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Foundations

The verb “to be”

Build identity, description, location, and state sentences with the present-tense copula.

10 minute lesson

An essential irregular verb

The present forms of “to be” normally come after the noun, adjective, location, or other information that describes the subject. Armenian often omits the subject pronoun when the verb form already makes the person clear.

Present affirmative

PersonArmenianTransliterationEnglish
Iես եմyes emI am
you, informalդու եսdu esyou are
he / she / itնա էna ehe / she / it is
weմենք ենքmenk’ enk’we are
you, plural / politeդուք եքduk’ ek’you are
theyնրանք ենnrank’ enthey are

Present negative

PersonArmenianTransliterationEnglish
Iես չեմyes ch’emI am not
you, informalդու չեսdu ch’esyou are not
he / she / itնա չէna ch’ehe / she / it is not
weմենք չենքmenk’ ch’enk’we are not
you, plural / politeդուք չեքduk’ ch’ek’you are not
theyնրանք չենnrank’ ch’enthey are not

Statements, questions, and emphasis

A yes/no question keeps the same words and uses Armenian question intonation and punctuation. The copula normally follows the predicate, but it can move next to the focused word in longer sentences.

Examples

Ես հոգնած եմ։Yes hognats em.I am tired.Pronunciation: ts is one blended sound, as in “cats”.
Նա Երևանում է։Na Yerevanum e.He / she is in Yerevan.
Մենք պատրաստ չենք։Menk’ patrast ch’enk’.We are not ready.Pronunciation: k’ and ch’ are aspirated, with a puff of air.

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