Amharic phrasebook

:"Ethiopian Language" redirects here. For other languages of this multilingual country see Ethiopia#Talk Amharic (አማርኛ) is the main language of north central Ethiopia.

Pronunciation guide

Consonants and vowels

Consonants

ህ h as in hat

ል l as in lamp

ሕ h as in hat

ም m as in mat

ሥ s as in six

ረ r as in rabbit

ስ s as in six

ሽ sh as in ash

ቅ k pronounced at the back of the throat

ብ b as in bat

ት t as in track

ች ch as in chat

ኅ h as in hat

ን n as in night

ኝ ny as in canyon

ክ k as in dock

ኽ h as in hat

ው w as in whale

ዕ i pronounced at the back of throat

ዝ z as in zebra

ዥ zh as in pleasure

ይ y as in yoke

ድ d as in dog

ጅ j as in jaguar

ግ g as in goat

ጥ t pronounced by stressing

ጭ ch pronounced by stressing

ጵ p pronounced by stressing

ጽ sound between t and s

ፅ sound between t and s

ፈ f as in fat

ፕ p as in pencil

ቭ v as in vase

Vowels

ኧ e as in commander

ኡ u as in Uzbek

ኢ i as in inject

አ a as in father

ኤ e as in beg

እ i pronounced at the back of throat

ኦ o as in orange

As in Japanese, Arabic or Hebrew, Amharic vowels are not written separately; vowels are marks attached to consonants. See this Amharic letter table.

Phrase list

Basics

It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice

Just for the sake of being "friendly," please do not use the informal greetings with the elderly, dignitaries or generally with people who are not your friends. Respect for elderly and people with authority is paramount in Ethiopia. Therefore, in order not to give your acquaintance a wrong impression of yourself, make sure you adjust your behaviour according to the circumstances.

; Hello. (formal) : Tena yistilign. (ጤና ይስጥልኝ) ; Hello. (informal) : Selam. (ሰላም) ; Hello. (informal between friends) : Hi. (ሃይ) ; How are you? (respectful to elder) : Dehina newot? (ደህና ነዎት?) ; How are you (informal, to a man) : Endemin-neh? (እንደምን ነህ?) ; How are you (informal, to a woman) : Endemin-nesh? (እንደምን ነሽ?) ; Fine, thank you. : Dehna Negn. (ደህና ነኝ) ; What is your name? (to a man): Simeh man naw? (ስምህ ማን ነው?) ; What is your name? (to a woman): Simish man naw? (ስምሽ ማን ነው?) ; My name is ______ . : Sime ______ yibalal. (ስሜ _____ ይባላል) ; Pleased to meet you. : siletewaweqin dess bilognal . (ስለተዋወቅን ደስ ብሎኛል) ; Please. : Ebakih. (to a man) (እባክህ) ; Please. : Ebakish. (to a woman) (እባክሽ) ; Thank you (very much). : (Betam) ahmesugenalew. ((በጣም) አመሰግናለሁ) ; You're welcome. : Minem Aydelem. (meaning 'no problem' 'ምንም አይደለም) ; Yes. : awo. (አዎ) ; No. : aye; aydelem. (አይ አይደለም) ; OK. : ishi (እሺ) ; Excuse me. (getting attention) : Yiqirta. (ይቅርታ) ; Excuse me. Do you have a minute : Yiqirta, anda gazay (ይቅርታ፣ አንድ ጊዜ) ; Excuse me. (begging pardon) : Yiqirta. (ይቅርታ) ; I'm sorry. : Yiqirta. (ይቅርታ) ; Goodbye : Dehna hun. (to a man) (ደህና ሁን) ; Goodbye : Dehna hugni. (to a woman) (ደህና ሁኚ) ; Goodbye (informal) : Ciao. (Taken from Italian) (ቻው) ; I can't speak Amharic [well]. : [ ]. ([ ]) ; Do you speak English? : Englizegna tichilaleh? (to a man) (እንግሊዘኛ ትችላለህ?) ; Do you speak English? : Englizegna tichiyalesh? (to a woman) (እንግሊዘኛ ትችያለሽ?) ; Is there someone here who speaks English? : Englizegna yemichel sew ale? (እንግሊዘኛ የሚችል ሰው አለ ?) ; Help! : ! (!) ; Look out! : ! (!) ; Good morning. : Dehna aderk (to a young man) (ደህና አደርክ?): Dehna aderu (Elderly man/ more formal) (ደህና አደሩ?) ; Good morning. : Dehna adersh (to a woman) (ደህና አደርሽ?):Dehna aderu (Elderly woman/ more formal) (ደህና አደሩ?) ; Good morning. : Dehna aderachu (more than one person) (ደህና አደራቹ?) ; Good evening. : Dehna ameshachu (more than one person) (ደህና አመሻቹ?) ; Good night. : Dehna eder. (pronounced Denadur)(to a man) (ደህና እደር) ; Good night. : Dehna ederee. (pronounced Denaduree)(to a woman) (ደህና እደሪ) ; Good night (to sleep) : . (__) ; I don't understand. : Algebagnem. (አልገባኝም) ; Where is the toilet? : Metatebiya bet yet new? (መታጠቢያ ቤት የት ነው?)

Problems

Numbers

;0 : ዜሮ (Zeh-Roh) ;1 : አንድ (And) ;2 : ሁለት (Hoo-luht) ;3 : ሶስት (Sohst) ;4 : አራት (Uh-Raat) ;5 : አምስት (Uhm-mist) ;6 : ስድስት (Sid-dist) ;7 : ሰባት (Sih-baht) ;8 : ስምንት (Sih-mehnt) ;9 : ዘጠኝ (Zat-ayn) ;10 : አስር (Ah-sir) ;11 : Asra-and (አስራ አንድ) ;12 : Asra-hoolet (አስራ ሁለት) ;20 : Haya (ሀያ) ;21 : Haya-and (ሀያ አንድ) ;30 : Selasa (ሰላሳ) ;40 : Arba (አርባ) ;50 : Hamsa (ሀምሳ) ;60 : Silsa (ስልሳ) ;70 : Seba (ሰባ) ;80 : Semanya (ሰማንያ) ;90 : ZeTena (ዘጠና) ;100 : Meto (መቶ) ;200 : Hoolet-meto (ሁለት መቶ) ;300 : Sost-meto (ሶስት መቶ) ;1000 : Shee (ሺህ) ;2000 : Hoolet-shee (ሁለት ሺህ)

Time

Clock time

; 7am : 1 se'at ke tewatu(o'clock in the morning) (1 አንድ ሰዓት ከጠዋቱ) ; 8am : 2 se'at ke tewatu (2 አንድ ሰዓት ከጠዋቱ) ; 9am : 3 se'at ke tewatu (3 አንድ ሰዓት ከጠዋቱ) ; 10am : 4 se'at ke tewatu (4 አንድ ሰዓት ከጠዋቱ) ; 11am : 5 se'at ke tewatu (5 አንድ ሰዓት ከጠዋቱ) ; 12am : 6 se'at ke tewatu (6 አንድ ሰዓት ከጠዋቱ) ; 1pm : 7 se'at ke tewatu (7 አንድ ሰዓት ከጠዋቱ) ; 2pm : 8 se'at ke tewatu (8 አንድ ሰዓት ከጠዋቱ) ; 3pm : 9 se'at ke tewatu (9 አንድ ሰዓት ከጠዋቱ) ; 4pm : 10 se'at ke tewatu (10 አንድ ሰዓት ከጠዋቱ) ; 5pm : 11 se'at ke tewatu (11 አንድ ሰዓት ከጠዋቱ) ; 6pm : 12 se'at ke tewatu (12 አንድ ሰዓት ከጠዋቱ) ; 7pm : 1 se'at ke'mishitu (o'clock in the evening) (1 አንድ ሰዓት ከምሽቱ) ; 8pm : 2 se'at ke'mishtu (2 አንድ ሰዓት ከምሽቱ) ; 9pm : 3 se'at ke'mishtu (3 አንድ ሰዓት ከምሽቱ) ; 10pm : 4 se'at ke'mishtu (4 አንድ ሰዓት ከምሽቱ) ; 11pm : 5 se'at ke'mishtu = 11pm ; 12am : 6 se'at ke'lelitu (o'clock in the night) (6 ስድስት ሰዓት ከለሊቱ) ; 1am : 7 se'at ke'lelitu (7 ስድስት ሰዓት ከለሊቱ) ; 2am : 8 se'at ke'lelitu (8 ስድስት ሰዓት ከለሊቱ) ; 3am : 9 se'at ke'lelitu (9 ስድስት ሰዓት ከለሊቱ) ; 4am : 10 se'at ke'lelitu (10 ስድስት ሰዓት ከለሊቱ) ; 5am : 11 se'at ke'lelitu (11 ስድስት ሰዓት ከለሊቱ) ; 6am : 12 se'at ke'lelitu (12 ስድስት ሰዓት ከለሊቱ)

Duration

Days

; Sunday : Ehood (እሁድ) ; Monday : Segno (ሰኞ) ; Tuesday : Maksegno (ማክሰኞ) ; Wednesday : Erob (እሮብ) ; Thursday : Hamoos (ሐሙስ) ; Friday : Arb (አርብ) ; Saturday : Qdame (ቅዳሜ)

Months

;January : Tir (ጥር) ;February : Yekatit (የካቲት) ;March : Megabit (መጋቢት) ;April : Miyaziya (ሚያዚያ) ;May : Ginbot (ግንቦት) ;June : Senay (ሰኔ) ;July : Hamle (ሐምሌ) ;August : Nehasie (ነሐሴ) ;September : Meskerem (መስከረም) ;October : Tikimt (ጥቅምት) ;November : Hidar (ህዳር) ;December : Tahisas (ታኅሣሥ)

Writing time and date

Colors

;Black : Tiqoor (ጥቁር) ;White : NeCH (ነጭ) ;Red : Qey (ቀይ) ;Blue : Semayawi (ሰማያዊ) ;Green : Arengwade (አረንጓዴ) ;Yellow : BiCHa (ቢጫ) ;Brown : Buna'aynet/Buna'ma (ቡና ዓይነት/ቡናማ) ;Purple : WeynTej (ወይንጠጅ) ;Pink : Rose (ሮዝ) ;Orange : Bertukan (ብርቱካን) ;Baby blue : Wuhama semayawi (ውሃማ ሰማያዊ) ;Dark blue : DemaQ semayawi (ደማቅ ሰማያዊ)

Transportation

Bus and train (አውቶቢስ እና ባቡር)

Directions (አቅጣጫ)

;Right : Qegn (ቀኝ) ;Left : G'ra (ግራ) ;Straight ahead : QeTita menged (ቀጥታ መንገድ) ;Opposite : TeQarani/Feet'lefeet (ተቃራኒ/ፊት ለፊት) ;Adjacent : ATegeb/Gon (አጠገብ/ጎን) ;Turn left : wede g'ra... ;Turn right : wede Qegn... ;For the last 2 phrases ;to a man : taTef (ታጠፍ) ;to a woman : taTefi (ታጠፊ) ;to more than one person or to an elderly : taTefu (ታጠፉ)

Taxi (ታክሲ)

Lodging

Money

; How much? : Sint new? (ስንት ነው) ; fifty cents : hamsa santim (ሀምሳ ሳንቲም) ; money: genzeb (ገንዘብ)

Eating

; Bread (Ethiopian) : dabo (ዳቦ) ; Curry : wet (ወጥ) ; Meat (red): siga (ስጋ) ; Chicken : doro (ዶሮ) ; Vegetable : ataklt (አታክልት) ; Spicy :qmemama kemem (ቅመማማ ቅመም) ; Mild : aletcha (አልጫ) ; Coffee shop : bunna bet (ቡና ቤት) ; I am a vegetarian : Siga albuelam (literally, "I don't eat meat") (ስጋ አልበላም) ; coffee with milk : Buna b'Wetet (ቡና በወተት)