Երեք
“Երեք” (yerek') — three in Western Armenian. Numeral, level A0, topic — numbers and counting. Ends in ք — a k with a puff of air: ye-REK'. One syllable, one puff. In a live sentence: “Երեք պանիր, խնդրեմ” — Three cheeses, please. Written with the characters Ե, ր, ե, ք. One of 27 words in the set “numbers and counting” in the Western Armenian course.
In short
| Written in Western Armenian | Երեք |
| Read in Latin letters | yerek' |
| Translation | three |
| Part of speech | numeral |
| Level | A0 |
Why it looks that way
Ends in ք — a k with a puff of air: ye-REK'. One syllable, one puff
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.
- Երեք պանիր, խնդրեմyerek' banir, khntremThree cheeses, please
Nearby words: numbers and counting
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.
- 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
- 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
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “numbers and counting”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “three” in Western Armenian?
Ends in ք — a k with a puff of air: ye-REK'. One syllable, one puff
- 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 “four” in Western Armenian?
Starts with չ — a ch with an extra puff of air, as in 'church': CHORSS
- How do you say “two hundred” in Western Armenian?
The 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
- How do you say “seven” in Western Armenian?
Classical spelling writes օ: եօթ; the Eastern reformed spelling writes յոթ — same seven, different letters. Say ye-OT'
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 “three” in Western Armenian?
«Երեք», read “yerek'”. In a live sentence: “Երեք պանիր, խնդրեմ” — Three cheeses, please. Numeral, level A0, from the set “numbers and counting”; written with the characters Ե, ր, ե, ք.
How is “Երեք” written in Latin letters?
yerek'. 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?
Ends in ք — a k with a puff of air: ye-REK'. One syllable, one puff. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.