Amharic phrasebook

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Amharic (አማርኛ) is the lingua franca and first official language of Ethiopia. It is spoken natively by the Amhara people in northern and central Ethiopia, and as a second language by most other Ethiopians.

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 .

Phrase list

Basics

Some phrases in this phrasebook still need to be translated. If you know anything about this language, you can help by plunging forward and translating a phrase.

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)

Bars

Shopping

Driving

Authority

This Amharic phrasebook is an outline and needs more content. It has a template, but there is not enough information present. Please plunge forward and help it grow!