Armenian grammar
Armenian grammar explained in plain words. No grammatical gender, stress almost always on the last syllable, many recognizable loanwords. What is harder: a brand-new alphabet and aspirated consonants English does not have.
Notes
- 📐The verb 'to be': em, es, eArmenian states the linker wherever English hides it in a contraction. 'I'm fine' — Ես լավ եմ, word for word 'I fine…
- 📐The ending -ը / -ն: Armenian's own 'the'Definiteness is expressed by an ending, not by a separate word. Plain 'coffee' is սուրճ; 'the coffee' — the one you…
- 📐Present tense: -ում + the linkerThe present is built from two parts: the verb stem + -ում, then the 'to be' linker from the first unit.
- 📐Negation: the prefix չ-The negative is the prefix չ- on the linker — and the linker jumps in front of the verb: հասկանում եմ (I understand) →…
- 📐A question without 'do': the mark ՞In Armenian the question is marked not at the end of the phrase but directly over the stressed vowel of the word the…
- 📐Plurals: -եր / -ներOne-syllable words take -եր, multi-syllable words take -ներ. գիրք → գրքեր (books), ուսանող → ուսանողներ (students).
- 📐Pricer and cheaper: one word, ավելիEnglish forces a change to the word itself — 'expensive, more expensive, the most expensive' — and at the market that…
- 📐Where? The -ում ending and one verb trap'In the room', 'in the kitchen', 'in the city' — Armenian manages without a preposition. The word simply takes the…
- 📐Գլուխս ցավում է: your body without the word 'my'To complain to a doctor you need one habit English doesn't have: possession is glued onto the word. գլուխ is a head in…
- 📐It was cold yesterday: the past with one swapGood news worth hearing before you open any conjugation table: to move a story into the past, the verb itself is left…
- 📐A request, not an order: -եք, -իր, and the sneaky միEverything from 'fill in' to 'wait' to 'explain' works the same way: cut -ել/-ալ off the verb and add -եք for polite…
- 📐Վաղը կգնամ: the future in one letterUntil now there was no way to talk about tomorrow — and it was the most expensive gap in the course: 'I'll go…
- 📐Ինձ տուր: to whom and whom'Give me', 'I'll call you', 'he is waiting for us' — first-week phrases that until now had no parts to build from: we…
- 📐Ճամպրուկը or ճամպրուկ: where -ը is neededThe Armenian article does not stand before the word — it clings to the back: -ը after a consonant, -ն after a vowel.…
- 📐One ending or two: -եր and -ներThe Armenian plural is chosen by the length of the word, not by gender or ending — there is no gender at all. The rule…
- 📐Պետք է, կարող եմ: have to, can, worth it'I have to go', 'may I have a look?', 'it's worth trying' — three turns without which you cannot try on a shirt or…
- 📐Այս, այդ, այն: three 'this' instead of twoEnglish sorts things into 'this' (near me) and 'that' (not near me). Armenian sorts them into three, and by a different…
- 📐Իմ հեռախոսը and հեռախոսս: two ways to say 'my''My phone' can be said in Armenian two ways, and both are correct. The first feels natural to an English speaker: a…
- 📐Շատ, բավական, չափազանց: exactly how muchBetween 'good' and 'too good' lies a whole scale, and in Armenian it is short and rigid. On the left քիչ — little, few.…
- 📐Ցուրտ է: the sentence with nobody in it'It's cold', 'one must go', 'it seems', 'it's not allowed here' — in these phrases English props things up with a dummy…
- 📐Որ, որովհետև, եթե, երբ: two thoughts in one sentenceUntil now the course spoke in short sentences: one thought — one sentence. That cannot go on. 'Tell him that I'm…
- 📐Ամենալավը and լավագույնը: two 'bests'The prefix ամենա- already appeared at the market: ամենաթարմ հացը — the freshest bread. Here we take the rest, because…
- 📐Շատ գիրք, մի քանի օր, մոտ հազար դրամ: exactly how manyWith money you constantly say 'a lot', 'a few', 'about a thousand' — and here Armenian does one thing that looks like a…
- 📐Այնքան վատ, որքան երեկ: comparing whole situations, not wordsThe course already compares a single adjective: ավելի թանկ, քան խանութը. At the doctor's, though, you compare not words…
- 📐Կուզենայի: how to say 'I would'The note on conjunctions showed the real condition: Եթե գաս, կուրախանամ — if you come, I'll be glad. There everything…
- 📐Այն բնակարանը, որ վարձեցինք: how the words around a noun line upUntil now the noun in the course walked almost alone. Talk about rent puts an end to that: 'the lease for the apartment…
- 📐Ստիպված էի, կարելի էր: have to and can in yesterday and tomorrowWave 2 covered պետք է, կարող եմ and արժե, and all of it was about now. On an independent trip that is not enough: 'I…
- 📐Ասաց, որ կգա: other people's words in your mouthThe news unit rests entirely on one construction: 'the journalist said that…', 'the minister stated that…', 'they asked…
- 📐Դիմումն ընդունվեց: one letter -վ- and nobody actingThe note on impersonal turns flashed the sign խանութը փակվում է and promised to come back. Here we are, because the…
- 📐Որպեսզի, չնայած որ, ուստի: complex sentences in fullThe four conjunctions of wave 3 — որ, որովհետև, եթե, երբ — cover everyday life. Talk about opinions requires the rest…
- 📐Գրում էի or գրեցի: two pasts and the question of finishingEnglish tells 'was writing' from 'wrote' with an auxiliary; Armenian has no such auxiliary — but the difference exists…
- 📐Աշխատասեր, շատախոս, անտարբեր: what character is made ofThe character unit hands you thirty-odd adjectives, and there is no need to memorize them one by one: nearly every one…
- 📐Ինձ ամոթ է, ինձ դուր է գալիս: to whom the feeling happensThe course already knows the impersonal ցուրտ է — it's cold — where nobody acts. Feelings work along the same lines but…
- 📐Եփելուց առաջ, եփելիս: one action wrapped around anotherA recipe is a chain of 'first… then… while…', and in English it hangs on conjunctions with clauses: 'before you boil'…
- 📐Կաշվե պայուսակ and դանակով կտրել: made of what, done with whatIn a shop two questions come up more than any others: 'what is it made of?' and 'what do you do it with?'. English…
- 📐Երևի, հավանաբար, իհարկե: how sure the speaker isIn a repair shop and in an argument about taste, half the meaning hangs not on facts but on how sure the speaker is.…
- 📐Լիճ → լճակ, արև → արևոտ: how nature words are builtThe nature unit hands you fifty names, and half of them are not new roots but familiar words with a tail. Once you have…
- 📐Բանկի դիմաց, տան հետևում: the word stands after, not beforeExplaining the way is the most frequent task of the first year, and everyone trips on the same thing: English puts a…
- 📐Կարդալ գիտեմ, կարդալը հեշտ է: the infinitive in place of a nounThe skills unit rests on one construction English doesn't have. English splits: 'I know how to read' and 'reading comes…
- 📐Ժամը հինգին, մեկ տարի հետո: how Armenian shows timeSetting up a meeting is four questions: when, from when, until when, and how far ahead. English answers with…
- 📐Ի՞նչ ասացիք and թե ինչ ասացիք: the ՞ mark and the question inside a sentenceAsking again is the first thing anyone does in a foreign language, and here Armenian is unusual twice over: the…
- 📐Շինարար, երգիչ, այգեպան: how Armenian makes a person out of a deedThe fortieth unit hands you twenty professions, and half of them could have been assembled rather than memorized.…
- 📐Բանկից, քեզնից, դրանից: the -ից case and everything it can doThe course has already glimpsed this ending — in comparisons ('շուկան խանութից էժան է') and in turns like 'բացի…
- 📐Մարդիկ, կանայք, ժողովուրդ: the plural that breaks the ruleThe second unit gave the plural rule: a one-syllable word takes -եր, a multi-syllable one takes -ներ. The rule works…
- 📐Կարդացած գիրք, երգող աղջիկ: a modifier instead of a clauseThe forties taught you to link thoughts with the conjunction որ: 'գիրքը, որ կարդացի'. That is correct and always works.…
- 📐Վազեցնել, հագցնել, հասցնել: make, dress and get someone thereIn the gym half the phrases are about one person making another do something: the coach runs the athletes, the doctor…
- 📐Քսան, հարյուր, երկրորդ, քառորդ: numbers beyond tenUntil this wave the course counted exactly to ten. For 'two tickets' and 'five days' that was enough, but the…
- 📐Բորբոքում, հետազոտություն, ցավ: a noun made from a verbThe forty-sixth unit is two-thirds made of words that needn't have been in the dictionary at all: բորբոքվել →…
- 📐Թող լինի, Աստված պահի, ապրես: the wish is a verb form of its ownAt an Armenian table staying silent is not an option, and saying 'congratulations' and sitting down is not enough. The…
- 📐Ես եմ ասել and ես ասել եմ: where եմ stands is what the argument is aboutIn an argument it matters not only what was said but what in it is the main point. English highlights it with stress…
- 📐Ինչ-որ, որևէ, ցանկացած, ոչ ոք: someone, anyone, any and no oneThe forty-ninth unit is all about generalizing: 'almost everyone', 'as a rule', 'mostly'. Generalization rests on…
- 📐Ժանգոտ, փայլուն, օվալաձև: how Armenian makes a qualityThe fiftieth unit hands you twenty-odd adjectives, and most of them could have been assembled rather than memorized.…
- 📐Դռան միջով, տան կողքով: the Armenian preposition stands afterThe fifty-first unit looks like a list of prepositions, but there are almost no prepositions in it. Armenian puts the…
- 📐Կրկնակի, տասնյակ, մեկուկես: fractions and multiplesThe fifty-second unit rests on three suffixes and one fusing trick. Counting in Armenian you already can — here we talk…
- 📐Վերսկսել, դադարեցնել, ձեռնամուխ լինել: beginning, end and 'again'The course spine warns that phase verbs — 'to stop', 'to resume', 'to set about' — are in many languages not words but…
- 📐Մտածողություն, չափում, դիտարկում: a noun out of a verbThe fifty-fourth unit consists almost entirely of nouns made from verbs, and that is a lucky break: Armenian makes them…
- 📐Ուրբաթին, աշնանը, օրերս: Armenian speaks of time with case endingsThe fifty-fifth unit looks like a list of adverbs, but there are almost no adverbs in it. English's 'on Friday', 'in…
- 📐Սառցադաշտ, հանքավայր, կանաչապատում: the ա- seam in the middle of a wordThe fifty-sixth unit at first glance consists of unpronounceable long words. In fact almost every one of them is two…
- 📐Արտադրվում է, ստուգվեց, փաթեթավորված: the shop floor speaks without a doerThe fifty-seventh unit stands almost entirely in the passive voice, and that is not a style choice but the essence of…
- 📐Ասաց, որ… ասաց, թե…: how to pass on other people's wordsThe course spine tags the turns of the fifty-eighth unit as phrase, and the tag describes the English side of the card.…
- 📐Ամաչկոտ, ինքնասեր, եսասիրություն: the quality noun and its ownerThe fifty-ninth unit is built in pairs: a trait of character and the person who has it. Armenian links them more…
- 📐Շնորհակալություն or Մերսի: two thank-yous and when to use eachThe full Armenian 'thank you' is a mouthful — Շնորհակալություն, five syllables, shnor-ha-kal-oo-tyoon. The հ inside is…
- 📐Այո and Հա: the two Armenian yesesThe neutral 'yes' is Այո. It fits everywhere: answering a stranger, filling in a form, a business talk, a letter. If…
- 📐Խնդրեմ and Խնդրում եմ: two pleasesThe English 'please' does two utterly different jobs: it softens a request and it answers a 'thank you'. Armenian split…
- 📐Ցտեսություն and Հաջող: goodbye and byeՑտեսություն is built around the verb տեսնել — to see — and means literally 'until the seeing', the same build as 'until…
What is hard about Armenian and what comes for free
Hard: a brand-new alphabet and aspirated consonants English does not have.
Easy: no grammatical gender, stress almost always on the last syllable, many recognizable loanwords.
This is not a verdict on the language but a hint on where to spend effort. The hard parts are best taken a little at a time and often; the easy parts — left alone while they work by themselves.
Frequently asked
Is the grammar of Armenian complicated?
A brand-new alphabet and aspirated consonants English does not have is the main difficulty. In return, no grammatical gender, stress almost always on the last syllable, many recognizable loanwords.
Should grammar be learned separately?
Not as a separate course. A rule learned before you need it is forgotten before you meet it. It is more useful to work it out at the moment you stumble over it.