A2 · Élémentaire Chapitre 20

Stepping into the Past: The Imperfect Tense

6 Règles totales
1 min
Règles dans ce chapitre Pratique rapide

Chapter in 30 Seconds

Unlock the power to share your childhood stories and describe past habits with the Armenian Imperfect tense.

  • Identify the difference between ongoing past actions and completed ones.
  • Conjugate regular and irregular Armenian verbs in the Imperfect tense.
  • Describe scenery and habitual routines from your personal history.
Bring your past to life with the Imperfect tense.

Ce que tu vas apprendre

Introduce yourself to past tenses with the Imperfect, describing ongoing or habitual actions in the past. Learn its conjugation and usage in narrative.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:

  1. 1
    By the end you will be able to: Conjugate any regular verb in the Imperfect to describe ongoing past actions.
  2. 2
    By the end you will be able to: Use irregular verbs like 'to have' and 'to be' in the past context.
  3. 3
    By the end you will be able to: Narrate a short paragraph describing your childhood home or school routine.

Conseils et astuces (4)

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The 'Video' Trick

Whenever you are unsure, ask yourself: 'Was this a video clip or a snapshot?' If it's a clip, use the Imperfect.
frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: The Imperfect Tense: I Was Doing
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Focus on the stem

Always find the stem first. It makes conjugation much easier.
frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Conjugating Imperfect Verbs: Regular Patterns
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Focus on the stem

Don't worry about the auxiliary, focus on the stem first.
frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Irregular Imperfect Verbs: Exceptions to the Rule
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Focus on the 'um'

Always check for the -um suffix. If it's missing, it's not the Imperfect.
frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Using Imperfect for Habitual Actions in the Past

Vocabulaire clé (8)

սովորել to study/learn խաղալ to play ապրել to live միշտ always հաճախ often մանկություն childhood երբ when ունենալ to have

Real-World Preview

coffee

Reminiscing with a Friend

Review Summary

  • Root + ում + Past Auxiliary (էի, էիր, էր...)
  • ունե + endings (ի, իր, էր...)
  • Adverb + Imperfect Verb

Erreurs courantes

Using the present auxiliary 'եմ' instead of the past 'էի'. Always match the auxiliary to the time frame.

Wrong: Ես սովորում եմ երեկ: (I am studying yesterday.)
Correct: Ես սովորում էի երեկ: (I was studying yesterday.)

Applying regular -ում rules to the irregular verb 'ունենալ'. It uses a special stem 'ունե-'.

Wrong: Ես ունում էի շուն: (Incorrect form of have)
Correct: Ես ունեի շուն: (I had a dog.)

Failing to conjugate the auxiliary verb to match the plural subject 'նրանք'.

Wrong: Նրանք խաղում էր: (They was playing.)
Correct: Նրանք խաղում էին: (They were playing.)

Next Steps

You've just unlocked a huge part of the Armenian language. Being able to talk about your history makes your conversations so much deeper. Keep practicing those 'էի' endings!

Write a diary entry about your typical day 5 years ago.

Find an old photo and describe what people were doing in it.

Continue to: The Simple Past: Aorist Tense

Pratique rapide (10)

Choose the correct sentence.

Which sentence is correct?

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Նա քնում էր։
Correct conjugation for 'he/she'.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: The Imperfect Tense: I Was Doing

Fix the mistake.

Find and fix the mistake:

Yes ch-kardaci.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Yes chkardaci
Negative prefix must be attached.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Introducing Past Tenses: A Look Back

Identify the tense.

Which is Imperfect?

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: կարդում էի
Tense identification.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Conjugating Imperfect Verbs: Regular Patterns

Choose the correct negative.

___ (I was not reading).

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Չէի կարդում
Negative prefix.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Conjugating Imperfect Verbs: Regular Patterns

Fill in the correct Aorist form.

Ես ___ (kardal) գիրքը։

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: kardaci
Aorist for first person singular.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Introducing Past Tenses: A Look Back

Choose the correct form for 'Menq'.

Menq ___ einq.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: kardum
Menq matches with einq.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Using Imperfect for Habitual Actions in the Past

Fill in the correct form.

Նրանք ___ (խաղալ) ամեն օր։

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: խաղում էին
Habitual past.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Conjugating Imperfect Verbs: Regular Patterns

Conjugate 'gnal' (to go) for 'Es'.

Es ___ ei.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: gnum
The stem is gnum.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Using Imperfect for Habitual Actions in the Past

Fill in the blank with the correct Imperfect form.

Ես ___ (կարդալ) գիրքը։

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: կարդում էի
The Imperfect of 'կարդալ' for 'I' is 'կարդում էի'.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: The Imperfect Tense: I Was Doing

Correct the mistake.

Find and fix the mistake:

Ես կարդացի էի։

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Ես կարդում էի
Use the participle stem.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: The Imperfect Tense: I Was Doing

Score: /10

Questions fréquentes (6)

Verbs ending in -el take -eci, and verbs ending in -al take -aci.
No, Imperfect is for duration. Use Aorist for single events.
No, the Imperfect is strictly for the past. For future, use the future tense.
The Imperfect is very regular. Just find the stem and add '-ում'.
Use Imperfect for ongoing/habitual actions and Aorist for completed actions.
No, it is strictly for the past.
Chapitre suivant
The Simple Past: Aorist Tense
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