Նախքան
“Նախքան” (nakhk'an) — before in Armenian. Phrase, level B1, topic — time, days and hours. One word, set BEFORE the subordinate clause, and the verb after it drops the k-: Nakhk'an gnas, zangir; with a noun it works the same: nakhk'an untrikə; the colloquial version of the same thought is minchew. In a live sentence: “Նախքան որոշում կայացնելը, մտածիր” — Before making a decision, think it over. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters Ն, ա, խ, ք, ա, ն.
In short
| Written in Armenian | Նախքան |
| Read in Latin letters | nakhk'an |
| Translation | before |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | B1 |
- Նախքանnakhk'anbefore
Why it looks that way
One word, set BEFORE the subordinate clause, and the verb after it drops the k-: Nakhk'an gnas, zangir; with a noun it works the same: nakhk'an untrikə; the colloquial version of the same thought is minchew
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.
- Նախքան որոշում կայացնելը, մտածիրnakhk'an voroshum kayatsnelə, mtatsirBefore making a decision, think it over
Nearby words: time, days and hours
Today, tomorrow, in the morning, at six. You cannot arrange to meet without these — let alone understand the answer.
- Օրordaywritten with O; with plain o it would come out 'vor'. Hence aysor — today, oragir — diary, kesor — noon
- Այսօրaysortodayays + or — 'this day' — fused into one word. But ays shabat' and ays tari are written apart
- Վաղըvaghətomorrowthe dictionary form carries the article -ə. Without it vagh means 'early': vagh arravotyan — early in the morning
- Երեկyerekyesterdayone letter apart from yerek' — three; its kin is yereko — evening: 'yesterday' is literally 'what belongs to the evening'
- Առավոտarravotmorningdouble rr — rolled. 'In the morning' is arravotyan, a form of its own, not a preposition
- Երեկոyerekoeveningone root with yerek — yesterday. 'In the evening' is yerekoyan, the same -yan ending as the morning's
- Գիշերgishernighthence kesgisher — midnight — and gisherel — to spend the night. 'At night' is gisherə, the article instead of a preposition
- Ժամzhamhourzh sounds like the s in 'measure'. It is both the hour as a span and the time on the clock: zhamə k'anisn e. The clock itself is zhamats'uyts'
- Ե՞րբ կգաքyerb kgak'when will you come?the k- prefix on the verb makes the future: kgak' — 'you will come'. The hook sits on yerb
- Ժամը քանիսի՞նzhamə k'anisinat what time?literally 'the hour at which'. Zham — hour — you already know from unit four
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “time, days and hours”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “before” in Armenian?
One word, set BEFORE the subordinate clause, and the verb after it drops the k-: Nakhk'an gnas, zangir; with a noun it works the same: nakhk'an untrikə; the colloquial version of the same thought is minchew
- How do you say “night” in Armenian?
hence kesgisher — midnight — and gisherel — to spend the night. 'At night' is gisherə, the article instead of a preposition
- How do you say “tomorrow” in Armenian?
the dictionary form carries the article -ə. Without it vagh means 'early': vagh arravotyan — early in the morning
- How do you say “at what time?” in Armenian?
literally 'the hour at which'. Zham — hour — you already know from unit four
- How do you say “evening” in Armenian?
one root with yerek — yesterday. 'In the evening' is yerekoyan, the same -yan ending as the morning's
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 “before” in Armenian?
«Նախքան», read “nakhk'an”. In a live sentence: “Նախքան որոշում կայացնելը, մտածիր” — Before making a decision, think it over. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Phrase, level B1, from the set “time, days and hours”; written with the characters Ն, ա, խ, ք, ա, ն.
How is “Նախքան” written in Latin letters?
nakhk'an. 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?
One word, set BEFORE the subordinate clause, and the verb after it drops the k-: Nakhk'an gnas, zangir; with a noun it works the same: nakhk'an untrikə; the colloquial version of the same thought is minchew. 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.