LingoflyԵփելէ առաջ, եփած ատեն: one action wrapped around another
A recipe is a chain of "first… then…" English holds it together with clauses: "before boiling", "after it cools". Here it is shorter: take the infinitive and add an ending, with no subordinate clause. For example: “Եփելէ առաջ (arrach) բանջարեղէնը (panchareghenə) մաքրէ” (mak're) — Before boiling, peel the vegetables. A rule from the Western Armenian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
A recipe is a chain of "first… then…". English holds it together with clauses: "before boiling", "after it cools". Here it is shorter: take the infinitive and add an ending, with no subordinate clause.
-լէ առաջ (arrach) — "before": the infinitive takes -է (-e), and առաջ (arrach) follows it. Եփելէ առաջ (arrach) (yep'ele arrach) — before boiling. With ետք (yedk') you get "after": եռալէ ետք (yedk') (yerrale yedk') — after it boils, ուտելէ ետք (udele yedk') — after eating.
-ած ատեն (aden) — "when, while": the -ած form plus ատեն (aden), "time". Կարդացած (gartatsadz) ատեն (aden) (gartatsadz aden) — while reading. To name the person, add a tail: ուտած ատենդ (adent) (udadz adent) — while you eat.
-ելու համար (hamar) — "in order to": տանելու համար (danelu hamar) — to take away. Otherwise these forms need no person: who acts is clear from the main clause. That is why recipes and instructions are written almost entirely in them.
Table
| Meaning | The form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| before | -լէ առաջ (arrach) | եփելէ առաջ (arrach) — before boiling |
| after | -լէ ետք (yedk') | ուտելէ ետք (udele yedk') — after eating |
| when, while | -ած ատեն (aden) | կարդացած (gartatsadz) ատեն (aden) — while reading |
| for the purpose of | -ելու / -ալու | կտրատելու տախտակ (gdradelu dakhdag) — a cutting board |
| to (with համար (hamar)) | -ելու համար (hamar) | տանելու համար (danelu hamar) — to take away |
| by means of | -ելով | սակարկելով — by haggling |
By example
- Ուտած ատենդ հեռախօսին մի նայիրudadz adent herrakhosin mi nayirWhile you eat, don't look at your phone
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
one action wrapped around another: how does it work in Western Armenian?
A recipe is a chain of "first… then…" English holds it together with clauses: "before boiling", "after it cools". Here it is shorter: take the infinitive and add an ending, with no subordinate clause.
What does it look like in a Western Armenian example sentence?
“Եփելէ առաջ (arrach) բանջարեղէնը (panchareghenə) մաքրէ” (mak're) (yep'ele arrach panchareghenə mak're) — Before boiling, peel the vegetables. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.