Useful foreign phrases |
Numbers |
Colours |
Kinship |
Idioms |
Tongue twisters |
Proverbs |
Other multilingual pages
Useful foreign phrases |
Numbers |
Colours |
Kinship |
Idioms |
Tongue twisters |
Proverbs |
Other multilingual pages
A collection of useful phrases in Tigrinya. You can see them in many other languages by clicking on the English versions.
Key to abbreviations: frm = formal, inf = informal, sg = singular (said to one person), pl = plural (said to more than one person), m = said by men, f = said by women.
| English | ትግርኛ (Tigrinya) |
|---|---|
| Welcome | መርሓባ (merhaba) እንቋዕ ብደሐን መጻእካ (ənqwaˋ bdeHen meSaəka) m እንቋዕ ብደሐን መጻእኪ (ənqwaˋ bdeHen meSaəki) f lit, "wonderful that you have arrived safely" እንቋዕ ብድሐን ጸናሕካ (ənqwaˋ bdeHen SenaHka) m እንቋዕ ብድሐን ጸናሕኪ (ənqwaˋ bdeHen SenaHki) f lit: "wonderful that you have stayed well" - response to above |
| Hello | ሰላም (selam) |
| How are you? Response: Thanks to God! |
ከመይ ኣለኻ (kemey 'aleka) m/sg ከመይ ኣለኺ (kemey 'aleki) f/sg ከመይ ኣለኹም (kemey 'alekum) m/pl/frm ከመይ ኣለኽን (kemey ' aleken) f/pl/frm |
| አግዚኣብሔር ይመስገን! (Ezgher Yimesgen!) | |
| Long time no see | ነዊሕ ኮይኑ ካብ ዘይንረአአ (Newih Koynu Kab Zeynire’e) |
| What's your name? My name is ... |
መን’ዩ ሸምካ (menyu shimka) m/sg መን’ዩ ሸምኪ (menyu shimki) f/sg መን’ዩ ሸምኩም (menyu shimkum) m/frm መን’ዩ ሸምክን (menyu shimken) f/frm |
| ስመይ….ይበሃል (simey ... yebehal) | |
| Where are you from? I'm from ... |
ካበይ ዓዲ መጺኻ (Kabey Adi Metsika) m ካበይ ዓዲ መጺኺ (Kabey Adi Metsiki) f |
| ኣነ ካብ...መጽየ (Ane kab ……Metsiye) | |
| Pleased to meet you | ጽቡቕ ሌላ (SbuQ liela) |
| Good morning | ከመይ ሓዲርካ (kemey Hadirka) m/sg ከመይ ሓዲርኪ (kemey Hadirki) f/sg ከመይ ሓዲርኩም (kemey Hadirkum) m/pl/frm ከመይ ሓዲርክን (kemey Hadirkin) f/pl/frm |
| Good afternoon | ከመይ ውዒልካ (kemey Wu’elka) m/sg ከመይ ውዒልኪ (kemey Wu’elki) f/sg ከመይ ውዒልኩም (kemey Wu’elkum) m/pl/frm ከመይ ውዒልክን (kemey Wu’elkn) f/pl/frm |
| Good evening | ከመይ ኣምሲኻ (kemey Amsika) m/sg ከመይ ኣምሲኺ (kemey Amsiki) f/sg ከመይ ኣምሲኹም (kemey Amsikum) m/pl/frm ከመይ ኣምሲኽን (kemey Amsikn) f/pl/frm |
| Good night | ቡሩኽ ለይቲ (Buruk Leyti) ሰናይ ለይቲ (Senay Leyti) ልዋም ለይቲ (Lwam Leyti) |
| Goodbye | ሰላማት (selamat) |
| Good luck | ጽቡቅ ዕድል (Tsibuk E’dl) |
| Cheers/Good health! | ንጥዕናና (nTi’enana) |
| Have a nice day | ደሓን ውዓሉ (deHan wˋalu) |
| Bon appetit | ቡሩኽ መግቢ (Buruk Megbi) |
| Bon voyage | ብደሓን እቶ (bdeHn əto) |
| I understand | ተረዲኡኒ (Teredi’uni) |
| I don't understand | ኣይተረድኣኒን (Aytered’Anin) |
| I don't know | ኣይፈለጥኩን (Ayfeletikun) |
| Please speak more slowly | ቀስ ኢልካ ተዛረብ በጃኻ (Kes Elka Tezareb Bejaka) m/sg ቀስ ኢልኪ ተዛረቢ በጃኺ (Kes Elki Tezarebi Bejaki) f/sg |
| Please say that again | እስከ ድገመለይ (Eske Digemeley) m/sg እስከ ድገምለይ (Eske Digemiley) f/sg |
| Please write it down | ጸሓፎ በጃኻ (Tsehafo Bejaka) m/sg ጸሓፍዮ በጃኺ (Tsehafiyo Bejaki) f/sg |
| Do you speak English? | እንግሊዝኛ ትዛረብዶ? (Englizgna Tzarebdo?) m/sg እንግሊዝኛ ትዛረቢዶ? (Englizgna Tzarebido?) f/sg |
| Do you speak Tigrinya? Yes, a little |
ትግርኛ ትዛረብዶ? (Tigrigna Tzarebdo?) m/sg ትግርኛ ትዛረቢዶ? (Tigrigna Tzarebido?) f/sg |
| እወ: ቁሩብ ቁሩብ (Ewe Kurub Kurub) |
|
| How do you say ... in Tigrinya? |
እንታይ ይበሃል እዚ ብትግሪኛ? (Entay Yibehal Ezi b’Tigrigna?) |
| Excuse me | ይቅሬታ ግበረለይ! (Yiqreta Gbereley!) m/sg ይቅሬታ ግበርለይ! (Yiqreta Gberiley!) f/sg |
| How much is this? | ክንደይ’ዩ ዋግኡ እዚ? (Kndeyu Wag’u Ezi?) |
| Sorry | ይቅሬታ! (Yiqreta!) |
| Please | በጃኻ! (Bejaka!) m/sg በጃኺ! (Bejaki!) f/sg |
| Thank you Response |
የቐንየለይ! (Yekenyeley!) ክብረት ይሃበለይ! (Kbret Yhabeley!) |
| ገንዘብካ (Genzebka) m/sg ገንዘብኪ (Genzebki) f/sg ገንዘብኩም (Genzebkum) m/frm ገንዘብክን (Genzebken) f/frm |
|
| Where's the toilet? | ኣበይ ኣሎ ሽንቲ ቤት? (Abey Alo Shnti Bet?) |
| This gentleman/lady will pay for everything |
እዞም ሰብኣይ ኩሉ ክኸፍልዎ እዮም። (Ezom Seb’Ay K’keflwo Eyom) እዘን ሰበይቲ ኩሉ ክኸፍልኦ እየን። (Ezen Sebeyti K’kefl’o Eyen) |
| Would you like to dance with me? |
ምሳይ ክትስዕስዕ ትደሊዶ? (Msay Kt’s’e’s’e Tdelido?) m/sg ምሳይ ክትስዕስዒ ትደሊዶ? (Msay Kt’s’e’s’i Tdelido) f/sg |
| I miss you | ናፊቐካ! (Nafikeka) m/sg ናፊቐኪ! (Nafikeki) f/sg |
| I love you | ይፈትወካ`የ! (Yfetwekaye) m/sg የፍቅረካ`የ! (Yefkrekaye) m/sg ይፈትወኪ’የ! (Yfetwekiye) f/sg የፍቅረኪ’የ! (Yefkrekiye) f/sg |
| Get well soon | ምሕረት የውርደልካ። (Mhret Yewrdelka) m/sg ምሕረት የውርደልኪ። (Mhret Yewrdelki) f/sg |
| Go away! | ኺድ ረሓቕ! (Kid Rehak) m/sg ኺዲ ረሓቒ! (Kidi Rehaki) f/sg |
| Leave me alone! | በይነይ ግደፈኒ! (Beyney Gdefeni) m/sg በይነይ ግደፍኒ! (Beyney Gdefni) f/sg |
| Help! Fire! Stop! |
ርድኡኒ! ርድኡኒ! (Rd’uni! Rd’uni!) ባርዕ! ባርዕ! (Bar’e! Bar’e!) ጠጠው በል! (Tetew Bel) m/sg ጠጠው በሊ! (Tetew Beli) f/sg |
| Call the police! | ፖሊስ ጸውዕ! (Polis Tsew’e) m/sg ፖሊስ ጸውዒ! (Polis Tsew’i) f/sg |
| Merry Christmas and Happy New Year |
ርሑስ በዓል ልደትን ሓድሽ ዓመትን። (Rhus Be’al Ldetn Hadsh Ametn) |
| Happy Easter | ርሑስ በዓል ፋሲካ። (Rhus Be’al Fasika) |
| Happy Birthday | ርሑስ በዓል ልደት። (Rhus Be’al Ldet) |
| One language is never enough |
|
| My hovercraft is full of eels |
If you would like to make any corrections or additions to this page, please contact me.
Language learning materials for Tigrinya
Other collections of Tigrinya phrases
http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/language/tigrinya-phrases.html
http://www.eritrea.be/old/eritrea-languages.htm
http://www.lulu.com/shop/peter-a-crowther/my-tigrinya-phrasebook/ebook/product-18650358.html
http://tinyurl.com/c2ulssy