All lessons Lesson 5 of 30
Foundations

The verb “to have”

Talk about possessions, relatives, time, and things that are available.

9 minute lesson

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

PersonAffirmativeNegativeEnglish
Iունեմ — unemչունեմ — ch’unemI have / do not have
you, informalունես — unesչունես — ch’unesyou have / do not have
he / she / itունի — uniչունի — ch’unihas / does not have
weունենք — unenk’չունենք — ch’unenk’we have / do not have
you, plural / politeունեք — unek’չունեք — ch’unek’you have / do not have
theyունեն — unenչունեն — ch’unenthey 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.

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