Դռան միջով, տան կողքով: the Armenian preposition stands after
The fifty-first unit looks like a list of prepositions, but there are almost no prepositions in it. Armenian puts the helper word AFTER the noun, and the noun itself into the genitive. English 'through the door' is, word for word in Armenian, 'of-the-door through': դռան միջով. For example: “Լույսը անցնում է վարագույրի միջով” — The light passes through the curtain. A rule from the Armenian course: worked out on…
How it works
The fifty-first unit looks like a list of prepositions, but there are almost no prepositions in it. Armenian puts the helper word AFTER the noun, and the noun itself into the genitive. English 'through the door' is, word for word in Armenian, 'of-the-door through': դռան միջով (drran mijov).
Postpositions of place. -ի միջով (through), -ի կողքով (past), -ի մեջտեղում (in the middle of), -ի շուրջ (around), -ի դիմաց (across from). All of them are ordinary nouns frozen in a helper role: մեջ (mej) is 'middle', կողք is 'side', and 'past the house' is, word for word, 'of-the-house by-the-side'.
The place adverbs are cases too. English 'above' is one word; the Armenian one is three forms of the same: վերև (upward, where to), վերևում (above, where at), վերևից (from above, where from). The same row for 'below': ներքև (nerk'ev) / ներքևում (nerk'evum) / ներքևից (nerk'evits). And for 'far': հեռու (herru) / հեռվում (herrvum) / հեռվից (herrvits). Learn one row and you get all the others — and you stop confusing 'in the distance' with 'from afar', because what tells them apart is not the word but the case.
Whither versus where. Ներս (ners) — inside (direction), ներսում (nersum) — inside (location); դուրս (durs) — outside (direction), դրսում (drsum) — outside (location). English also tells them apart ('in / into', 'out / outside'), but in Armenian it is regular — the same ending every time.
The course spine tags 'across', 'past', 'through' and 'toward' as prepositions — the tag describes the English side of the card. In Armenian all four stand after the noun, and the word order in the example matters more than the translation.
Table
| Whither | Where | From where | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| վերև | վերևում | վերևից | up / above |
| ներքև | ներքևում | ներքևից | down / below |
| ներս | ներսում | ներսից | inside |
| դուրս | դրսում | դրսից | outside |
| — | հեռվում | հեռվից | far away |
By example
- Լույսը անցնում է վարագույրի միջովluysə antsnum e varaguyri mijovThe light passes through the curtain
- Ավտոբուսը անցավ կանգառի կողքովavtobusə antsav kangarri koghk'ovThe bus drove past the stop
- Հեռվում երևում են լեռներըherrvum yerevum en lerrnerəIn the distance the mountains are visible
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
Armenian postpositions instead of prepositions?
The fifty-first unit looks like a list of prepositions, but there are almost no prepositions in it. Armenian puts the helper word AFTER the noun, and the noun itself into the genitive. English 'through the door' is, word for word in Armenian, 'of-the-door through': դռան միջով.
Why the Armenian preposition stands after the word?
Postpositions of place. -ի միջով (through), -ի կողքով (past), -ի մեջտեղում (in the middle of), -ի շուրջ (around), -ի դիմաց (across from). All of them are ordinary nouns frozen in a helper role: մեջ is 'middle', կողք is 'side', and 'past the house' is, word for word, 'of-the-house by-the-side'.
Հեռվում vs հեռվից?
The place adverbs are cases too. English 'above' is one word; the Armenian one is three forms of the same: վերև (upward, where to), վերևում (above, where at), վերևից (from above, where from). The same row for 'below': ներքև / ներքևում / ներքևից. And for 'far': հեռու / հեռվում / հեռվից. Learn one…
How to say past the house in Armenian?
Whither versus where. Ներս — inside (direction), ներսում — inside (location); դուրս — outside (direction), դրսում — outside (location). English also tells them apart ('in / into', 'out / outside'), but in Armenian it is regular — the same ending every time.
What does it look like in an example sentence Armenian?
“Լույսը անցնում է վարագույրի միջով” (luysə antsnum e varaguyri mijov) — The light passes through the curtain. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.