LingoflyՄէկ վայրկեան ժամանակ ունի՞ք
- Մէկ վայրկեան ժամանակ ունի՞քmeg vayrgyan zhamanag unik'do you have a minute?
“Մէկ վայրկեան ժամանակ ունի՞ք” (meg vayrgyan zhamanag unik') — do you have a minute? in Western Armenian. Phrase, level B1. Literally 'do you have one minute of time': Armenian does not say 'there is', it says 'you have' — ունիք (unik). The ՞ sits on that verb. In a live sentence: “Մէկ վայրկեան ժամանակ ունի՞ք, հարց մը ունիմ” (meg vayrgyan zhamanag unik', harts mə unim) — Do you have a minute? I have a question.
In short
| Written in Western Armenian | Մէկ վայրկեան ժամանակ ունի՞ք (meg vayrgyan zhamanag unik') |
| Read in Latin letters | meg vayrgyan zhamanag unik' |
| Translation | do you have a minute? |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | B1 |
Why it looks that way
Literally 'do you have one minute of time': Armenian does not say 'there is', it says 'you have' — ունիք (unik). The ՞ sits on that verb
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.
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 “do you have a minute?” in Western Armenian?
«Մէկ վայրկեան ժամանակ ունի՞ք» (meg vayrgyan zhamanag unik'), read “meg vayrgyan zhamanag unik'”. In a live sentence: “Մէկ վայրկեան ժամանակ ունի՞ք, հարց մը ունիմ” (meg vayrgyan zhamanag unik', harts mə unim) — Do you have a minute? I have a question. Phrase, level B1; written with the characters Մ, է, կ, վ, ա, յ, ր, կ, ե, ա, ն, ժ…
How is “Մէկ վայրկեան ժամանակ ունի՞ք” (meg vayrgyan zhamanag unik') written in Latin letters?
meg vayrgyan zhamanag unik'. 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 'do you have one minute of time': Armenian does not say 'there is', it says 'you have' — ունիք (unik). The ՞ sits on that verb. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.