Grammar Notes¶
Grammatical concepts we covered in this unit
- genitive with family and friend terms
- ablative personal pronouns
Genitive with family and friend terms¶
In this unit, we learned that Armenian has special genitive forms for family and friend terms. Instead of using the default -ի with these terms, we use the special forms summarized in the chart below.
| Family / Friend Term | Genitive Form |
|---|---|
| մայր (mother) | մօր |
| հայր (father) | հօր |
| եղբայր (brother) | եղբօր |
| քոյր (sister) | քրոջ |
| ընկեր (friend) | ընկերոջ |
What about aunts, uncles, and grandparents?
Good question! These special people also have special genitive case forms. But, if you remember that these words are compound constructions that already use a genitive form in the first part of the compound, you'll only need to modify the second part of the compound to mark possession.
| Family / Friend Term | Genitive Form |
|---|---|
| մօրաքոյր (maternal aunt) | մօրաքրոջ |
| հօրեղբայր (paternal uncle) | հօրեղբօր |
But how do I say "My aunt's name?
You can be more specific by adding our possessive suffixes and possessive adjectives. Remember that adding -ս to the ends of words marks them as mine, while adding -դ marks them as yours.
| Family / Friend Term | Genitive Form |
|---|---|
| մօրաքոյրս (my maternal aunt) | մօրաքրոջս անունը |
| հօրեղբայրդ (your paternal uncle) | հօրեղբօրդ տունը |
Ablative personal pronouns¶
When making comparisons, we use the ablative case to mark the thing or person that something is being compared to. The following chart provides the ablative forms of the personal pronouns:
| 1st | ինծմէ [ինձմէ is also used] | մեզմէ |
| 2nd | քեզմէ | ձեզմէ |
| 3rd | անկէ / իրմէ | անոնցմէ / իրենցմէ |