Ունիմ
“Ունիմ” (unim) — I have in Western Armenian. Verb, level A1, topic — verbs. Western form: ունիմ; the Eastern standard says ունեմ. No separate pronoun needed — the person sits in the ending. Negation glues on the same չ-: չունիմ, I don't have. In a live sentence: “Ես ընկեր մը ունիմ” — I have a friend. Written with the characters Ո, ւ, ն, ի, մ. One of 22 words in the set “verbs” in the Western Armenian course.
In short
| Written in Western Armenian | Ունիմ |
| Read in Latin letters | unim |
| Translation | I have |
| Part of speech | verb |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
Western form: ունիմ; the Eastern standard says ունեմ. No separate pronoun needed — the person sits in the ending. Negation glues on the same չ-: չունիմ, I don't have
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- Ես ընկեր մը ունիմyes ənger mə unimI have a friend
Nearby words: verbs
I want, I can, I am going, I know. Twenty verbs cover more everyday sentences than two hundred nouns.
- Երթալyert'alto goThe main verb of motion. Present:
կ'երթամ, I go; the future takesպիտի:պիտի երթամ, I will go. The Eastern standard uses another verb,գնալ, for the same job - Ուտելudelto eatDo not mix with
կայ, 'there is' — eating and existing are different verbs here, just as in English. The տ sounds like d: oo-DEL' - Խմելkhmelto drinkThe խ is a throaty kh — like the ch of Scottish 'loch', not the ch of 'church'. One verb covers water, tea and wine
- Կարդալgartalto readOnly about reading: studying is a different verb,
ուսանիլ. The first կ sounds like g: gar-TAL - Խօսիլkhosilto speakAbout speech in general; 'to say' is another verb,
ասել. Classical spelling writes օ:խօսիլ. Henceհեռախօս, telephone — literally 'far-speech' - Աշխատիլashkhadilto workAbout people and machines alike:
վերելակը չ'աշխատիր— the elevator is not working. One verb for the office and the broken lift - Ապրիլabrilto liveBoth 'to live somewhere' and 'to be alive'. Hence the cheer
ապրես— literally 'may you live', said the way you'd say 'good for you!' - Սիրելsirelto loveAbout people and activities alike:
կը սիրեմ կարդալ— I love to read. From it comesսեր, love - Կայgaythere isPure existence:
ջուր կա՞յ— is there water? Negation:չկայ, there isn't. Nothing to do with eating — that isուտել's job - Ուսանիլusanilto studyThe Western 'to study' is
ուսանիլ; in diaspora speech you will also hear the Easternսովորել. One verb covers both studying and learning
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “verbs”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “I have” in Western Armenian?
Western form: ունիմ; the Eastern standard says ունեմ. No separate pronoun needed — the person sits in the ending. Negation glues on the same չ-: չունիմ, I don't have
- How do you say “to live” in Western Armenian?
Both 'to live somewhere' and 'to be alive'. Hence the cheer ապրես — literally 'may you live', said the way you'd say 'good for you!'
- How do you say “to drink” in Western Armenian?
The խ is a throaty kh — like the ch of Scottish 'loch', not the ch of 'church'. One verb covers water, tea and wine
- How do you say “to study” in Western Armenian?
The Western 'to study' is ուսանիլ; in diaspora speech you will also hear the Eastern սովորել. One verb covers both studying and learning
- How do you say “to work” in Western Armenian?
About people and machines alike: վերելակը չ'աշխատիր — the elevator is not working. One verb for the office and the broken lift
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “I have” in Western Armenian?
«Ունիմ», read “unim”. In a live sentence: “Ես ընկեր մը ունիմ” — I have a friend. Verb, level A1, from the set “verbs”; written with the characters Ո, ւ, ն, ի, մ.
How is “Ունիմ” written in Latin letters?
unim. This is a practical spelling — you need it to read aloud and be understood, not to meet an academic standard.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Western form: ունիմ; the Eastern standard says ունեմ. No separate pronoun needed — the person sits in the ending. Negation glues on the same չ-: չունիմ, I don't have. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.