LingoflyWhere? The -ում ending and one verb trap
'In the room', 'in the kitchen', 'in the city' — Armenian needs no preposition here. The word simply takes -ում: սենյակ (senyak) → սենյակում (senyakum), խանութ (khanut') → խանութում (khanut'um), Երևան (Yerevan) → Երևանում (Yerevanum). For example: “Ես (yes) խոհանոցում (khohanotsum) եմ” (em) — I'm in the kitchen. A rule from the Armenian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
'In the room', 'in the kitchen', 'in the city' — Armenian needs no preposition here. The word simply takes -ում (-um): սենյակ (senyak) → սենյակում (senyakum), խանութ (khanut') → խանութում (khanut'um), Երևան (Yerevan) → Երևանում (Yerevanum).
The trap: verbs wear the same -ում. Nothing really gets confused — Ես (yes) խանութում (khanut'um) եմ (em) (yes khanut'um em) is 'I am in the shop', Ես (yes) աշխատում (ashkhatum) եմ (em) (yes ashkhatum em) is 'I am working'. The word itself tells you whether it is a place or an action.
Exceptions are few, and the everyday one is տուն (tun): not 'տունում' but տանը (tanə), at home. People never take this ending either. 'At the doctor's' is բժշկի (bzhshki) մոտ (mot) (bzhshki mot), with the separate word մոտ (mot).
Table
| Word | Where | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| սենյակ (senyak) — room | սենյակում (senyakum) | in the room |
| խանութ (khanut') — shop | խանութում (khanut'um) | in the shop |
| հարկ (hark) — floor | հարկում (harkum) | on the floor |
| տուն (tun) — house | տանը (tanə) | at home — the exception |
| բժիշկ (bzhishk) — doctor | բժշկի (bzhshki) մոտ (mot) | at the doctor's — with մոտ (mot) |
By example
- Բանալին պահարանում էbanalin paharanum eThe key is in the cupboard
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
Where? The -ում ending and one verb trap: how does it work in Armenian?
'In the room', 'in the kitchen', 'in the city' — Armenian needs no preposition here. The word simply takes -ում: սենյակ (senyak) → սենյակում (senyakum), խանութ (khanut') → խանութում (khanut'um), Երևան (Yerevan) → Երևանում (Yerevanum).
What does it look like in a Armenian example sentence?
“Ես (yes) խոհանոցում (khohanotsum) եմ” (em) (yes khohanotsum em) — I'm in the kitchen. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.