Դռան միջով, տան կողքով: the relational word stands after the noun
It looks like a list of prepositions, but there are almost none. The relational word stands AFTER the noun, and the noun is in its -ի 'of' form. "Through the door" is literally "of-the-door through": drran michov. For example: “Լույսը կ'անցնի վարագույրի միջով” — The light passes through the curtain. A rule from the Western Armenian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
It looks like a list of prepositions, but there are almost none. The relational word stands AFTER the noun, and the noun is in its -ի (-i) 'of' form. "Through the door" is literally "of-the-door through": drran michov.
Place: the word after the noun. -ի միջով (through); -ի կողքով (past); -ի շուրջ (around); -ի դիմաց (opposite). All of them are ordinary nouns frozen into a relational role: մէջ (mech) is "the middle", կողք is "the side". "Past the house" is literally "of-the-house sideways".
The adverbs of place are also forms. English "upstairs" is one word; here a whole row of one: վերեւ (verev) — verev (up, where to); վերեւում (verevum) — verevum (upstairs, where); verevits (from above). Learn one row — the ending tells "in the distance" from "from afar".
Where-to against where. Ners — inside (to); nersum — inside (in); turs — outside (to); drsum — outside (in). Here it is regular: "across", "past", "through" all stand after the noun.
Table
| Where to | Where | From where | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| վերեւ | վերեւում | վերեւից | up |
| ներքեւ | ներքեւում | ներքեւից | down |
| ներս | ներսում | ներսից | inside |
| դուրս | դրսում | դրսից | outside |
| — | հեռվում | հեռվից | far away |
By example
- Լույսը կ'անցնի վարագույրի միջովluysə g'antsni varakuyri michovThe light passes through the curtain
- Ավտոբուսը անցավ կանգառի կողքովavdopusə antsav gankarri goghk'ovThe bus went past the stop
- Հեռվում կ'երեւան լեռներըherrvum g'erevan 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
How to say through the door?
It looks like a list of prepositions, but there are almost none. The relational word stands AFTER the noun, and the noun is in its -ի 'of' form. "Through the door" is literally "of-the-door through": drran michov.
Passing by the house?
Place: the word after the noun. -ի միջով (through); -ի կողքով (past); -ի շուրջ (around); -ի դիմաց (opposite). All of them are ordinary nouns frozen into a relational role: մէջ is "the middle", կողք is "the side". "Past the house" is literally "of-the-house sideways".
The word order in michov?
The adverbs of place are also forms. English "upstairs" is one word; here a whole row of one: վերեւ — verev (up, where to); վերեւում — verevum (upstairs, where); verevits (from above). Learn one row — the ending tells "in the distance" from "from afar".
Top bottom inside outside endings?
Where-to against where. Ners — inside (to); nersum — inside (in); turs — outside (to); drsum — outside (in). Here it is regular: "across", "past", "through" all stand after the noun.
What does it look like in an example sentence Western Armenian?
“Լույսը կ'անցնի վարագույրի միջով” (luysə g'antsni varakuyri michov) — 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.