"Ethiopian Language" redirects here. For other languages of this multilingual country see Ethiopia#Talk

Soft drink bottles in Ethiopia often have their names written in Amharic. This Coca-Cola bottle demonstrates how each Amharic character corresponds to a consonant and vowel pair in English. ኮ="co" ካ="ca" ኮ="co" ላ="la".

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.

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?)

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)

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)

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

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)

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)