumption: you have already decided on Soranî. If you are not sure whether Kurmancî, Soranî or Badinî is right for you, read which Kurdish dialect you should learn first — choosing wrong costs months, and Kurmancî and Soranî are not mutually intelligible. A Kurmancî course will not teach you Soranî.

Soranî, also called Central Kurdish, is spoken by around 8 to 10 million people. In Iraq it is spoken around Hewlêr (Erbil), Silêmanî (Sulaimaniyya), Kerkûk and Helebce; in Iran around Sine (Sanandaj), Mehabad, Seqiz and Bane; and across the diaspora, especially in Germany, the United Kingdom, Sweden and the Netherlands. It is an official language in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and is used there in schools, universities, media and government.

One thing worth knowing before you start, because it changes what you can read: Soranî developed earlier as a written language than Kurmancî. Poets like Nalî, Mahwî and Pîremêrd were already writing in Soranî in the 19th century, in the cultural centres of Silêmanî and Hewlêr. So the literary tradition behind the language you are learning is long, and the standardisation work of the 20th century built on it.

Week 1, part one: Which script do you actually need?

This is the one decision Kurmancî learners never have to make, and the one Soranî learners most often get wrong.

You do not have to choose one forever. Latin script lets you start speaking this week; Arabic script can come later, once the words in your head are worth reading. That is why our Soranî A1 book introduces the sound system as 31 letters in Latin script, with the Arabic spelling printed next to every single word — so you build both without waiting.

Week 1, part two: The sounds

Soranî is pronounced clearly and completely. Unlike English, there are no silent letters — every letter you see is a sound you say. That is what makes the first week pay off: once you know the letters, you can read aloud a word you have never seen and be right.

The letters that aren't in English

Two of these deserve special attention, because they are the ones that make a beginner instantly recognisable as a beginner.

rr is not r. The rolled ڕ in rrê (road) is a different letter from a plain r, not a stylistic flourish. And ł is not l — the dark ڵ in sał (year) and guł (flower) is formed further back in the mouth. Get these two right in week one and half of your pronunciation problems never appear.

Vowel length changes the word

A short vowel and a long vowel are different words, not the same word said differently:

• ser (head) is not têr (full, after eating)
• min (I) is not fîl (elephant) — same consonant frame, different vowel, different world

Stress usually falls on the last syllable, though it shifts by region and in songs and poetry. Don't chase perfect stress in week one. Pronounce every letter clearly and the rhythm follows.

Most Soranî words follow a simple shape: consonant + vowel (+ consonant). Çaw (eye), şew (night), dar (tree). Once you hear that pattern, words stop looking like walls of letters.

Week 2: Twenty sentences

Don't collect random vocabulary. Learn these, in this order, and say them out loud:

Here is what a first conversation actually sounds like:

A: Siław! Çonît?
Hello! How are you?

B: Min başim, supas. To çonît?
I'm good, thanks. How are you?

A: Min mamostam. Nawim E'lîya.
I am a teacher. My name is Elî.

B: Min xwêndkarim. Nawim Zîne.
I am a student. My name is Zîn.

Two more worth adding early, because they are how respect is shown rather than just information exchanged: Xoşħałbûm — "nice to meet you" — and Rojekî xoş! — "have a nice day". There is also serçawanim, literally "you are on my eyes", a very common expression of respect that has no real English equivalent.

Weeks 3–4: The three pieces that carry everything

Soranî grammar has a reputation it does not deserve. Three things do most of the work.

1. The endings of bûn (to be)

Not a separate word — a small ending that changes with the person. There are six pronouns, and they do not change form between subject and object:

Ew covers "he", "she" and "it" — there is no grammatical gender to memorise, and the context makes it clear.

2. The prefix de- for the present tense

Present tense = de + verb stem + personal ending. With xwardin (to eat):

This is also the clearest single difference between the dialects. Where Soranî says de-, Kurmancî says di- and Badinî says yêt-. Same idea, three prefixes — and the reason a Kurmancî textbook will quietly teach you the wrong verb forms.

Five verbs will carry you a long way: xwardin (to eat), xwêndin (to read, to study), kirdin (to do, to make), çûn / rroîştin (to go), hatin (to come).

3. The prefix na- for the negative

Swap de- for na-. The ending never changes.

• Min dexom → Min naxom. (I eat → I do not eat.)
• To derroît → To narroît. (You go → You do not go.)

That is genuinely most of what you need to start speaking in the present tense.

The fourth thing: there is no verb "to have"

This one surprises everybody, so it is worth its own heading. Soranî does not have a separate verb meaning "to have". Possession is built from a possessive ending plus heye ("there is") — so the literal sense is "there is a … to me":

Trying to translate "I have" word for word is one of the most reliable ways to sound wrong. Learn the pattern instead of the word.

Weeks 5–6: Word order and questions

English puts the verb in the middle. Soranî puts it at the end.

• English (Subject–Verb–Object): I see a dog.
• Soranî (Subject–Object–Verb): Min segêk debînim. — literally "I a dog see."

Add time and place and the order becomes time – place – object – verb. "At school I read a book" is built from these pieces, in this order:

You can move a part to the front for emphasis, but the verb stays at the end. Always.

Question words

For yes/no questions you have two options. Raise your intonation, exactly like English — To xwêndkarît? — or put aya at the front: Aya to xwêndkarît? The second is slightly more formal and leaves no doubt that you are asking.

Answers are worth knowing in their shades: bełê is the neutral yes, bełê, rraste means "yes, that's right", bełê, başe is a casual "yes, alright", na is no, and nexêr is the firmer, more formal no.

Weeks 7–8: Numbers, days and family

Numbers are the easiest win in the language, and they open up prices, dates and ages all at once: yek, du, sê, çwar, pênc, şeş, ħewt, heşt, no, de.

Weekdays follow a counting pattern you only have to notice once — şemme is Saturday, and the rest count forward from it:

To ask the time you say Katjimêr çende? — and answer with Katjimêr ħewtunîwe ("half past seven") or Katjimêr çwaru çarege ("quarter past four").

Family words come early, because they are the reason most people are learning:

Possession works with the same endings you already met in "to have": -m (my), -t (your), -î / -ey (his/her), -man (our), -tan (your, plural), -yan (their). So: Birakey min bîst sałe. — My brother is twenty years old. And Xuşkit kesêkî zorbaşe. — Your sister is very nice.

Weeks 9–12: From describing to talking

By now you can say who you are and what you do. The last stretch is the everyday vocabulary that turns grammar into conversation — and it is where a course order actually matters, because these four areas cover almost every beginner exchange.

Your day. Lexew hełdestim (I get up), jemî beyanî dexom (I have breakfast), derrom bo kar (I go to work), dexwênim (I study), dexewim (I go to sleep). Add frequency and you can describe a whole week: hemîşe (always), zorbey car (often), hendêkcar (sometimes), bedegmen (rarely), hergîz (never), rrojane (daily).

Your home. The rooms — jûrî mîwan (living room), jûrî xew (bedroom), çêştxane (kitchen), germaw (bathroom) — plus the prepositions that place things in them: leser (on), lejêr (under), le tenîşt (next to), lenaw (inside), lepêş (in front of), le pişt (behind), le nêwan (between). So: Mêzeke leser ferşekedaye. — The table is on the carpet.

And the two words that describe what exists: heye for one thing, hen for several. Mêzêk heye — there is a table. Jûrî zor lewêda hen — there are many rooms.

Food and shopping. Nan (bread), penîr (cheese), goşt (meat), masî (fish), sewze (vegetables), mîwe (fruit), birinc (rice), aw (water), şîr (milk), çayî (tea), qawe (coffee). Two phrases turn that list into a market conversation: Nirxî ew nane çende? — how much does that bread cost? And Min dû parçe nanim dewêt. — I would like two pieces of bread.

The weather, because it is how conversations start everywhere. Keşuheway emrro çone? — what's the weather like today? Then: baran debarêt (it's raining), befir debarêt (it's snowing), xoretaw (sunny), zor germe (very hot), sarda (cold). And the seasons: behar, hawîn, payîz, zistan.

Five mistakes Soranî learners make

1. Learning the wrong script for the wrong reason

People spend months on Arabic script when their actual goal is voice notes with a cousin in Hewlêr, or skip it entirely and then can't read a single news headline. Decide what you want to do with the language, then pick. Both are legitimate; drifting between them is not.

2. Studying from Kurmancî material

There is far more Kurmancî content online, so learners quietly substitute. But Kurmancî and Soranî are not mutually intelligible, and the differences start at the very first verb: di- versus de-. You will end up with a mixture that native speakers find hard to follow.

3. Treating rr and ł as decoration

ڕ and ڵ are their own letters with their own sounds. They appear in extremely common words — rrê (road), sał (year), guł (flower), rroj (day) — so getting them wrong is audible in nearly every sentence you say.

4. Hunting for a verb "to have"

It does not exist. Every attempt to translate "I have a car" word for word produces something that isn't Soranî. Learn …m heye as one unit, the way you learned dexom.

5. Studying in bursts

Three hours on Sunday builds less than twenty minutes a day. This is true of every language, and it is the actual reason most learners stall — not difficulty, and not talent.

How long will this take?

These are the milestones we see with learners who practise several times a week. Treat them as orientation, not a promise — the variable is not talent, it is how often you show up.

Frequently asked questions

Is Soranî hard to learn?

Less than people expect. There are no silent letters, the present tense follows a single pattern, and there is no grammatical gender. The two genuinely harder parts are the script decision and a handful of throat sounds — x, q, gh — that English does not have.

Is Soranî written in Arabic or Latin script?

Both, for different purposes. The adapted Arabic script is the current standard in Iraq and Iran, used in schools, books, media and government. Latin script is used in the diaspora, online and in language courses. Our A1 book teaches the Latin system with the Arabic spelling alongside every word.

What is the difference between Soranî and Kurmancî?

They are not mutually intelligible and can reasonably be called separate languages. Kurmancî has 15–17 million speakers and is written in Latin script; Soranî has 8–10 million and is officially written in Arabic script. The present tense alone differs: di- in Kurmancî, de- in Soranî. Full comparison in which dialect you should learn.

Can I learn Soranî on my own?

Yes, and most of our learners do. What self-study needs is a resource that puts the material in order so you are not guessing what comes next, and a fixed daily slot so the habit survives busy weeks.

How many letters does Soranî have?

Our A1 book presents the sound system as 31 letters in Latin script, each shown with its Arabic counterpart. The Arabic-based alphabet was specifically expanded to carry Kurdish sounds that standard Arabic does not have.

I understand Soranî but can't speak it. Where do I start?

Skip ahead to week 2 and week 3. Your listening is already built; what is missing is active recall. Take the twenty sentences, say them aloud daily, and add the bûn endings. More on that in why you understand Kurdish but can't speak it.

Start with the script decision, today

Twelve weeks sounds long until you notice that week one is one decision and a set of letters, and week two is twenty sentences you can read aloud in five minutes.

The learners who get there are not the fastest ones. They are the ones who did twenty minutes on a Tuesday when they didn't feel like it.

The complete beginner's guide to Kurdish · Which dialect should you learn? · How to learn Kurmancî · Soranî A1

Written by The Kurdish Academy · Language reviewed by a native Soranî speaker on our team · Last updated 12 September 2026
All Soranî words, sentences and grammar examples in this article are taken from our own textbook, Soranî A1 — Your First Steps.