Pronouns in Western Armenian
25 words Western Armenian words on the topic “pronouns”: Ես — I, Դու — you, Դուք — you (plural, formal), Ան — he.
25 words on the topic
- ԵսyesIsounds exactly like the English word 'yes': the letter ե at the start of a word gives 'ye'
- ԴուtuyouFor family, children and peers; strangers get
դուք. The դ sounds like t: say 'too'. One syllable — the shortest word you will say all day - Դուքtuk'you (plural, formal)One word for the polite 'you' to a stranger and the plural 'you' to a group — English needs two words here, Armenian makes do with one
- ԱնanheArmenian has no grammatical gender: the same
անmeans he, she and it. The Eastern standard spells the same wordնա— one sound, two spellings - Մենքmenk'weThe ending -ք is the plural flag:
ես→մենք,դուն→դուք,ան→անոնք. Pronounce the k, as at the end of 'ink' - Անոնքanonk'theyThe Western 'they'. The Eastern standard says
նրանքfor the same job — the two norms split even their pronouns - ԻմimmyThe noun after it takes the article:
իմ տունը— my house, literally 'my the-house'. The other way is the tail -ս:տունս - Քոk'oyourThe tail version is -դ:
գիրքդ— your book. The polite 'your' isՁեր, spelled with a capital Ձ - ՄերmerourWatch the long ռ:
մերwith one trill is 'our', while the near-lookalikeմեռbelongs to dying and has no place at the dinner table - Ձերtseryour (polite)In polite address it is written with a capital:
Ձեր, exactly likeԴուք— you, polite. The everyday pair isքոon the previous card - Անanhis (her)Armenian has no gender:
անորcovers his, her and their alike. The plain subject form isան - Իրirone's ownPoints back at the subject:
իր գիրքը— his own book, whileանոր գիրքըwould be somebody else's. English draws the same line with 'his own' against 'his' - Ինքսink'soneselfChanges with the person:
ինքսI myself,ինքդyou yourself,ինքըhe himself. The ending -ս is the same 'my' flag as inգիրքս - Ամբողջampoghchthe whole (of)Stands before the noun:
ամբողջ օրը— the whole day, and the article -ը is expected. For 'all' about a crowd there isբոլոր - Յուրաքանչիւրըyurak'anchyurəeach (one of)A long bookish word. In speech you will hear
ամեն մէկը— literally 'every one' — at least as often - ՑանկացածtsangatsadzanyA participle of
ցանկանալ, to wish: literally 'wished' — whatever you wish, hence 'any'. The shorter twin isորեւէ - ԱյսaysthisThree steps of distance:
այսnear me,այդnear you,այնover there — the este/ese/aquel line of Spanish - ԱյնaynthatThe farthest of the three steps. From it grows
ան— he, she — and in the oblique casesանոր - ԱյսպիսիaysbisisuchThe three steps repeat here too:
այսպիսի,այդպիսի,այնպիսի— such-near, such-mid, such-far - Ուրիշurishother
Ուրիշis the everyday word andայլthe bookish one — in speech the first wins almost always - Ոչ միvoch mino (not any)Literally 'not one'. It drags the negation into the verb:
ոչ մի խնդիր չկայ— there is no problem, with two negations on duty - Ինչ-որ մէկըinch-or megəsomeoneLiterally 'some one':
ինչ-որis the general vagueness prefix,մէկը— one person. The same prefix buildsինչ-որ բան— something, andինչ-որ տեղ— somewhere - Ինչ-որ բանinch-or pansomething (anything)Literally 'a certain thing':
բանis a thing. Built by the sameինչ-որas its partnerինչ-որ մէկը, someone — one prefix, a whole family of vague words - Նրանցից ոչ ոքnrantsits voch vok'none of them
Ոչ ոք— no one — plus the group in its -ից 'from' form:անոնցմէ— of them. The verb stays negative, as always withոչ - ՈչինչvochinchnothingAlso the polite answer to 'thank you' and to an apology — the English 'it was nothing'. One word, two jobs
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.
- Ես Մոսկուայէն եմyes Mosguayen emI am from Moscow
- Դու ո՞ր հարկին վրայ կ'ապրիսtu vor hargin vray g'abrisWhich floor do you live on?
- Դուք հայերէն կը հասկանա՞քtuk' hayeren gə hasganak'Do you understand Armenian?
- Ան իմ ընկերն էan im əngern eHe is my friend
- Մենք Պէյրութի մէջ կ'ապրինքmenk' Beyrut'i mech g'abrink'We live in Beirut
- Անոնք վաղը կ'երթանanonk' vaghə g'ert'anThey will go tomorrow
What is worth knowing about these words
Ես (yes) — I. Almost always followed by եմ, the little 'am' verb: ես լաւ եմ is literally 'I good am'. Looks and sounds like the English word 'yes' — an entirely different meaning
Դու (tu) — you. For family, children and peers; strangers get դուք. The դ sounds like t: say 'too'. One syllable — the shortest word you will say all day
Դուք (tuk') — you (plural, formal). One word for the polite 'you' to a stranger and the plural 'you' to a group — English needs two words here, Armenian makes do with one
Ան (an) — he. Armenian has no grammatical gender: the same ան means he, she and it. The Eastern standard spells the same word նա — one sound, two spellings
Test yourself
Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than recognizing a familiar word — and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “I” in Western Armenian?
Almost always followed by
եմ, the little 'am' verb:ես լաւ եմis literally 'I good am'. Looks and sounds like the English word 'yes' — an entirely different meaning - How do you say “your” in Western Armenian?
The tail version is -դ:
գիրքդ— your book. The polite 'your' isՁեր, spelled with a capital Ձ - How do you say “each (one of)” in Western Armenian?
A long bookish word. In speech you will hear
ամեն մէկը— literally 'every one' — at least as often - How do you say “someone” in Western Armenian?
Literally 'some one':
ինչ-որis the general vagueness prefix,մէկը— one person. The same prefix buildsինչ-որ բան— something, andինչ-որ տեղ— somewhere - How do you say “he” in Western Armenian?
Armenian has no grammatical gender: the same
անmeans he, she and it. The Eastern standard spells the same wordնա— one sound, two spellings
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
I, you, we, they. There is a handful of them, they turn up in every sentence, and politeness rides on them: most of these languages keep a formal “you” apart from a familiar one, and choosing the wrong one is noticed faster than a mispronounced word.
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 “I” in Western Armenian?
«Ես», read “yes”. sounds exactly like the English word 'yes': the letter ե at the start of a word gives 'ye'. It is one of 25 words in the set “pronouns” — the rest are in the table above.
How many pronouns do you need to start?
A dozen is enough. The set of 25 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.