Հրշեջ մեքենա
“Հրշեջ մեքենա” (hrshej mek'ena) — fire engine in Armenian. Noun, level A2, topic — the city and its places. The same հրշեջ as in firefighter: the word serves for the person and for the trait. The ambulance is շտապօգնություն and the police car is ոստիկանական մեքենա. In a live sentence: “Հրշեջ մեքենան կանգնեց բակում” — The fire engine stopped in the courtyard. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters Հ, ր, շ, ե, ջ, մ, ե, ք, ե, ն, ա.
In short
| Written in Armenian | Հրշեջ մեքենա |
| Read in Latin letters | hrshej mek'ena |
| Translation | fire engine |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A2 |
- Հրշեջ մեքենաhrshej mek'enafire engine
Why it looks that way
The same հրշեջ as in firefighter: the word serves for the person and for the trait. The ambulance is շտապօգնություն and the police car is ոստիկանական մեքենա
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.
- Հրշեջ մեքենան կանգնեց բակումhrshej mek'enan kangnets bakumThe fire engine stopped in the courtyard
Nearby words: the city and its places
Street, square, pharmacy, bank. An address is built out of these, and an address is something you have to both say and understand.
- Սրճարանsrcharancoffee shopsurch — coffee, but the u drops out in the derivative: srch-. The -aran ending marks a place: degharan, chasharan, gradaran
- Ճաշարանchasharancanteenfrom chash — lunch. It names both a factory canteen and an inexpensive place with hot food
- Քաղաքk'aghak'cityboth k' are aspirated: k'aghak'. Hence k'aghak'atsi — citizen, and k'aghak'avari — polite, literally 'city-mannered'
- Փողոցp'oghotsstreetp' is a p with a puff of air; with plain p it would be a different word. Stress at the end: p'ogh-TS'
- Խանութkhanut'shopa borrowing familiar to the whole region. The shopkeeper in it is khanutpan, where -pan means 'keeper'
- Շուկաshukamarketany market, from groceries to exchanges: ashkhatashuka — the job market. The Yerevan flea market is more often called by name — Vernisazh
- Դեղատունdeghatunpharmacydegh — medicine, tun — house
- ԲանկbankbankB is a plain b with no puff. Do not confuse with ban — 'thing, matter': only the final k is different
- Կայարանkayaranstationthe same word names the metro station and the railway station: Yerkat'ghi kayaran, metroyi kayaran
- Մթերային խանութmt'erayin khanut'grocery storemt'erk' — produce. Khanut you already know; the adjective only says which shop
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “the city and its places”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “fire engine” in Armenian?
The same հրշեջ as in firefighter: the word serves for the person and for the trait. The ambulance is շտապօգնություն and the police car is ոստիկանական մեքենա
- How do you say “pharmacy” in Armenian?
degh — medicine, tun — house
- How do you say “city” in Armenian?
both k' are aspirated: k'aghak'. Hence k'aghak'atsi — citizen, and k'aghak'avari — polite, literally 'city-mannered'
- How do you say “grocery store” in Armenian?
mt'erk' — produce. Khanut you already know; the adjective only says which shop
- How do you say “market” in Armenian?
any market, from groceries to exchanges: ashkhatashuka — the job market. The Yerevan flea market is more often called by name — Vernisazh
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 “fire engine” in Armenian?
«Հրշեջ մեքենա», read “hrshej mek'ena”. In a live sentence: “Հրշեջ մեքենան կանգնեց բակում” — The fire engine stopped in the courtyard. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level A2, from the set “the city and its places”; written with the characters Հ, ր, շ, ե, ջ, մ, ե, ք, ե, ն, ա.
How is “Հրշեջ մեքենա” written in Latin letters?
hrshej mek'ena. 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 same հրշեջ as in firefighter: the word serves for the person and for the trait. The ambulance is շտապօգնություն and the police car is ոստիկանական մեքենա. 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.