Completed writing and reading

Use explicit simple-past forms and contrast them with ongoing past actions.

Write: six simple-past forms

ես գրեցի; դու գրեցիր; նա գրեց; մենք գրեցինք; դուք գրեցիք; նրանք գրեցին. The simple past (aorist) presents a completed event and needs no separate auxiliary.

Read and other supplied past forms

ես կարդացի = I read (past); նա կարդաց = he/she read (past). Also learn ես աշխատեցի (I worked), ես ապրեցի (I lived), ես սովորեցի (I learned/studied). These are supplied forms, not a universal rule for any infinitive.

Completion versus progress

գրում էի = I was writing; գրեցի = I wrote. Երեկ ես նամակ գրեցի։ = Yesterday I wrote a letter. The writing is presented as a completed event.

Negative completed past

ես չգրեցի = I did not write. Unlike չեմ գրում, this is a single finite word in the simple past.

Ես երեկ չգրեցի։

I did not write yesterday.