A2 Verb Conjugation 1 min read Leicht

Forming the Aorist: Regular Verbs

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Grammar Rule in 30 Seconds

The Aorist is your go-to tense for completed actions in the past; just add the specific endings to the verb stem.

  • For -el verbs, use the stem + -eci, -ecir, -ec, -ecink, -ecik, -ecin.
  • For -al verbs, use the stem + -aci, -acir, -ac, -acink, -acik, -acin.
  • The negative form adds 'ch' before the verb: 'ch' + stem + ending.
Verb Stem + Aorist Ending = Completed Past Action

Aorist Conjugation Pattern

Person -el verbs (kardal) -al verbs (gnal)
1st Sing
kardaci
gnaci
2nd Sing
kardacir
gnacir
3rd Sing
kardac
gnac
1st Plur
kardacink
gnacink
2nd Plur
kardacik
gnacik
3rd Plur
kardacin
gnacin

Meanings

The Aorist is the primary past tense in Armenian used to express completed, punctual actions. It is equivalent to the English Simple Past.

1

Completed Action

An action that started and finished in the past.

“Նա գնաց տուն: (He went home.)”

“Մենք տեսանք ֆիլմը: (We saw the movie.)”

2

Sequential Events

A series of actions happening one after another.

“Նա արթնացավ, հագնվեց և դուրս եկավ: (He woke up, dressed, and went out.)”

“Ես եկա, տեսա, հաղթեցի: (I came, I saw, I conquered.)”

3

Punctual Past

An action that occurred at a specific, defined moment.

“Երեկ ես գնեցի նոր մեքենա: (Yesterday I bought a new car.)”

“Ժամը հինգին նա զանգեց: (At five o'clock he called.)”

Reference Table

Reference table for Forming the Aorist: Regular Verbs
Form Structure Example
Affirmative
Stem + Ending
kardaci
Negative
ch + Stem + Ending
chkardaci
Question
Stem + Ending + ?
kardaci՞
1st Person
Stem + -ci
kardaci
3rd Person
Stem + -c
kardac
Plural
Stem + -cin
kardacin

Formalitätsspektrum

Formell
Ես գնացի տուն:

Ես գնացի տուն: (Daily life)

Neutral
Ես գնացի տուն:

Ես գնացի տուն: (Daily life)

Informell
Գնացի տուն:

Գնացի տուն: (Daily life)

Umgangssprache
Տուն քաշվեցի:

Տուն քաշվեցի: (Daily life)

Aorist Usage Map

Aorist

Actions

  • kardaci I read

Time

  • erek yesterday

Aorist vs Imperfect

Aorist
gnaci I went
Imperfect
gnum ei I was going

How to conjugate

1

Is it -el or -al?

YES
Use -eci
NO
Use -aci

Common Aorist Verbs

🏃

Action Verbs

  • • gnal
  • • kardal
  • • grel
  • • tesnel

Beispiele nach Niveau

1

Ես գնեցի հաց:

I bought bread.

2

Նա կարդաց գիրքը:

He read the book.

3

Մենք խաղացինք:

We played.

4

Դուք տեսաք նրան:

You saw him.

1

Ես չգնեցի հացը:

I didn't buy the bread.

2

Դուք գրեցիք նամակը:

You wrote the letter.

3

Նրանք չխաղացին:

They didn't play.

4

Մենք տեսանք ֆիլմը:

We saw the movie.

1

Երեկ ես ավարտեցի աշխատանքս:

Yesterday I finished my work.

2

Նա զանգեց, երբ ես դուրս եկա:

He called when I went out.

3

Մենք չհասկացանք հարցը:

We didn't understand the question.

4

Դուք հրավիրեցիք բոլորին:

You invited everyone.

1

Նա հանկարծակի կանգ առավ և նայեց ինձ:

He suddenly stopped and looked at me.

2

Մենք որոշեցինք չգնալ այդտեղ:

We decided not to go there.

3

Նրանք հաղթեցին մրցույթում:

They won the competition.

4

Ես չկարողացա գտնել բանալիները:

I couldn't find the keys.

1

Հեղինակը նկարագրեց իրադարձությունները մանրամասն:

The author described the events in detail.

2

Մենք հաստատեցինք պայմանագիրը երեկ:

We confirmed the contract yesterday.

3

Նա հերքեց բոլոր մեղադրանքները:

He denied all accusations.

4

Այդ օրը ամեն ինչ փոխվեց:

That day everything changed.

1

Պատմությունը ցույց տվեց, որ նա ճիշտ էր:

History showed that he was right.

2

Նա հիմնավորեց իր տեսակետը փաստերով:

He substantiated his viewpoint with facts.

3

Մենք վերջնականապես լուծեցինք խնդիրը:

We finally solved the problem.

4

Նա անտեսեց նախազգուշացումը:

He ignored the warning.

Leicht verwechselbar

Forming the Aorist: Regular Verbs vs. Aorist vs Imperfect

Learners mix up 'completed' and 'ongoing' past.

Forming the Aorist: Regular Verbs vs. Aorist vs Perfect

Learners use Perfect for simple past facts.

Forming the Aorist: Regular Verbs vs. Stem -el vs -al

Using wrong vowel in ending.

Häufige Fehler

✗

kardum

✓

kardaci

Using present instead of past.
✗

kardaci em

✓

kardaci

Adding 'em' (auxiliary) to Aorist.
✗

kardec

✓

kardaci

Wrong person ending.
✗

ch-kardaci

✓

chkardaci

Incorrect negative spacing.
✗

gnaci em

✓

gnaci

Redundant auxiliary.
✗

kardaci

✓

kardecir

Wrong person.
✗

gnaleci

✓

gnaci

Using full infinitive instead of stem.
✗

kardum ei

✓

kardaci

Using imperfect for completed action.
✗

kardacel

✓

kardaci

Using participle instead of Aorist.
✗

gnac

✓

gnacin

Wrong plural ending.
✗

kardacel em

✓

kardaci

Overusing perfect for historical facts.
✗

gnum

✓

gnaci

Incorrect aspect in narrative.
✗

kardac

✓

kardacin

Agreement error.

Satzmuster

Ես ___ (verb) ___ (object).

Երեկ ես ___ (verb) և ___ (verb).

Ինչո՞ւ դու ___ (verb) այդ ___ (noun).

Ես չկարողացա ___ (verb), որովհետև ___.

Real World Usage

Texting very common

Գնացի տուն:

Job Interview common

Ես ավարտեցի նախագիծը:

Travel common

Ես այցելեցի թանգարանը:

Food Delivery common

Ես պատվիրեցի պիցցա:

Social Media very common

Տեսա այս ֆիլմը:

Academic Report common

Հետազոտությունը ցույց տվեց:

💡

Check the infinitive

Always look at the -el or -al ending first to choose your set of endings.
⚠️

Don't add 'em'

The Aorist does not take the auxiliary 'em' (to be).
🎯

Narrative flow

Use the Aorist for the main events of your story to keep the action moving.
💬

Casual speech

In very informal speech, you can drop the subject pronoun 'Es' or 'Du'.

Smart Tips

Use the Aorist to list events in order.

Ես կարդում էի և գրում էի: → Ես կարդացի և գրեցի:

Ask yourself: 'Did I finish it?'

Ես գնում եմ տուն (yesterday). → Ես գնացի տուն (yesterday).

Always put 'ch' at the very beginning.

Գնացի չ: → Չգնացի:

Use Aorist with specific time markers like 'erek'.

Երեկ ես գնում եմ: → Երեկ ես գնացի:

Aussprache

kard-a-CI

Stress

Stress usually falls on the last syllable of the verb.

Question

Գնացի՞ր (Gna-CIR?)

Rising pitch at the end.

Einprägen

Eselsbrücke

Remember the 'C' for Completed: Aorist endings all have a 'c' in them.

Visuelle Assoziation

Imagine a camera shutter clicking shut. That 'click' is the 'c' in -eci/-aci, marking the end of the action.

Rhyme

For past events that are all done, add 'ci' and have some fun!

Story

Yesterday, I woke up (artnac-a). I drank coffee (khm-eci). I wrote a letter (gr-eci). Everything is finished.

Word Web

kardacignacigrecitesakerakhmeci

Herausforderung

Write 5 sentences about what you did this morning using the Aorist.

Kulturelle Hinweise

The Aorist is the standard past tense used in daily conversation.

The Aorist is used similarly but with slight phonetic variations.

Often mixed with English loanwords in casual speech.

The Aorist is a direct descendant of the Proto-Indo-European sigmatic aorist.

Gesprächseinstiege

“

Ի՞նչ արեցիր երեկ:

“

Ի՞նչ կարդացիր վերջերս:

“

Ինչպե՞ս անցավ քո օրը:

“

Ի՞նչ որոշում կայացրիր այդ հարցի շուրջ:

Tagebuch-Impulse

Write about your last trip.
Describe a movie you saw recently.
Recount a day when everything went wrong.
Reflect on a major life decision you made.

Häufige Fehler

Incorrect

Richtig

Incorrect

Richtig

Incorrect

Richtig

Incorrect

Richtig

Test Yourself

Conjugate the verb in Aorist.

Ես ___ (gnal) տուն:

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: gnaci
Aorist 1st person singular.
Choose the correct form. Multiple Choice

Նա ___ (kardal) գիրքը:

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: kardac
Aorist 3rd person singular.
Find the error. Error Correction

Find and fix the mistake:

Ես գնացի եմ տուն:

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: գնացի
Remove auxiliary 'em'.
Make it negative. Sentence Transformation

Նա գրեց նամակը:

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Նա չգրեց նամակը
Add 'ch' prefix.
Match verb to ending. Match Pairs

Match each item on the left with its pair on the right:

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: -el -> -eci
Correct mapping.
Build a sentence. Sentence Building

Ես / տեսա / ֆիլմը

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Ես տեսա ֆիլմը
Standard word order.
Conjugate for 1st Plural. Conjugation Drill

Մենք ___ (gnal) տուն:

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: gnacink
1st plural ending.
Choose the correct aspect. Multiple Choice

Երեկ ես ___ (kardal) գիրքը:

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: kardaci
Specific past time requires Aorist.

Score: /8

Ubungsaufgaben

8 exercises
Conjugate the verb in Aorist.

Ես ___ (gnal) տուն:

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: gnaci
Aorist 1st person singular.
Choose the correct form. Multiple Choice

Նա ___ (kardal) գիրքը:

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: kardac
Aorist 3rd person singular.
Find the error. Error Correction

Find and fix the mistake:

Ես գնացի եմ տուն:

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: գնացի
Remove auxiliary 'em'.
Make it negative. Sentence Transformation

Նա գրեց նամակը:

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Նա չգրեց նամակը
Add 'ch' prefix.
Match verb to ending. Match Pairs

Match -el and -al.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: -el -> -eci
Correct mapping.
Build a sentence. Sentence Building

Ես / տեսա / ֆիլմը

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Ես տեսա ֆիլմը
Standard word order.
Conjugate for 1st Plural. Conjugation Drill

Մենք ___ (gnal) տուն:

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: gnacink
1st plural ending.
Choose the correct aspect. Multiple Choice

Երեկ ես ___ (kardal) գիրքը:

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: kardaci
Specific past time requires Aorist.

Score: /8

FAQ (8)

It is the simple past tense for completed actions.

Remove -el/-al and add -eci/-aci.

For finished events in the past.

Yes, Imperfect is for ongoing actions.

No, use Imperfect for habits.

Yes, some common ones like 'tal' (to give) are irregular.

Add 'ch' before the verb.

Yes, it is the standard narrative tense.

Scaffolded Practice

1

1

2

2

3

3

4

4

Mastery Progress

Needs Practice

Improving

Strong

Mastered

In Other Languages

Spanish high

Pretérito Indefinido

Spanish has more irregular verbs.

French moderate

Passé Simple

French uses Passé Composé for speech.

German moderate

Präteritum

German uses Perfekt for speech.

Japanese partial

Ta-form

Japanese is agglutinative.

Arabic moderate

Past Tense (Fi'l Madi)

Arabic is root-based.

Chinese low

Le particle

Chinese has no conjugation.

Learning Path

Prerequisites

Previous
The Aorist Tense: I Did
Next
Irregular Aorist Verbs: Common Deviations

Related Grammar Rules

B2

Forming the Present Subjunctive
A1

Conjugating Regular Verbs: The -ել/-ալ Endings
A2

Conjugating Imperfect Verbs: Regular Patterns
A2

Forming the Future: Regular Verbs
B1

Forming the Perfect Tense: Auxiliary + Past Participle
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