Ֆեն
“Ֆեն” (fen) — hairdryer in Armenian. Noun, level A2, topic — home and things. The letter f is rare in Armenian and almost always betrays a borrowing — as in film and fakultet; the bookish way is mazeri choratsutsich, a hair drier, but nobody says it. In a live sentence: “Ֆենը վերցրու ճամպրուկից” — Take the hairdryer out of the suitcase. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters Ֆ, ե, ն.
In short
| Written in Armenian | Ֆեն |
| Read in Latin letters | fen |
| Translation | hairdryer |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A2 |
- Ֆենfenhairdryer
Why it looks that way
The letter f is rare in Armenian and almost always betrays a borrowing — as in film and fakultet; the bookish way is mazeri choratsutsich, a hair drier, but nobody says it
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.
- Ֆենը վերցրու ճամպրուկիցfenə vertsru champrukitsTake the hairdryer out of the suitcase
Nearby words: home and things
Room, key, water, electricity. You will need them on your first day in a rented flat.
- Տունtunhousethe stem shifts in the local case: tanə — at home, tun — home. Hence deghatun — pharmacy — and tnayin — domestic
- Կոտրվածkotrvatsbrokenfrom kotrel — to break. The -vats ending makes the participle: 'broken'
- Բնակարանbnakaranapartmentthe first word of any rental ad. Strictly a flat, and in Yerevan housing is hunted under exactly this name
- Սենյակsenyakroomhence grasenyak — office, 'a room for papers'
- Խոհանոցkhohanotskitchenhence khoharar — cook: the one in the kitchen
- Լոգարանlogaranbathroomfrom logank' — bathing. The toilet is a separate word, zugaran; the two resemble each other and get mixed up
- Պատշգամբpatshgambbalconythe literary word; in conversation everyone says balkon
- Հարկharkfloora false friend inside Armenian itself: hark is both 'floor' and 'tax'. Context tells them apart
- Վերելակverelakelevatorver — up. Signs print verelak, in speech lift is heard more often
- Աստիճաններastichannerstairsthe plural of astichan — step. In Armenian a staircase is simply 'steps'
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “home and things”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “hairdryer” in Armenian?
The letter f is rare in Armenian and almost always betrays a borrowing — as in film and fakultet; the bookish way is mazeri choratsutsich, a hair drier, but nobody says it
- How do you say “balcony” in Armenian?
the literary word; in conversation everyone says balkon
- How do you say “apartment” in Armenian?
the first word of any rental ad. Strictly a flat, and in Yerevan housing is hunted under exactly this name
- How do you say “stairs” in Armenian?
the plural of astichan — step. In Armenian a staircase is simply 'steps'
- How do you say “bathroom” in Armenian?
from logank' — bathing. The toilet is a separate word, zugaran; the two resemble each other and get mixed up
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 “hairdryer” in Armenian?
«Ֆեն», read “fen”. In a live sentence: “Ֆենը վերցրու ճամպրուկից” — Take the hairdryer out of the suitcase. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level A2, from the set “home and things”; written with the characters Ֆ, ե, ն.
How is “Ֆեն” written in Latin letters?
fen. 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?
The letter f is rare in Armenian and almost always betrays a borrowing — as in film and fakultet; the bookish way is mazeri choratsutsich, a hair drier, but nobody says it. 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.