Եփելուց առաջ, եփելիս: one action wrapped around another
A recipe is a chain of "first… then…", and English holds it together with conjunctions: "before boiling", "after it cools". Here it is shorter: take the infinitive and hang an ending on it — no subordinate clause. -ուց առաջ — "before": arrach stands after the word: yep'eluts arrach — before boiling. For example: “Եփելուց առաջ բանջարեղենը մաքրիր” — Before boiling, clean the vegetables. A rule from the Western…
How it works
A recipe is a chain of "first… then…", and English holds it together with conjunctions: "before boiling", "after it cools". Here it is shorter: take the infinitive and hang an ending on it — no subordinate clause. -ուց առաջ — "before": arrach stands after the word: yep'eluts arrach — before boiling.
The form -ուց հետո — "after": yerraluts hedo — after it boils. The form -իս — "when, while": the ending hangs on the same stem: yep'elis — while you cook; kardalis — while you read. Agnots em krum kardalis — I wear glasses when I read.
And two smaller tails. -ու (-u) / -ելու — "for the purpose of": kdratelu taghdag — a cutting board. -ով (-vov) after the -ել form gives "by means of": yep'elov — by boiling.
The main benefit: they demand no person. Yep'eluts arrach fits "before I cook" and "before you cook" alike — who exactly is clear from the main clause. That is why cookbooks are written almost entirely in them.
Table
| Meaning | The form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| before | -ուց առաջ | եփելուց առաջ — before boiling |
| after | -ուց հետո | ուտելուց հետո — after eating |
| when, while | -իս | կարդալիս — while reading |
| for the purpose of | -ելու / -ալու | կտրատելու տախտակ — a cutting board |
| to (with համար) | -ելու համար | տանելու համար — for carrying out |
| by means of | -ելով | սակարկելով — by haggling |
By example
- Եփելուց առաջ բանջարեղենը մաքրիրyep'eluts arrach panchareghenə mak'rirBefore boiling, clean the vegetables
- Եռալուց հետո ավելացրու աղyerraluts hedo avelatsru aghAfter it boils, add salt
- Ուտելիս հեռախօսին մի նայիրudelis 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…", and English holds it together with conjunctions: "before boiling", "after it cools". Here it is shorter: take the infinitive and hang an ending on it — no subordinate clause. -ուց առաջ — "before": arrach stands after the word: yep'eluts arrach — before boiling.
What does it look like in an example sentence Western Armenian?
“Եփելուց առաջ բանջարեղենը մաքրիր” (yep'eluts arrach panchareghenə mak'rir) — Before boiling, clean 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.