Greetings and goodbyes in Armenian
10 words Armenian words on the topic “greetings and goodbyes”: Բարև — hi, Բարև ձեզ — hello, Բարի լույս — good morning, Բարի օր — good afternoon. 10 words can be played from recordings.
10 words on the topic
- Բարևbarevhisounds like ba-REV, stress on the last syllable, as in almost every Armenian word
- Բարև ձեզbarev dzezhellodzez means 'to you': the polite greeting for strangers and elders; barev alone is for friends
- Բարի լույսbari luysgood morningbari — kind, luys — light: literally 'kind light'
- Բարի օրbari orgood afternoonthe same bari as in barev; or means day
- Բարի երեկոbari yerekogood eveningyereko — evening. Morning, day and evening all follow one pattern: bari + the time of day
- Ցտեսությունtstesut'yungoodbyefrom tesnel — to see; literally 'until seeing', the same build as 'until we meet again'
- Հաջողhajoghbyethe informal send-off between friends; at root it means 'successful'
- Ինչպե՞ս եսinchpes eshow are you?the little hook above a letter is the Armenian question mark: it sits on the stressed syllable of the asked word, not at the end of the phrase
- Ինչպե՞ս եքinchpes ekhow do you do?the ek form is the polite one, for elders and strangers; es is for your own circle
- Բարի գիշերbari gishergood nightthe same bari — kind — as in bari luys and bari yereko. It is said when parting to sleep; meeting in the evening calls for bari yereko
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.
- Բարև, ի՞նչ նորությունbarev, inch norut'yunHi, what's new?
- Բարև ձեզ, ես Աննան եմbarev dzez, yes Annan emHello, I am Anna
- Բարի լույս, սուրճ կխմե՞քbari luys, surch kkhmek'?Good morning, will you have coffee?
- Բարի օր, ազատ սեղան ունե՞քbari or, azat seghan unek'?Good afternoon, is a table free?
- Բարի երեկո, ներս եկեքbari yereko, ners yekek'Good evening, come in
- Ցտեսություն, մինչև վաղըtstesut'yun, minchev vaghəGoodbye, see you tomorrow
What is worth knowing about these words
Բարև (barev) — hi. bari means kind, arev means sun — literally 'kind sun'. Sounds like ba-REV.
Բարև ձեզ (barev dzez) — hello. dzez means 'to you': the polite greeting for strangers and elders; barev alone is for friends
Բարի լույս (bari luys) — good morning. bari — kind, luys — light: literally 'kind light'
Բարի օր (bari or) — good afternoon. the same bari as in barev; or means day
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 Բարև (barev) — hi.
- What is this word?
It is Ինչպե՞ս ես (inchpes es) — how are you?.
- What is this word?
It is Բարի երեկո (bari yereko) — good evening.
- What is this word?
It is Բարև ձեզ (barev dzez) — hello.
- What is this word?
It is Ինչպե՞ս եք (inchpes ek) — how do you do?.
Now the other way around: recall the spelling from the meaning. That is harder, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “hi” in Armenian?
bari means kind, arev means sun — literally 'kind sun'. Sounds like ba-REV.
- How do you say “how are you?” in Armenian?
the little hook above a letter is the Armenian question mark: it sits on the stressed syllable of the asked word, not at the end of the phrase
- How do you say “good evening” in Armenian?
yereko — evening. Morning, day and evening all follow one pattern: bari + the time of day
- How do you say “hello” in Armenian?
dzez means 'to you': the polite greeting for strangers and elders; barev alone is for friends
- How do you say “how do you do?” in Armenian?
the ek form is the polite one, for elders and strangers; es is for your own circle
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
Every conversation starts here, and so does every first impression: say hello in the local language and you stop being a stranger in about a second.
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 “hi” in Armenian?
«Բարև», read “barev”. sounds like ba-REV, stress on the last syllable, as in almost every Armenian word. It is one of 10 words in the set “greetings and goodbyes” — the rest are in the table above.
How many greetings do you need to start?
A dozen is enough. The set of 10 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, 10 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.