Քանի՞ տարեկան ես
“Քանի՞ տարեկան ես” (k'ani daregan yes) — how old are you? in Western Armenian. Phrase, level A1. literally 'how-many-years-ed are you'. After քանի՞ there is no plural: it is տարեկան, not 'years'. In a live sentence: “Դուն քանի՞ տարեկան ես” — How old are you? Written with the characters Ք, ա, ն, ի, տ, ա, ր, ե, կ, ա, ն, ե. A word from the everyday Western Armenian course, level A1.
In short
| Written in Western Armenian | Քանի՞ տարեկան ես |
| Read in Latin letters | k'ani daregan yes |
| Translation | how old are you? |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
literally 'how-many-years-ed are you'. After քանի՞ there is no plural: it is տարեկան, not 'years'
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.
- Դուն քանի՞ տարեկան եսtun k'ani daregan yesHow old are you?
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 “how old are you?” in Western Armenian?
«Քանի՞ տարեկան ես», read “k'ani daregan yes”. In a live sentence: “Դուն քանի՞ տարեկան ես” — How old are you? Phrase, level A1; written with the characters Ք, ա, ն, ի, տ, ա, ր, ե, կ, ա, ն, ե.
How is “Քանի՞ տարեկան ես” written in Latin letters?
k'ani daregan yes. 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?
literally 'how-many-years-ed are you'. After քանի՞ there is no plural: it is տարեկան, not 'years'. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.