The verb “to have”
Talk about possessions, relatives, time, and things that are available.
A compact irregular pattern
The present forms are short and frequent. The negative is formed by adding չ- (ch’-) directly to the verb. A subject pronoun is optional when the context is clear.
Present tense
| Person | Affirmative | Negative | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | ունեմ — unem | չունեմ — ch’unem | I have / do not have |
| you, informal | ունես — unes | չունես — ch’unes | you have / do not have |
| he / she / it | ունի — uni | չունի — ch’uni | has / does not have |
| we | ունենք — unenk’ | չունենք — ch’unenk’ | we have / do not have |
| you, plural / polite | ունեք — unek’ | չունեք — ch’unek’ | you have / do not have |
| they | ունեն — unen | չունեն — ch’unen | they have / do not have |
Questions need no extra verb
Keep the same conjugated form and place the Armenian question mark on its stressed vowel. Possessions normally appear before the verb, and Armenian does not add an equivalent of English “do”.
Examples
Ես երկու եղբայր ունեմ։Yes yerku yeghbayr unem.I have two brothers.Pronunciation: gh is a voiced throaty sound.
Նա մեքենա չունի։Na mek’ena ch’uni.He / she does not have a car.Pronunciation: k’ and ch’ are aspirated.
Դուք ժամանակ ունե՞ք։Duk’ zhamanak unek’?Do you have time?Pronunciation: zh is the sound in “vision”; k’ is aspirated.
Use it now
Not practised yet
Practice this lesson
Eight questions are drawn from this lesson and reshuffled every time.
Questions switch between recognition and recall, so you practise both meaning and the Armenian form.