Understanding the Definite Article in Armenian
In Armenian, just like in English, we use definite articles to talk about specific things. When we say 'the cat' in English, we mean a particular cat that we have in mind. Armenian does something similar with its definite articles.
Important Points
- The definite article in Armenian is usually a suffix added to the end of a noun.
- There are different forms of the definite article depending on the noun's ending and whether the noun is singular or plural.
- The definite article can change based on the case of the noun.
Let's look at how the definite article works with singular nouns. If a noun ends with a vowel, we add '-ն' to make it definite. If it ends with a consonant, we add '-ը'.
Examples
- գիրք -> գիրքը (the book)
- տուն -> տունը (the house)
- խնձոր -> խնձորը (the apple)
For plural nouns, the definite article is '-ները'. This is added to the plural form of the noun.
Examples
- գրքեր -> գրքերը (the books)
- տներ -> տները (the houses)
- խնձորներ -> խնձորները (the apples)
Sometimes, the definite article can change slightly based on the case the noun is in. This is a bit more advanced, but it's important to know that the article might look different if the noun is doing something special in the sentence.
Important Points
- In the dative case, '-ին' is used for singular nouns.
- In the ablative case, '-ից' is used for singular nouns.
Examples
- գրքին -> գրքին (to the book)
- տնից -> տնից (from the house)