Pronouns in Armenian
25 words Armenian words on the topic “pronouns”: Ես — I, Դու — you, Դուք — you (plural), Նա — he. 25 words can be played from recordings.
25 words on the topic
- ԵսyesIsounds like yes; the letter e at the start of a word gives a ye sound
- Դուduyoufor family, children and peers; with a stranger it is duk'
- Դուքduk'you (plural)one word for the polite 'you' and for 'you' about several people
- ՆաnaheArmenian has no gender: the same na means he, she and it
- Մենքmenk'wethe -k' ending marks the plural: yes → menk', du → duk', na → nrank'. All three pronouns are built the same way
- Նրանքnrank'theyna plus the same -nk' as in menk'. Sounds like nə-RANK': a little schwa sneaks in between the first letters
- Իմimmythe noun after it takes the article: im tunə. Plan B is a tail on the noun: tuns — the same thing
- Քոk'oyourthe tail version is -d: girk'd — your book. The polite 'your' is Dzer, with a capital
- Մերmerourdo not confuse with merr, the root of dying: one letter and the length of the rolled rr apart
- Ձերdzeryour (polite)in polite address it is written with a capital — Dzer — and so is Duk'
- Նրաnrahis, her, their (whose)no gender in Armenian: nra works about a man and a woman alike. 'Their' is nrancts
- Իրirone's ownmarks the doer's own thing and is just as obligatory as its meaning: ir girkə — his own book, nra girkə — somebody else's
- Ինքսink'smyselfit changes with the person: ink's, ink'd, inkə. The tail is the same one the possessives use
- Ամբողջamboghjthe wholestands before the noun: amboghj orə — the whole day. Bololor is 'everyone', about a crowd
- Յուրաքանչյուրըyurak'anchyureach ofa long bookish word. In speech amen mekə — 'every single one' — does the job
- Ցանկացածtsankatsatsanya participle of ts'ankanalu — to wish: literally 'wished'. The equal voreve is shorter
- Այսaysthisthree degrees of distance: ays is by me, ayd is by you, ayn is over there
- Այնaynthatthe farthest of the three steps. The pronoun na — he — and its oblique nra come from the same stem
- Այսպիսիayspisisuchthree steps here too: ayspisi, aydpisi, aynpisi — at the same distances
- Ուրիշurishanotherurish is the colloquial word, ayl the bookish one. Speech almost always takes the first
- Ոչ միvoch minoneliterally 'not one'. It demands a negation on the verb: voch mi khndir chka
- Ինչ-որ մեկըinch-vor mekəsomebodyliterally 'some kind of one'. Inch-vor is the general prefix of indefiniteness
- Ինչ-որ բանinch-vor bansomething or otherliterally 'some kind of thing'. The partner of inch-vor mekə, assembled the same way
- Նրանցից ոչ ոքnrants'its' voch vok'none of themvoch ok' — nobody — plus the ablative of the group. The negation on the verb is obligatory
- Ոչինչvochinchnothingit also serves as the polite answer to thanks and apologies — 'it is nothing'
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 Մոսկվայից եմyes Moskvayits emI am from Moscow
- Դու ո՞ր հարկում ես ապրումdu vor harkum es aprum?On which floor do you live?
- Դուք հայերեն հասկանու՞մ եքduk' hayeren haskanum ek'?Do you understand Armenian?
- Նա իմ ընկերն էna im ənkern eHe is my friend
- Մենք Երևանում ենք ապրումmenk' Yerevanum enk' aprumWe live in Yerevan
- Նրանք վաղը գալիս ենnrank' vaghə galis enThey arrive tomorrow
What is worth knowing about these words
Ես (yes) — I. em — 'am, is' — almost always stands beside it: yes lav em is literally 'I good am'
Դու (du) — you. for family, children and peers; with a stranger it is duk'
Դուք (duk') — you (plural). one word for the polite 'you' and for 'you' about several people
Նա (na) — he. Armenian has no gender: the same na means he, she and it
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 Ես (yes) — I.
- What is this word?
It is Քո (k'o) — your.
- What is this word?
It is Յուրաքանչյուրը (yurak'anchyur) — each of.
- What is this word?
It is Ինչ-որ մեկը (inch-vor mekə) — somebody.
- What is this word?
It is Նա (na) — he.
Now the other way around: recall the spelling from the meaning. That is harder, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “I” in Armenian?
em — 'am, is' — almost always stands beside it: yes lav em is literally 'I good am'
- How do you say “your” in Armenian?
the tail version is -d: girk'd — your book. The polite 'your' is Dzer, with a capital
- How do you say “each of” in Armenian?
a long bookish word. In speech amen mekə — 'every single one' — does the job
- How do you say “somebody” in Armenian?
literally 'some kind of one'. Inch-vor is the general prefix of indefiniteness
- How do you say “he” in Armenian?
Armenian has no gender: the same na means he, she and it
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
I, you, we, they. There is a handful of them, they turn up in every sentence, and politeness rides on them: most of these languages keep a formal “you” apart from a familiar one, and choosing the wrong one is noticed faster than a mispronounced word.
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” in Armenian?
«Ես», read “yes”. sounds like yes; the letter e at the start of a word gives a ye sound. It is one of 25 words in the set “pronouns” — the rest are in the table above.
How many pronouns do you need to start?
A dozen is enough. The set of 25 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, 25 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.