LingoflyAt the market in Armenian
Buying tomatoes at a Yerevan market, haggling included in Armenian. 7 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Բարև ձեզ (barev dzez)։ Թարմ (t'arm) լոլիկ (lolik) ունե՞ք (unek')։» — Hello. Do you have fresh tomatoes?; «Բարև ձեզ (barev dzez)։ Այո (ayo), այսօր (aysor) եմ (em) բերել (berel)։» — Hello. Yes, I brought them today. Every line can be played right on the page.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: buying tomatoes at a Yerevan market, haggling included. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- Ինչքա՞ն է կիլոգրամը։inchk'an e kilogramə?How much per kilogram?
- lav, yerku kilo vertsnum em. toprak ka?All right, I'll take two kilos. Do you have a bag?
Lines one by one
| Armenian | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Բարև ձեզ (barev dzez)։ Թարմ (t'arm) լոլիկ (lolik) ունե՞ք (unek')։ | barev dzez. t'arm lolik unek'? | Hello. Do you have fresh tomatoes? |
| Բարև ձեզ (barev dzez)։ Այո (ayo), այսօր (aysor) եմ (em) բերել (berel)։ | barev dzez. ayo, aysor em berel | Hello. Yes, I brought them today. |
| Ինչքա՞ն (inchk'an) է կիլոգրամը։ | inchk'an e kilogramə? | How much per kilogram? |
| Հազար (hazar) դրամ (dram)։ Շատ (shat) թարմ (t'arm) է։ | hazar dram. shat t'arm e | A thousand drams. They're very fresh. |
| Ավելի էժան չի՞ լինի (aveli ezhan chi lini)։ | aveli ezhan chi lini? | Won't it be cheaper? |
| Ձեզ (dzez) համար (hamar)՝ ութ հարյուր (ut' haryur)։ | dzez hamar — ut' haryur | For you — eight hundred. |
| Լավ (lav), երկու (yerku) կիլո (kilo) վերցնում եմ (vertsnum em)։ Տոպրակ (toprak) կա (ka)՞։ | lav, yerku kilo vertsnum em. toprak ka? | All right, I'll take two kilos. Do you have a bag? |
How to prepare for a conversation like this
Memorizing the lines is not enough: the other person will say their own thing, not what is written. What helps more is catching the key words by ear and keeping three rescue phrases ready: “I don't understand”, “repeat, please”, “slower”.
And one more thing phrasebooks do not mention: awkwardness gets in the way more than not knowing the words.
- Fear of making mistakes gets in the way of learning a language, and noticeably so. The link turns up study after study, and together those studies cover almost twenty thousand people.checked many timesTeimouri, Goetze & Plonsky, 2019, Studies in Second Language Acquisition 41(2) · 19,933 participants from 23 countries; correlation with results r = −0.36.
- That fear can be dealt with — the methods have been tested and they work.checked many timesXiong et al., 2024, Journal of Language and Social Psychology · 37 studies, anxiety reduced by −0.61. Of the seven conditions examined, only age turned out to matter.
Frequently asked
How do you start a conversation in Armenian in this situation?
“Բարև ձեզ (barev dzez)։ Թարմ (t'arm) լոլիկ (lolik) ունե՞ք (unek')։” (barev dzez. t'arm lolik unek'?) — Hello. Do you have fresh tomatoes? The first line in such a conversation is almost always the same, and that is the one worth learning: the other person will carry it from there.
What if you did not understand the reply?
Say “I don't understand” and “repeat, please” — both are in the rescue set. Admitting your language is still shaky almost always makes the other person more patient.
Should you memorize the dialogue?
No. It is more useful to catch the key words by ear: the other person will say their own thing, and a memorized line will not always fit their reply.