Վատթարանալ
“Վատթարանալ” (vatt'aranal) — to get worse in Armenian. Verb, level B1. The two t sounds do not merge: վատ-թա-րա-նալ, the second one aspirated. In a live sentence: “Եղանակը վատթարացավ երեկոյան” — The weather got worse in the evening. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters Վ, ա, տ, թ, ա, ր, ա, ն, ա, լ. A word from the everyday Armenian course, level B1.
In short
| Written in Armenian | Վատթարանալ |
| Read in Latin letters | vatt'aranal |
| Translation | to get worse |
| Part of speech | verb |
| Level | B1 |
- Վատթարանալvatt'aranalto get worse
How to pronounce it
The two t sounds do not merge: վատ-թա-րա-նալ, the second one aspirated
Why it looks that way
From վատթար, worse, the comparative of վատ. To get better is բարելավվել
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.
- Եղանակը վատթարացավ երեկոյանyeghanakə vatt'aratsav yerekoyanThe weather got worse in the evening
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 get worse” in Armenian?
«Վատթարանալ», read “vatt'aranal”. The two t sounds do not merge: վատ-թա-րա-նալ, the second one aspirated. In a live sentence: “Եղանակը վատթարացավ երեկոյան” — The weather got worse in the evening. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Verb, level B1; written with the characters Վ, ա, տ, թ, ա, ր, ա, ն, ա, լ.
How is “Վատթարանալ” written in Latin letters?
vatt'aranal. 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?
From վատթար, worse, the comparative of վատ. To get better is բարելավվել. 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.