Verbs in Armenian
23 words Armenian words on the topic “verbs”: Ուզում եմ — I want, Գնալ — to go, Ուտել — to eat, Խմել — to drink. 23 words can be played from recordings.
23 words on the topic
- Ուզում եմuzum emI wantfrom uzel. The present tense is uniform everywhere: stem + -um + the little linking verb. The politer kuzenayi means 'I would like'
- Գնալgnalto goone verb for all motion away from you — on foot, by car, by plane. Do not mix with gnel — to buy: the whole difference is one a
- Ուտելutelto eatdo not mix with ka — 'there is': a different job entirely
- Խմելkhmelto drinkkh is a deep, throaty sound, farther back than English h. One verb for water, tea and wine
- Կարդալkardalto readreading only: 'to study' is another verb, sovorel. The k is a clean k with no puff
- Խոսելkhoselto speakspeech in general; 'to say' is asel. With someone — khosel ... het. Hence herrakhos — telephone, 'far-speaker'
- Աշխատելashkhatelto workof people and things alike: verelakə chi ashkhatum — the elevator is out of order
- Ապրելaprelto liveboth 'to live somewhere' and 'to be alive'. Hence the praise apres — 'well done', literally 'live!'
- Սիրելsirelto loveof people and of pursuits: sirum em kardal. Hence ser — love — and sirun — good-looking
- ՈւնեմunemI haveArmenian needs no 'at mine': unem means 'I have', the person is already in the ending. The negation is chunem
- Կաkathere isabout existence: jur ka? — 'is there water?' The negation is chka. Nothing to do with eating — that is utel
- Սովորելsovorelto studyone verb for 'to study something' and 'to be a student'; a third meaning is 'to get used to': sovorel em aystegh
- Ընտրելəntrelto choosethe same verb means 'to vote': əntrut'yunner — elections
- Ուսանելusanelto learnthe bookish 'to study', kin to usanogh — student. In lively speech sovorel does the same job
- Մտապահելmtapahelto memorizemitk' — thought, pahel — to keep: 'to hold in thought'
- Տեսնելtesnelto seethe same root as in tstesut'yun — goodbye, literally 'until seeing'. The past is irregular: tesa, not tsetsi
- Լսելlselto hearno vowel between l and s: the word runs in one syllable, l-SEL
- Քնելk'nelto sleepthe k is a k on the exhale with a consonant right behind it: k'n-EL
- Տանելtanelto carrythe direction is built into the verb: tanel — carry it away from here, berel — carry it here. You have seen it in tanelu hamar — 'for takeout'
- Դնելdnelto putone word for 'stand' and 'lay': Armenian does not care whether the thing stands or lies. You have seen it in hashvin gumarr dnel — 'put money on the account'
- Կոտրելkotrelto breakthe familiar kotrvel e — 'it broke' — is this verb with a -v- insert: it broke by itself, nobody to blame. Kotrel — somebody broke it
- Կառուցելkarrutselto buildthe rr is rolled, longer than a plain r: ka-ru-TSEL
- Ջեռուցելjerrutselto heatthe j is one sound, as in jet, and the rr is rolled: je-ru-TSEL
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.
- Ես ուզում եմ թեյyes uzum em t'eyI want tea
- Ես գնում եմ տունyes gnum em tunI am going home
- Մենք ուտում ենք հացmenk' utum enk' hatsWe are eating bread
- Նա խմում է սուրճna khmum e surchHe is drinking coffee
- Երեկոյան գիրք եմ կարդումyerekoyan girk' em kardumIn the evening I read a book
- Դուք խոսու՞մ եք հայերենduk' khosum ek' hayerenDo you speak Armenian?
What is worth knowing about these words
Ուզում եմ (uzum em) — I want. from uzel. The present tense is uniform everywhere: stem + -um + the little linking verb. The politer kuzenayi means 'I would like'
Գնալ (gnal) — to go. one verb for all motion away from you — on foot, by car, by plane. Do not mix with gnel — to buy: the whole difference is one a
Ուտել (utel) — to eat. do not mix with ka — 'there is': a different job entirely
Խմել (khmel) — to drink. kh is a deep, throaty sound, farther back than English h. One verb for water, tea and wine
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 Ուզում եմ (uzum em) — I want.
- What is this word?
It is Ապրել (aprel) — to live.
- What is this word?
It is Մտապահել (mtapahel) — to memorize.
- What is this word?
It is Կառուցել (karrutsel) — to build.
- What is this word?
It is Խոսել (khosel) — to speak.
Now the other way around: recall the spelling from the meaning. That is harder, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “I want” in Armenian?
from uzel. The present tense is uniform everywhere: stem + -um + the little linking verb. The politer kuzenayi means 'I would like'
- How do you say “to live” in Armenian?
both 'to live somewhere' and 'to be alive'. Hence the praise apres — 'well done', literally 'live!'
- How do you say “to memorize” in Armenian?
mitk' — thought, pahel — to keep: 'to hold in thought'
- How do you say “to build” in Armenian?
about houses, bridges and roads. The familiar shinarrar — builder — comes from another root, shin-: the verb shinel exists too but is colloquial and closer to 'knock together'
- How do you say “to speak” in Armenian?
speech in general; 'to say' is asel. With someone — khosel ... het. Hence herrakhos — telephone, 'far-speaker'
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
I want, I can, I am going, I know. Twenty verbs cover more everyday sentences than two hundred nouns.
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 “I want” in Armenian?
«Ուզում եմ», read “uzum em”. from uzel. The present tense is uniform everywhere: stem + -um + the little linking verb. The politer kuzenayi means 'I would like'. It is one of 23 words in the set “verbs” — the rest are in the table above.
How many verbs do you need to start?
A dozen is enough. The set of 23 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, 23 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.