The rules that make sentences work. Don't try to memorize everything at once — absorb these patterns as you speak.
Unlike English (SVO), Amharic puts the verb at the END. Think of it as: "I bread eat" not "I eat bread."
| English | Amharic | Romanization | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | እኔ | ine | |
| You (male) | አንተ | ante | talking to a man |
| You (female) | አንቺ | anchi | talking to a woman |
| He | እሱ | isu | |
| She | እሷ | iswa | |
| We | እኛ | igna | |
| You (plural) | እናንተ | inante | talking to a group |
| They | እነሱ | inesu |
| Subject | Amharic "to be" | Romanization | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| I am | ነኝ | negn | ደስተኛ ነኝ = I am happy |
| You are (m) | ነህ | neh | ደህና ነህ = You are fine |
| You are (f) | ነሽ | nesh | |
| He is | ነው | new | ጥሩ ነው = It is good |
| She is | ናት | nat | |
| We are | ነን | nen | |
| You all are | ናችሁ | nachihu | |
| They are | ናቸው | nachew |
| Subject | Amharic | Romanization |
|---|---|---|
| I go | እሄዳለሁ | ihedaleh |
| You go (m) | ትሄዳለህ | tihedaleh |
| You go (f) | ትሄጃለሽ | tihejialesh |
| He goes | ይሄዳል | yihedal |
| She goes | ትሄዳለች | tihejialech |
| We go | እሄዳለን | ihejalen |
| They go | ይሄዳሉ | yihedalu |
| Subject | Amharic | Romanization |
|---|---|---|
| I went | ሄድኩ | hediku |
| You went (m) | ሄድክ | hedik |
| You went (f) | ሄድሽ | hedish |
| He went | ሄደ | hede |
| She went | ሄደች | hedech |
| We went | ሄድን | hedin |
| They went | ሄዱ | hedu |
To negate a verb, wrap it: add al- at the start and -m at the end.
Questions are often just statements with rising intonation (your voice goes up at the end), or by adding a question word.
Amharic doesn't have a separate word for "the." Instead, it adds a suffix to the noun.
| English | Suffix | Example (ቤት = house) | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| my | -é / -ye | ቤቴ bete | my house |
| your (m) | -h | ቤትህ betih | your house |
| your (f) | -sh | ቤትሽ betish | your house |
| his | -u | ቤቱ betu | his house |
| her | -wa | ቤቷ betwa | her house |