LingoflyԿրնալ
“Կրնալ” (grnal) — to be able in Western Armenian. Verb, level A1, topic — basic words. In the present it goes without կը (gə): կրնամ (grnam), կրնաս. The negative is չեմ (chem) կրնար (grnar). In a live sentence: “Վաղը չեմ կրնար գալ” (vaghə chem grnar kal) — I cannot come tomorrow. Written with the characters Կ, ր, ն, ա, լ. One of 304 words in the set “basic words” in the Western Armenian course.
In short
| Written in Western Armenian | Կրնալ (grnal) |
| Read in Latin letters | grnal |
| Translation | to be able |
| Part of speech | verb |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
In the present it goes without կը (gə): կրնամ (grnam), կրնաս. The negative is չեմ (chem) կրնար (grnar)
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.
Nearby words: basic words
Yes, no, good, bad, very. The small change of a language — and no sentence assembles without it.
- Շատ լաւshad lavvery good
շատ(shad) is 'very' and stands right before the word it boosts, exactly as in English: very good, very tasty, very big - Պէտք չէbedk' cheI don't need itIn writing
պէտք չէ(bedk' che), in living speech almost always պէտք (bedk) չի (chi). Softened further with a thank-you:պէտք չէ(bedk' che),շնորհակալութիւն(shnorhagalut'yun) - Բաւական էpavagan ethat's enoughWhat you say when the seller keeps piling it on and the pile is big enough. Among friends the blunter
հերիք է(herik' e) does the same job
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “basic words”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “to be able” in Western Armenian?
In the present it goes without կը (gə): կրնամ (grnam), կրնաս. The negative is չեմ (chem) կրնար (grnar)
- How do you say “half” in Western Armenian?
Also works like 'half-' in compounds: կէս ժամ (ges zham) — half an hour, կէս քիլօ (ges k'ilo) — half a kilo
- How do you say “yeah” in Western Armenian?
The casual yes — think 'yeah' or 'uh-huh'. In texting and among friends it shows up more often than the full այո (ayo), but never offer it to an elder
- How do you say “that's enough” in Western Armenian?
What you say when the seller keeps piling it on and the pile is big enough. Among friends the blunter հերիք է (herik' e) does the same job
- How do you say “very good” in Western Armenian?
շատ (shad) is 'very' and stands right before the word it boosts, exactly as in English: very good, very tasty, very big
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 be able” in Western Armenian?
«Կրնալ» (grnal), read “grnal”. In a live sentence: “Վաղը չեմ կրնար գալ” (vaghə chem grnar kal) — I cannot come tomorrow. Verb, level A1, from the set “basic words”; written with the characters Կ, ր, ն, ա, լ.
How is “Կրնալ” (grnal) written in Latin letters?
grnal. 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?
In the present it goes without կը (gə): կրնամ (grnam), կրնաս. The negative is չեմ (chem) կրնար (grnar). A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.