LingoflyԿարդացած գիրք, երգող աղջիկ: a modifier instead of a clause
Instead of 'the book that I read', living Armenian puts one describing word in front of the noun. For example: “Կարդացած վեպը (vepə) վերադարձրու (veradardzru) գրադարան” (gradaran) — Return the novel you have read to the library. A rule from the Armenian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Instead of 'the book that I read', living Armenian puts one describing word in front of the noun.
-ած means done: կարդալ (kardal) → կարդացած (kardatsats), գրել (grel) → գրած. Կարդացած գիրքը (girk'ə) (kardatsats girk'ə) is the book already read.
-ող means doing: երգող աղջիկը (aghjikə) (yergogh aghjikə), the singing girl. Everything that belongs to it goes in front: բեմում երգող աղջիկը (aghjikə) (bemum yergogh aghjikə), the girl singing on stage.
The trap: if English needs 'that' plus a preposition, this short form will not do. Then you take որ (vor): գիրքը (girk'ə), որի մասին (masin) խոսում (khosum) էինք (eink), the book we were talking about.
Table
| Form | Meaning | Example | In English |
|---|---|---|---|
| -ած | done | կարդացած գիրք (girk') | a read book |
| -ող | doing | երգող աղջիկ (aghjik) | the girl singing |
| -ված | done by someone | թարգմանված վեպ (vep) | a translated novel |
| -վող | being done now | կառուցվող շենք (shenk') | a building being built |
| -ելու | yet to be done | կարդալու գիրք (girk') | a book to read |
| -ելիք | what is to be | ասելիք | things to say |
| որ (vor) | when the participle won't do | գիրքը (girk'ə), որի մասին (masin) խոսեցինք | the book we talked about |
By example
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
a modifier instead of a clause: how does it work in Armenian?
Instead of 'the book that I read', living Armenian puts one describing word in front of the noun.
What does it look like in a Armenian example sentence?
“Կարդացած վեպը (vepə) վերադարձրու (veradardzru) գրադարան” (gradaran) (kardatsats vepə veradardzru gradaran) — Return the novel you have read to the library. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.