Grammar Notes¶
Grammatical concepts we covered in this unit
- the compound verb պէտք ունենալ
- dative with proper nouns (with the postposition համար)
- dative of price
- ablative of material
- demonstrative adjectives
- demonstratives
The compound verb պէտք ունենալ¶
The compound verb պէտք ունենալ is literally translated as "to have a need." When using this compound verb, we generally put the complement that precedes it in the dative case. Note the following examples we encountered in this unit:
- Ինչի՞ պէտք ունիս։ [though some speakers will ask: Ի՞նչ պէտք ունիս։]
- Նոր հագուստի պէտք ունիմ։
- Հաստ գուլպայի պէտք ունիս։
Dative with proper nouns (with the postposition համար)¶
The postposition համար means "for." When using this postposition, we must use the dative form of the word that precedes համար.
If we remember, the dative form is used for the indirect object of an action (they are being given something—they are not the thing being given).
In this unit, we saw how համար was used with proper nouns ("for Մարալ").
To form the dative with a proper names, we follow the following rules:
- For names ending in a consonant or the vowels ի and է, add
-ի[ն](like Արմէնին and Անիին and Նափոլէոնի) - For names ending in the vowels ա and օ/ո, add
-յի[ն](like Մարոյին and Արայի)
Note the following examples:
- Մարալին համար
- Արմէնին համար
- Լալային համար
Dative of price¶
To say that something is being sold or bought for a particular price, we use the dative case. Note the following examples:
- Քանիի՞ կը ծախեն
- Հինգ տոլարի կը ծախեն
- 200 տոլարի չեմ գներ
For more information on this matter, consult page 164 of Fr. S.L. Kogian's Armenian Grammar (West Dialect).
Ablative of material¶
When talking about the material composition of something (like a dress or necklace), we use the ablative case. The ablative in these situations is mostly formed by adding -է on the material and placing the modified form in front of the noun it describes. Note the following examples:
- արծաթէ վզնոց (you might also see արծաթեայ)
- կաշիէ կօշիկ
- բուրդէ վերարկու
For more information on this matter, consult page 170 of Fr. S.L. Kogian's Armenian Grammar (West Dialect).
Demonstrative adjectives¶
The words այս ("this" / "these"), այդ ("that" / "those"), and այն ("that all the way over there" / "those all the way over there") are used as demonstrative adjectives—adjectives that are used to point to specific people or things. We use the plural forms of the nouns that they describe and append the definite article -ը/-ն depending on whether the noun ends in a vowel or if the next word starts with a vowel (except for nouns of time [like այս շաբաթ], which do not take the definite article!), but we do not have plural forms of the adjectives themselves. Note the following examples:
- այս շապիկը = this shirt
- այս շաբաթ = this week
- այս շապիկները = these shirts
- այդ վերարկուն = that coat
- այդ շաբաթ = that week
- այդ վերարկուները = those coats
- այն հագուստը = that dress over there
- այն օր = that day (a while ago)
- այն կօշիկները = those [pairs of] shoes over there
Demonstratives¶
Demonstratives are pronouns that are used to point to specific people or things. In English, we use the demonstrative words "this," "that," "those," etc. Western Armenian also has demonstrative pronouns, but because it is a case-based language, each of the demonstrative pronouns has a case-specific form. Refer to the chart below:
| CASE | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | աս, ասիկա, ասի (this one) | ասոնք (these) |
| Accusative | աս, ասիկա, ասի (this one) | ասոնք (these) |
| Genitive | ||
| Dative | ||
| Ablative | ||
| Instrumental |
| CASE | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | աս, ասիկա, ասի (this one) | ասոնք (these) |
| Accusative | աս, ասիկա, ասի (this one) | ասոնք (these) |
| Genitive | ասոր (of this one) | ասոնց (of these) |
| Dative | ասոր (to this one) | ասոնց (to these) |
| Ablative | ասկէ (from this) | ասոնցմէ (from these) |
| Instrumental | ասով (with this) | ասոնցմով (with these) |
Ասիկա, ատիկա, անիկա
The demonstrative pronouns chart above is for something or things closest to me or us, so that is why the սէ appears (ասի, ասոնք). For things closer to you, the տիւն appears. For things closer to a third person, the նու is used. So, we have ատ, ատիկա, ատկէ, ատոնք, etc. and անոր, անոնց, անոնցմով, etc.
We also have the demonstrative adjectives of հոս ("here") and հոն ("there"). Did you notice that the սէ and նու pattern holds (thing close to me = ս, thing close to a third person = ն)? These demonstrative adjectives don't have other case endings except for the ablative case, where they are turned into հոսկէ and հոնկէ.