Numbers and counting in Western Armenian
27 words Western Armenian words on the topic “numbers and counting”: Մէկ — one, Երկու — two, Երեք — three, Չորս — four.
27 words on the topic
- ՄէկmegoneClassical spelling writes է:
մէկ. կ sounds like g: say 'meg', rhyming with 'egg'. Order away:մէկ սուրճ— one coffee - Երկուyergutwoyer-GOO with a hard g — կ sounds like g in the West. After a number the noun stays singular: Armenian counts without the plural
- Երեքyerek'threeEnds in ք — a k with a puff of air: ye-REK'. One syllable, one puff
- ՉորսchorsfourStarts with չ — a ch with an extra puff of air, as in 'church': CHORSS
- ՀինգhinkfiveThe գ sounds like k here: hing — rhyme it with 'ring'
- ՎեցvetssixEnds on ց, a sharp ts like the end of 'cats': VETSS
- Եօթyeot'sevenClassical spelling writes օ:
եօթ; the Eastern reformed spelling writesյոթ— same seven, different letters. Say ye-OT' - Ութut'eightOOT with a breathy final t — the թ is a t with a puff. The shortest number in the row
- ԻնըinənineEE-nə: the little ə at the end is a fleeting murmur, like the a in 'sofa'
- ՏասըdasətenThe տ sounds like d: DAH-sə. From the same root comes
տասներորդ, tenth — numbers grow suffixes as they climb - Երկու հարիւրyergu haryurtwo hundredThe hundred does not fuse with the number: written and heard as two words —
երկու+հարիւր. The stress lands on the last syllable of each: yer-GU har-yoor - Երեք հարիւրyerek' haryurthree hundred
երեքstays whole here — unlike in the day of the weekերեքշաբթի, Tuesday, where the same numeral got clipped - Չորս հարիւրchors haryurfour hundred
չորսkeeps its full shape. In the ordinal 'fourth', by contrast, it breaks down toչոր-— that word gets a card of its own below - Հինգ հարիւրhink haryurfive hundredThe most used coin in Armenia is the five-hundred-dram piece, and in conversation it goes by the pet name
հինգ հարիւրանոց - Վեց հարիւրvets haryursix hundred
վեցends in a sharp ts andհարիւրbegins with an h — at the seam you hear a short puff of air; the words refuse to melt together - Յոթ հարիւրyot' haryurseven hundred
յոթis written with the breathy թ, and the puff survives inside the hundred: yot'-har-yoor - Ութ հարիւրut' haryureight hundred
ութis a tiny word of two sounds, easy to swallow in a stream of speech. Counting aloud, stretch theութa beat longer - Ինը հարիւրinə haryurnine hundredBefore
հարիւրthe nine stands in its full formինը, not the clippedին. The same holds inինը հազար— nine thousand - ՉորրորդchorrortfourthOrdinals take the ending -երորդ, but four drops out of the row: from
չորսonlyչոր-survives, and-րորդglues onto it - ՀինգերորդhinkerortfifthFrom here on the rule runs smooth: the whole numeral plus -երորդ.
հինգ+երորդ— the word assembles itself - Վեցերորդvetserortsixth
վեց+երորդ. The stress rolls all the way to the end of the word: vet-ser-ORD - Յոթերորդyot'erortseventh
յոթ+երորդ. The breath on the թ does not go away inside the long word either - Ութերորդut'erorteighth
ութ+երորդ. Do not mix up withութսուն, eighty — that one wears a different tail - Իններորդinnerortninth
ինըloses its final ը and doubles the ն:ինն+երորդ. To the ear it is one long held n - Տասներորդdasnerorttenth
տասըputs on theտասն-shape before the ending, exactly as it does inտասնմէկ, eleven - Հարիւրերորդharyurerorthundredth
հարիւր+երորդ, by the general rule. A long word, but assembled from two pieces you already own - Թիվt'ivnumberA number as quantity. The number of a phone or a house is
համար— a different word entirely
How it sounds in a sentence
A word list is a blank. Conversation is made of sentences, and these are the ones the words fit into most often.
- Մէկ սուրճ, խնդրեմmeg surj, khntremOne coffee, please
- Երկու թեյ, խնդրեմyergu t'ey, khntremTwo teas, please
- Երեք պանիր, խնդրեմyerek' banir, khntremThree cheeses, please
- Չորս տարի ուսանած եմchors dari usanadz emI studied for four years
- Հինգ րոպէ սպասեքhink robe sbasek'Wait five minutes
- Վեց ժամուան երեկոյան կ'երթամvets zhamuan yeregoyan g'ert'amAt six in the evening I will go
What is worth knowing about these words
Մէկ (meg) — one. Classical spelling writes է: մէկ. կ sounds like g: say 'meg', rhyming with 'egg'. Order away: մէկ սուրճ — one coffee
Երկու (yergu) — two. yer-GOO with a hard g — կ sounds like g in the West. After a number the noun stays singular: Armenian counts without the plural
Երեք (yerek') — three. Ends in ք — a k with a puff of air: ye-REK'. One syllable, one puff
Չորս (chors) — four. Starts with չ — a ch with an extra puff of air, as in 'church': CHORSS
Test yourself
Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than recognizing a familiar word — and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “one” in Western Armenian?
Classical spelling writes է:
մէկ. կ sounds like g: say 'meg', rhyming with 'egg'. Order away:մէկ սուրճ— one coffee - How do you say “eight” in Western Armenian?
OOT with a breathy final t — the թ is a t with a puff. The shortest number in the row
- How do you say “six hundred” in Western Armenian?
վեցends in a sharp ts andհարիւրbegins with an h — at the seam you hear a short puff of air; the words refuse to melt together - How do you say “seventh” in Western Armenian?
յոթ+երորդ. The breath on the թ does not go away inside the long word either - How do you say “two” in Western Armenian?
yer-GOO with a hard g — կ sounds like g in the West. After a number the noun stays singular: Armenian counts without the plural
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
A price, the change, a house number, the time you agreed on, the floor. Numbers are the first thing you have to catch by ear — and the first thing people say fast.
A list is read in a minute and forgotten in a day. What works: hide the translation, try to recall, get it wrong — and come back to the same words tomorrow.
- 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.
- This holds not only in experiments but in ordinary classrooms, with real students.checked many timesMawson & Kang, 2025, Behavioral Sciences 15(6):771 · 22 studies, d = 0.54 (confidence interval 0.31–0.77). The authors warn that individual studies disagree widely.
Frequently asked
How do you say “one” in Western Armenian?
«Մէկ», read “meg”. Classical spelling writes է: մէկ. կ sounds like g: say 'meg', rhyming with 'egg'. Order away: մէկ սուրճ — one coffee. It is one of 27 words in the set “numbers and counting” — the rest are in the table above.
How many numbers do you need to start?
A dozen is enough. The set of 27 words on this page covers nearly every everyday case on the topic — but it is best taken a few at a time, not all at once.