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PRESENT TENSE
FORMS IN ENGLISH
AND IN ARMENIAN
 THE PRESENT TENSE IS AN ESSENTIAL ASPECT OF
BOTH THE ARMENIAN AND ENGLISH LANGUAGES,
AS IT ALLOWS US TO EXPRESS ACTIONS HAPPENING
IN THE CURRENT MOMENT OR DESCRIBE HABITUAL
ACTIONS.
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. TO FORM THE PRESENT TENSE FOR REGULAR

VERBS IN ARMENIAN, WE FOLLOW A
STRAIGHTFORWARD PATTERN.
1. IDENTIFY THE VERB STEM: FOR EXAMPLE, THE
VERB "TO SPEAK" HAS THE STEM "ԽՈՍԵԼ".
2. ADD THE APPROPRIATE SUFFIX FOR THE
SUBJECT:
3. ATTACH THE SUBJECT SUFFIX TO THE VERB
STEM:
 THE PRESENT TENSE FORMS IN ENGLISH ARE
PRESENT SIMPLE AND PRESENT CONTINUOUS AND
IN ARMENIAN THERE IS ONLY ONE MAIN ՆԵՐԿԱ
ԺԱՄԱՆԱԿ WITH ITS CORRESPONDING FORMS
TERMED AS ԳԼԽԱՎՈՐ OR ԲԱՑԱՐՁԱԿ, AND
ԵՐԿՐՈՐԴԱԿԱՆ ԿԱՄ ՀԱՐԱԲԵՐԱԿԱՆ
ԺԱՄԱՆԱԿԱՁԵՒԵՐ.
 THE PRESENT TENSE PLAYS A SIGNIFICANT
ROLE IN ARMENIAN LITERATURE. MANY
ARMENIAN AUTHORS AND POETS HAVE USED
THE PRESENT TENSE TO EVOKE EMOTIONS AND
INVOLVE READERS IN THE PRESENT MOMENT.
ONE NOTABLE EXAMPLE IS THE RENOWNED
ARMENIAN POET PARUYR SEVAK, WHO OFTEN
EMPLOYED THE PRESENT TENSE TO GIVE A
SENSE OF CLOSENESS IN HIS POETRY.
 FORMALLY, THE LANGUAGES IN
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COMPARISON HAVE THESE CONVERGENT

FEATURES.

ARMENIAN ENGLISH

• Խոսում է, you are

խոսում ես vs speaking, she is
խոսելիս եմ speaking
լինում, խոսելիս
ես լինում
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Negative
constructions in
present tense
forms are analytical
in both languages:
չեմ խոսում, I don’t
speak.
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The formal divergent features between these languages are the

following:

1. The absolutely synthetic character of the English present simple

with absolutely analytical present forms in Armenian.

2. The usage of the corresponding auxiliary verb “do, does” for

interrogative and negative constructions with permanent and
mandatory word order vs the usage of the link verb “լինել”
synonymous to the English verb “to be” in Armenian. The relative
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freedom of word order in Armenian is obvious.

 • Permanent actions used for durative
verbs.
The English • Permanent, frequent, recurrent actions
for terminative verbs.
Present • A series of point actions expressing
simple is logical succession in the objective reality
and appearing mainly in diaries, mass
mainly media announcements, headlines,
used to reports and instructions.
express: • Futurity linked with present
circumstances. (if clauses)
• Future actions in schedules.
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As for the present continuous or progressive we should

remember that the Armenian language offers less with
regard to progressive description of the objective reality.
The only divergence can be observed in the following cases:
e.g. You’re looking tired, John! Հոգնած տեսք ունես, Ջոն:
e.g. You’re looking gorgeous, Helen! Հոյակապ տեսք ունես,
Հելեն:
In languages, the indicative is known as the most common mood, since
most statements and questions are expressed in this mood. As opposed
to English, which has two types of present tense, namely the present
indefinite [I go] and the present continuous [I am going], Eastern
Armenian has only one present tense equivalent to both English
present tenses. The Armenian present tense is a complex formation
which combines the auxiliary verb եմ and the present participle, which
is built from the infinitive stem of the verb and the ending -ում
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NORMALLY,
ARMENIAN
FINITE FORMS DO
NOT
NECESSARILY
REQUIRE
PERSONAL
PRONOUNS, AS
THE EXPRESSIVE
PERSONAL
FORMS OF THE
CONJUGATED
VERB MAKE THEM
REDUNDANT.
USES OF THE PRESENT TENSE IN ARMENIAN, THE PRIMARY FUNCTION OF
THE INDICATIVE PRESENT TENSE IS TO EXPRESS EVENTS, ACTIONS, AND
STATES THAT ARE IN EFFECT IN THE PRESENT. IT CAN ALSO INDICATE AN
ACTION IN PROGRESS AT THE TIME OF SPEAKING:
E.G. Ի՞ՆՉ ԵՍ ԱՆՈՒՄ! –ՆԱՄԱԿ ԵՄ ԳՐՈՒՄ
(What are you doing? I am writing a letter.)
This tense also expresses habitual actions:
e.g. Դուք հայերեն կարդում ե՞ք (Do you read Armenian?)
It is used to indicate recurrent events and universal truths:
e.g. Երկիրը պտտվում է Արևի շուրջը (The earth rotates around the sun.)
It can indicate an action in the future, implying that events have been
arranged:
e.g. Այս ամառ գնում ենք Հայաստան: (This summer we are going to Armenia.)
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