Ղեկավարել
“Ղեկավարել” (ghegavarel) — to lead in Western Armenian. Verb, level B1. the ղ is the voiced partner of խ, a sound from the very back of the throat — rougher than any English g. In a live sentence: “Նա ղեկավարում է տասը հոգանոց թիմը” — She leads a team of ten people. Written with the characters Ղ, ե, կ, ա, վ, ա, ր, ե, լ. A word from the everyday Western Armenian course, level B1.
In short
| Written in Western Armenian | Ղեկավարել |
| Read in Latin letters | ghegavarel |
| Translation | to lead |
| Part of speech | verb |
| Level | B1 |
How to pronounce it
the ղ is the voiced partner of խ, a sound from the very back of the throat — rougher than any English g
Why it looks that way
ղեկ is a steering wheel: the leader is 'the one at the wheel'. Where English needs 'manage', Armenian takes a plain object: ղեկաւարում է բաժինը
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.
- Նա ղեկավարում է տասը հոգանոց թիմըna ghegavarum e dasə hokanots t'iməShe leads a team of ten people
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 lead” in Western Armenian?
«Ղեկավարել», read “ghegavarel”. the ղ is the voiced partner of խ, a sound from the very back of the throat — rougher than any English g. In a live sentence: “Նա ղեկավարում է տասը հոգանոց թիմը” — She leads a team of ten people. Verb, level B1; written with the characters Ղ, ե, կ, ա, վ, ա, ր, ե, լ.
How is “Ղեկավարել” written in Latin letters?
ghegavarel. 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?
ղեկ is a steering wheel: the leader is 'the one at the wheel'. Where English needs 'manage', Armenian takes a plain object: ղեկաւարում է բաժինը. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.