Phrases |
'Useful' phrases |
Idioms |
Tongue twisters |
Language-related proverbs
A collection of useful phrases in Amharic. Click on the English phrases to see them in many other languages.
Key to abbreviations: inf = informal, frm = formal, m = said to men, f = said to women, pl = said to more than one person.
| English | ኣማርኛ (Amharic |
|---|---|
| Welcome | in kwahn deh-na meh tash (m) in kwahn deh-na meh tah (f) |
| Hello | ሰላም (sälam) / tadiyass - inf teanaste'lle'n (frm) |
| How are you? I'm fine |
ደኀና ነ፧ (dähna nä?) - m / dähna nesh? (f) dähna nachu? (pl) |
| ደኀና (dähna) | |
| What's your name? My name is ... |
የአርሰዎ ስም ማን ነጡ፧ (yärswo sim man new?) - frm |
| የኔ ስም ... ነጡ (yenae sim ... new) | |
| Where are you from? I'm from ... |
እርስዎ ከየት ኖት፧ (irswo keyet not?) - frm |
| እኔ ከአ ነኝ፧ (inae ke ... negn) - frm | |
| Good morning | አንደምን አደሩ (əndämn adäru) [how was your night?] |
| Good afternoon | አንደምን ዋሉ (əndämn walu) [how did you spend the day?] |
| Good evening | አንደምን አመሹ (əndämn amäshu) [how did you spend the evening?] |
| Goodbye | chow (inf) dähna hun (m) dähna hungi (f) dähna hunu (pl) |
| Bon appetit | melkam megeb |
| Bon voyage | mehlkahm goozoh yehhoonehlih (m) mehlkahm goozoh yehhoonehlesh (f) |
| I don't understand | አልገባኝም (ʾälgäbañəm) |
| Do you speak Amharic? Yes, a little |
አማርኛ ትችላለህ?
(amarenya techelallueh?) m አማርኛ ትችያለሽ? (amarenya techiyalleush?) f |
| አዎ፣ ትንሽ ትንሽ (ow, tennish tennish) | |
| Excuse me | yike'rta |
| How much is it? | sent no? |
| Sorry | aznallo' |
| Thank you Response (All right / OK) |
አመሰግናለሁ (amäsägnalähu) |
| አሺ (əshi) | |
| I love you | እወድሻለሁ (ɨwəddɨʃalləhu) - m እወድሃለሁ (ɨwəddɨhalləhu) - f |
| Stop! | koom! (m) koomee! (f) |
| Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year |
መልካም ገና (Melkam Gena) - Merry Christmas
- celebrated on 7th January መልካም አዲስ አመት (Melkam Addis Amet) - Happy New Year - celebrated on 11th September |
| Happy Birthday | መልከም ልደት (melekame lidete) |
If you would like to make any corrections or additions to this page, please contact me.
Information about Amharic and Ethiopic script
Language learning materials for Amharic
Other collections of Amharic phrases (some with audio)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsp_Un77dlo
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4gz6x_learn-amharic-basic-vocabulary-word_school
http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/language/ethiopian-amharic-phrases.html
http://www.ethiopianrestaurant.com/amharic_common_phrases.html
http://worldofjah.ning.com/profiles/blog/show?id=1042051%3ABlogPost%3A16303
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