Amharic phrasebook

[[file:Lalibela Banner.jpg|1280px|Lalibela}} Amharic Coca Cola bottle - 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 main language of north central Ethiopia.

Pronunciation guide

Consonants and vowels

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 as in spanish ñ 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 prounced 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 are consonant sounds

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 as in spanish ñ 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 prounced 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 are consonant sounds

ኧ e as in commander ኡ u as in Uzbekh 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 are vowel sounds but as in english amharic vowels are not written separately. See amharic letter table

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 minutes 

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 name of language [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 Zero (ዜሮ)

1 And (አንድ)

2 Hoolet (ሁለት)

3 Sost (ሶስት)

4 Arat (አራት)

5 Amest (አምስት)

6 Sidist (ስድስት)

7 Sebat (ሰባት)

8 Sement (ስምንት)

9 ZeTegn (ዘጠኝ)

10 Aser (አስር)

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

The day starts at 1 se'at ke tewatu (o'clock in the morning) (አንድ ሰዓት ከጠዋቱ) 7am

2 se'at 8am

3 se'at 9am

4 se'at 10am

5 se'at 11am

6 se'at 12pm

7 se'at 1pm

8 se'at 2pm

9 se'at 3pm

10 se'at 4pm

11 se'at 5pm

12 se'at 6pm

1 se'at ke'mishitu (o'clock in the evening) (አንድ ሰዓት ከምሽቱ) 7pm

2 se'at 8pm

3 se'at 9pm

4 se'at 10pm

5 se'at 11pm

6 se'at ke'lelitu (o'clock in the night) (ስድስት ሰዓት ከለሊቱ) 12am

7 se'at 1am

8 se'at 2am

9 se'at 3am

10 se'at 4am

11 se'at 5am

12 se'at 6am

Days

Sunday Ehood (እሁድ)

Monday Segno (ሰኞ)

Tuesday Maksegno (ማክሰኞ)

Wednesday Erob (እሮብ)

Thursday Hamoos (ሐሙስ)

Friday Arb (አርብ)

Saturday Qdame (ቅዳሜ)

Months

September Meskerem (መስከረም)

October Tikimt (ጥቅምት)

November Hidar (ህዳር)

December Tahisas (ታኅሣሥ)

January Tir (ጥር)

February Yekatit (የካቲት)

March Megabit (መጋቢት)

April Miyaziya (ሚያዚያ)

May Ginbot (ግንቦት)

June Senay (ሰኔ)

July Hamle (ሐምሌ)

August Nehasie (ነሐሴ)

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 taTef(to a guy)/taTefi(to a girl)/taTefu (to more than one person or to an elderly) (ወደ ግራ ታጠፍ/ታጠፊ/ታጠፉ)

Turn right wede Qegn taTef(to a guy)/taTefi(to a girl)/taTefu (to more than one person or to an elderly) (ወደ ቀኝ ታጠፍ/ታጠፊ/ታጠፉ)

Money Matters & ATM's in Amharic phrasebook

How much? 

Sint new? (ስንት ነው)

fifty cents: hamsa santim (ሀምሳ ሳንቲም)

money: genzeb (ገንዘብ)

Eating

Bread (Ethiopian) 

dabo (ዳቦ)

Curries 

wet (ወጥ)

Meat (red)

siga (ስጋ)

Chicken 

doro (ዶሮ)

Vegetable 

ataklt (አታክልት)

Spicy 

qmemama (ቅመማማ)

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)