Պետք է
“Պետք է” (petk' e) — have to in Armenian. Adverb, level A1, topic — basic words. impersonal and never changes. Whoever has to goes in the dative: indz petk' e — to me it is necessary. In a live sentence: “Պետք է սպասել տասը րոպե” — You have to wait ten minutes. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters Պ, ե, տ, ք, է. One of 305 words in the set “basic words” in the Armenian course.
In short
| Written in Armenian | Պետք է |
| Read in Latin letters | petk' e |
| Translation | have to |
| Part of speech | adverb |
| Level | A1 |
- Պետք էpetk' ehave to
Why it looks that way
impersonal and never changes. Whoever has to goes in the dative: indz petk' e — to me it is necessary
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.
- Պետք է սպասել տասը րոպեpetk' e spasel tasə ropeYou have to wait ten minutes
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 “have to” in Armenian?
impersonal and never changes. Whoever has to goes in the dative: indz petk' e — to me it is necessary
- 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 “have to” in Armenian?
«Պետք է», read “petk' e”. In a live sentence: “Պետք է սպասել տասը րոպե” — You have to wait ten minutes. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Adverb, level A1, from the set “basic words”; written with the characters Պ, ե, տ, ք, է.
How is “Պետք է” written in Latin letters?
petk' e. 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?
impersonal and never changes. Whoever has to goes in the dative: indz petk' e — to me it is necessary. 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.