եմ
“եմ” (em) — to be (am, is, are) in Armenian. Verb, level A0, topic — basic words. Comes after the predicate: Yes lav em — 'I am fine', word for word 'I fine am'. The set is learned whole: em, es, e, enk', ek', en. The past takes another stem: ei, er, ein. In a live sentence: “Ես ռուս եմ” — I am Russian. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters ե, մ.
In short
| Written in Armenian | եմ |
| Read in Latin letters | em |
| Translation | to be (am, is, are) |
| Part of speech | verb |
| Level | A0 |
- եմemto be (am, is, are)
Why it looks that way
Comes after the predicate: Yes lav em — 'I am fine', word for word 'I fine am'. The set is learned whole: em, es, e, enk', ek', en. The past takes another stem: ei, er, ein
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- Ես ռուս եմYes rus emI am Russian
- Մենք միասին ենքMenk' miasin enk'We are together
- Նա իմ ամուսինն էNa im amusinn eHe is my husband
- Մարդիկ այստեղ լավ ենMardik aystegh lav enPeople here are good
Nearby words: basic words
Yes, no, good, bad, very. The small change of a language — and no sentence assembles without it.
- Այոayoyesthe neutral yes that works everywhere; among your own people the short ha is heard more often
- Ոչvochnothe same particle works as 'neither': voch yes, voch du — neither me nor you
- Հաhayepthe chatty yes, closer to English yeah; in texts and among friends it beats ayo
- Լավlavgoodone word for 'good' and 'well': lav em — I am good, lav mard — a good person. It also serves as agreement, like English alright
- Վատvatbadthe partner of lav and behaves the same: vat em — I feel bad, vat yeghanak — bad weather
- Շատ լավshat lavvery goodshat means 'very' and sits right before the adjective
- Կեսkeshalfkes doubles as the prefix 'half-': kes zham — half an hour, kes kilo — half a kilo
- Պետք չէpetk' cheI don't need itthe literary form is petk' che, but lively speech almost always says petk' chi. Softer together with shnorhakalut'yun
- Մի հատ էլmi hat elone morehat — 'piece' — is the counting word. Yerevantsis slip it in almost everywhere: mi hat surch
- Բավական էbavakan eenoughwhen the seller keeps piling it on and it is time to stop — bavakan e. Among friends and blunter: herik' e
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “basic words”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “to be (am, is, are)” in Armenian?
Comes after the predicate: Yes lav em — 'I am fine', word for word 'I fine am'. The set is learned whole: em, es, e, enk', ek', en. The past takes another stem: ei, er, ein
- How do you say “half” in Armenian?
kes doubles as the prefix 'half-': kes zham — half an hour, kes kilo — half a kilo
- How do you say “yep” in Armenian?
the chatty yes, closer to English yeah; in texts and among friends it beats ayo
- How do you say “enough” in Armenian?
when the seller keeps piling it on and it is time to stop — bavakan e. Among friends and blunter: herik' e
- How do you say “very good” in Armenian?
shat means 'very' and sits right before the adjective
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- 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.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “to be (am, is, are)” in Armenian?
«եմ», read “em”. In a live sentence: “Ես ռուս եմ” — I am Russian. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Verb, level A0, from the set “basic words”; written with the characters ե, մ.
How is “եմ” written in Latin letters?
em. This is a practical spelling — you need it to read aloud and be understood, not to meet an academic standard.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Comes after the predicate: Yes lav em — 'I am fine', word for word 'I fine am'. The set is learned whole: em, es, e, enk', ek', en. The past takes another stem: ei, er, ein. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
Can I hear how it sounds?
Yes, right on this page: click the word and it will play. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.