Numbers and counting in Armenian
27 words Armenian words on the topic “numbers and counting”: Մեկ — one, Երկու — two, Երեք — three, Չորս — four. 27 words can be played from recordings.
27 words on the topic
- Մեկmekoneboth 'one' and 'once': mek angam — one time
- Երկուyerkutwohence Yerkushabti — Monday: the Armenian week literally counts its days
- Երեքyerek'threeYerek'shabti — Tuesday, 'the third day'. The counting from the previous card goes on
- Չորսchorsfourin compounds it turns into chorek': Chorek'shabti — Wednesday
- ՀինգhingfiveHingshabti — Thursday. The count ends at five: Friday and Saturday are named differently
- Վեցvetssixthe ordinal leaves it unchanged: vets → vetserord. Do not confuse with verj — 'end'
- Յոթyot'seventhe initial Y sounds like English y. The aspirated t' holds on in derivatives: yot'erord, yot' haryur
- Ութut'eightjust two sounds, both held: ut'. Do not confuse with utel — to eat: there the t has no puff
- Ինըinəninethe dictionary form with the article -ə. Before another word it stays, inə haryur, and in the ordinal the n doubles — innerord
- Տասըtasətenalso with the article -ə. In compounds it vanishes and the stem stretches: tasnmek, tasnerord
- Երկու հարյուրyerku haryurtwo hundredthe hundred never fuses with the number: written and heard as two words, yerku + haryur. The stress lands on the last syllable of the second: yer-KU har-YUR
- Երեք հարյուրyerek' haryurthree hundredyerek' stays whole here — unlike the weekday, where it shrank into yerek'shabti
- Չորս հարյուրchors haryurfour hundredchors stays intact here. In the ordinal 'fourth', though, it snaps down to chor- — that is a lesson for later
- Հինգ հարյուրhing haryurfive hundredthe workhorse coin of Armenia is the hing haryur dram; in speech people just call it hing haryuranots
- Վեց հարյուրvets haryursix hundredvets ends in ts', haryur begins with h — you hear a short puff where they meet; they never melt into one word
- Յոթ հարյուրyot' haryurseven hundredyot' is written with the aspirated t' and keeps it even inside the hundred: yot' har-YUR
- Ութ հարյուրut' haryureight hundredut' is a tiny word of just two sounds, easy to swallow in fast speech. Counting aloud, stretch the ut'
- Ինը հարյուրinə haryurnine hundredbefore haryur, nine stands in its full form inə, not in. The same in inə hazar — nine thousand
- Չորրորդchorrordfourthordinals are made with -erord, but four breaks the pattern: chors shrinks to chor- and takes -rord
- Հինգերորդhingerordfifthfrom here on everything is regular: the whole numeral plus -erord. Hing + erord
- Վեցերորդvetserordsixthvets + erord. The stress runs to the very end of the word: vetser-ORD
- Յոթերորդyot'erordseventhyot' + erord. The puff on the t' does not go anywhere, even mid-word
- Ութերորդut'erordeighthut' + erord. Do not confuse with ut'sun — eighty: a different ending there
- Իններորդinnerordninthinə drops its final ə and doubles the n: inn + erord. To the ear it is one long nn
- Տասներորդtasnerordtenthtasə becomes tasn- before the ending, just as in tasnmek — eleven
- Հարյուրերորդharyurerordhundredthharyur + erord, by the general rule. A long word, but assembled from two familiar blocks
- Թիվt'ivnumbera number as quantity. A phone number is hamar — an entirely different word
How it sounds in a sentence
A word list is a blank. Conversation is made of sentences, and these are the ones the words fit into most often.
- Մեկ տոմս, խնդրեմmek toms, khndremOne ticket, please
- Ես երկու քույր ունեմyes yerku k'uyr unemI have two sisters
- Երեք օր Երևանում կմնամyerek' or Yerevanum kmnamI'll stay three days in Yerevan
- Սեղանի շուրջ չորս աթոռ կաseghani shurj chors at'orr kaThere are four chairs around the table
- Հինգ րոպեից սկսում ենքhing ropeits sksum enk'We start in five minutes
- Վեց ամիս է, ինչ հայերեն եմ սովորումvets amis e, inch hayeren em sovorumI've been learning Armenian for six months now
What is worth knowing about these words
Մեկ (mek) — one. both 'one' and 'once': mek angam — one time
Երկու (yerku) — two. hence Yerkushabti — Monday: the Armenian week literally counts its days
Երեք (yerek') — three. Yerek'shabti — Tuesday, 'the third day'. The counting from the previous card goes on
Չորս (chors) — four. in compounds it turns into chorek': Chorek'shabti — Wednesday
Test yourself
First by ear — the way you will meet the word in conversation. Click the speaker and pick the translation.
- What is this word?
It is Մեկ (mek) — one.
- What is this word?
It is Ութ (ut') — eight.
- What is this word?
It is Վեց հարյուր (vets haryur) — six hundred.
- What is this word?
It is Յոթերորդ (yot'erord) — seventh.
- What is this word?
It is Երկու (yerku) — two.
Now the other way around: recall the spelling from the meaning. That is harder, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “one” in Armenian?
both 'one' and 'once': mek angam — one time
- How do you say “eight” in Armenian?
just two sounds, both held: ut'. Do not confuse with utel — to eat: there the t has no puff
- How do you say “six hundred” in Armenian?
vets ends in ts', haryur begins with h — you hear a short puff where they meet; they never melt into one word
- How do you say “seventh” in Armenian?
yot' + erord. The puff on the t' does not go anywhere, even mid-word
- How do you say “two” in Armenian?
hence Yerkushabti — Monday: the Armenian week literally counts its days
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
A price, the change, a house number, the time you agreed on, the floor. Numbers are the first thing you have to catch by ear — and the first thing people say fast.
A list is read in a minute and forgotten in a day. What works: hide the translation, try to recall, get it wrong — and come back to the same words tomorrow.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- This holds not only in experiments but in ordinary classrooms, with real students.checked many timesMawson & Kang, 2025, Behavioral Sciences 15(6):771 · 22 studies, d = 0.54 (confidence interval 0.31–0.77). The authors warn that individual studies disagree widely.
Frequently asked
How do you say “one” in Armenian?
«Մեկ», read “mek”. both 'one' and 'once': mek angam — one time. It is one of 27 words in the set “numbers and counting” — the rest are in the table above.
How many numbers do you need to start?
A dozen is enough. The set of 27 words on this page covers nearly every everyday case on the topic — but it is best taken a few at a time, not all at once.
Is there audio?
Yes, 27 words on this page can be played — click the speaker next to the word. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.