Կարդացած գիրք, երգող աղջիկ: a modifier instead of a clause
A thought can be tied together with vor. But live text almost never does that: it puts a participle before the noun, and a whole relative clause shrinks into one modifier. For example: “Կարդացած վեպը վերադարձրու գրադարան” — Return the finished novel to the library. A rule from the Western Armenian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
A thought can be tied together with vor. But live text almost never does that: it puts a participle before the noun, and a whole relative clause shrinks into one modifier.
-ած — done; -ող — doing. Kardatsadz girkə — the book that was read. The present uses the same suffix as grogh: yerkogh aghchigə — the girl singing on stage. Pemum khağogh derasannə — the actor playing on the stage. Everything that belongs to the participle stands before it, and the participle before the noun.
-վող, -ված, and what is yet to come. Grvogh namagə — the letter being written; grvadz namagə — the written letter. Bookish, but frequent on posters.
When vor after all. If there is something else — "the city I moved to" — vor is needed: girkə, vori masin khosum ēink'. "Which" with a preposition — the participle will not do.
Table
| Form | Meaning | Example | In English |
|---|---|---|---|
| -ած | done | կարդացած գիրք | a read book |
| -ող | doing | երգող աղջիկ | a girl who is singing |
| -ված | done by someone | թարգմանված վեպ | a translated novel |
| -վող | being done now | կառուցվող շենք | a building being built |
| -ելու | yet to be done | կարդալու գիրք | a book for reading |
| -ելիք | what is to come | ասելիք | what is to be said |
| որ | when the participle will not do | գիրքը, որի մասին խոսեցինք | the book we talked about |
By example
- Կարդացած վեպը վերադարձրու գրադարանgartatsadz vebə veratartsru krataranReturn the finished novel to the library
- Բեմում երգող աղջիկը իմ դուստրն էpemum yerkogh aghchigə im tusdrn eThe girl singing on the stage is my daughter
- Թարգմանված գրքերը դրված են ցուցափեղկումt'arkmanvadz krk'erə trvadz en tsutsap'eghgumThe translated books are displayed in the shop window
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
a modifier instead of a clause: how does it work in Western Armenian?
A thought can be tied together with vor. But live text almost never does that: it puts a participle before the noun, and a whole relative clause shrinks into one modifier.
What does it look like in an example sentence Western Armenian?
“Կարդացած վեպը վերադարձրու գրադարան” (gartatsadz vebə veratartsru krataran) — Return the finished novel to the library. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.