ALPHABET MATCHING GAME VOCABULARY FLASHCARDS
Why learn Amharic?
Amharic is the second-most commonly spoken Semitic language in the world, after Arabic. It is an --- language spoken by about 30 million Amhara people and is used as a lingua franca across Ethiopia and by groups in Eritrea, Canada and the US. It is spoken as a first language by the Amharas and as a lingua franca by other populations residing in major cities and towns of Ethiopia. Amharic is often learnt as a second language by Rastafarians, who consider it a sacred language.International travel is made easier and more pleasant when you know Amharic. Knowing Amharic provides a competitive edge in career choices Aquiring a second language can improve your skills and grades in math and English. Learning another language is part of a liberal education.
How Long Does it Take to Learn Amharic?
Amharic is rated as a category 3 language by the Foreign Service Institute. It is considered moderately difficult for English speakers to learn and takes an average of 44 weeks (or 1100 class hours) to gain professional working proficiency.
Amharic Alphabet & Pronunciation
Amharic is written left-to-right using a system that grew out of the Ge'ez script. It is an abugida: Each character represents a consonant+vowel sequence. The basic shape of each character is determined by the consonant, which is modified for the vowel.
ሀ
[hə]
[hə]
ለ
[lə]
[lə]
ሐ
[ḥə]
[ḥə]
መ
[mə]
[mə]
ሠ
[śə]
[śə]
ረ
[rə]
[rə]
ሰ
[sə]
[sə]
ሸ
[ʃə]
[ʃə]
ቀ
[qə]
[qə]
በ
[bə]
[bə]
ቨ
[βə]
[βə]
ተ
[tə]
[tə]
ቸ
[tʃə]
[tʃə]
ኀ
[χə]
[χə]
ነ
[nə]
[nə]
ኘ
[ɲə]
[ɲə]
አ
[ʔə]
[ʔə]
ከ
[kə]
[kə]
ኸ
[xə]
[xə]
ወ
[wə]
[wə]
ዐ
[ʕə]
[ʕə]
ዘ
[zə]
[zə]
ዠ
[ʒə]
[ʒə]
የ
[jə]
[jə]
ደ
[də]
[də]
ጀ
[dʒə]
[dʒə]
ገ
[gə]
[gə]
ጠ
[ṭə]
[ṭə]
ጨ
[tʃʼə]
[tʃʼə]
ጰ
[pʼə]
[pʼə]
ጸ
[ṣə]
[ṣə]
ፀ
[ṣ́ə]
[ṣ́ə]
ፈ
[fə]
[fə]
ፐ
[pə]
[pə]
Basic Phrases in Amharic
| Hello | ሰላም (selami) |
|---|---|
| Goodbye | በህና ሁን (behina huni) |
| Yes | አዎ (āwo) |
| No | አይ (āyi) |
| Excuse me | ይቅርታ (yik’irita) |
| Please | አባክሽን (ābakishini) |
| Thank you | አመሰግናለሁ (āmeseginalehu) |
| You are welcome | ምንም አይደለም (minimi āyidelemi) |
| Do you speak english | እንግሊዝኛ ይናገራሉ? (inigilīzinya yinageralu?) |
| Do you understand | ይገባሃል? (yigebahali?) |
| I understand | ገባኝ (gebanyi) |
| I do not understand | አልገባኝም (āligebanyimi) |
| How are you | እንዴት ነህ? (inidēti nehi?) |
| Fine thanks | ደህና ይመስገን! (dehina yimesigeni!) |
| What is your name | ስምህ ማን ይባላል? (simihi mani yibalali?) |
| My name is | ስሜ ነው (simē newi) |
| Pleased to meet you | ስላገኘሁህ ደስ ብሎኛል (silagenyehuhi desi bilonyali) |
Amharic Grammar
Amharic Nouns
| Man | ሰው (sewi) |
|---|---|
| Woman | ሴት (sēti) |
| Boy | ወንድ ልጅ (wenidi liji) |
| Girl | ሴት ልጅ (sēti liji) |
| Cat | ድመት (dimeti) |
| Dog | ውሻ (wisha) |
| Fish | ዓሳ (‘asa) |
| Water | ውሃ (wiha) |
| Milk | ወተት (weteti) |
| Egg | እንቁላል (inik’ulali) |
| House | ቤት (bēti) |
| Flower | አበባ (ābeba) |
| Tree | ዛፍ (zafi) |
| Shirt | ሸሚዝ (shemīzi) |
| Pants | ሱሪ (surī) |
Amharic Adjectives
Colors in Amharic
| Black | ጥቁር (t’ik’uri) |
|---|---|
| White | ነጭ (nech’i) |
| Red | ቀይ (k’eyi) |
| Orange | ብርቱካናማ (biritukanama) |
| Yellow | ቢጫ (bīch’a) |
| Green | አረንጓዴ (ārenigwadē) |
| Blue | ሰማያዊ (semayawī) |
| Purple | ሐምራዊ (ḥāmirawī) |
| Pink | ሐምራዊ (ḥāmirawī) |
| Gray | ግራጫ (girach’a) |
| Brown | ብናማ (binama) |
Numbers in Amharic
| Zero | ዜሮ (zēro) |
|---|---|
| One | አንድ (ānidi) |
| Two | ሁለት (huleti) |
| Three | ሶስት (sositi) |
| Four | አራት (ārati) |
| Five | አምስት (āmisiti) |
| Six | ስድስት (sidisiti) |
| Seven | ሰባት (sebati) |
| Eight | ስምንት (siminiti) |
| Nine | ዘጠኝ (zet’enyi) |
| Ten | አለኝ (ālenyi) |
| Eleven | አሥራ አንድ (āšira ānidi) |
| Twelve | አስራ ሁለት (āsira huleti) |
| Twenty | ሃያ (haya) |
| Thirty | ሰላሳ (selasa) |
| Forty | አርባ (āriba) |
| Fifty | ሃምሳ (hamisa) |
| Sixty | ስልሳ (silisa) |
| Seventy | ሰባ (seba) |
| Eighty | ሰማንያ (semaniya) |
| Ninety | ዘጠና (zet’ena) |
| Hundred | መቶ (meto) |
| Thousand | ሺህ (shīhi) |
Amharic Verbs
| To be | መ ሆ ን (me ho ni) |
|---|---|
| To have | መያዝ (meyazi) |
| To want | መፈለግ (mefelegi) |
| To need | ከ .... ፍላጎት (ke .... filagoti) |
| To help | ለመርዳት (lemeridati) |
| To go | መሄድ (mehēdi) |
| To come | ለመምጣት (lememit’ati) |
| To eat | መብላት (mebilati) |
| To drink | መጠጣት (met’et’ati) |
| To speak | መናገር (menageri) |
Building Simple Sentences
More Complex Amharic Sentences
| And | እና (ina) |
|---|---|
| Or | ወይም (weyimi) |
| But | ግን (gini) |
| Because | ምክንያቱም (mikiniyatumi) |
| With | ጋር (gari) |
| Also | ደግሞ (degimo) |
| However | ሆኖም (honomi) |
| Neither | አይደለም (āyidelemi) |
| Nor | ወይም (weyimi) |
| If | ከሆነ (kehone) |
| Then | ከዚያ (kezīya) |
Useful Amharic Vocabulary
Amharic Questions
| Who | ማን (mani) |
|---|---|
| What | ምንድን (minidini) |
| When | መቼ (mechē) |
| Where | የት (yeti) |
| Why | ለምን (lemini) |
| How | እንዴት (inidēti) |
| How many | ስንት (siniti) |
| How much | ስንት (siniti) |
Days of the Week in Amharic
| Monday | ሰኞ (senyo) |
|---|---|
| Tuesday | ማክሰኞ (makisenyo) |
| Wednesday | እሮብ (irobi) |
| Thursday | ሐሙስ (ḥāmusi) |
| Friday | አርብ (āribi) |
| Saturday | ቅዳሜ (k’idamē) |
| Sunday | እሁድ (ihudi) |
| Yesterday | ትናንት (tinaniti) |
| Today | ዛሬ (zarē) |
| Tomorrow | ነገ (nege) |
Months in Amharic
| January | ጥር (t’iri) |
|---|---|
| February | የካቲት (yekatīti) |
| March | መጋቢት (megabīti) |
| April | ኤፕሪል (ēpirīli) |
| May | ግንቦት (giniboti) |
| June | ሰኔ (senē) |
| July | ሀምሌ (hāmilē) |
| August | ነሐሴ (neḥāsē) |
| September | መስከረም (mesikeremi) |
| October | ጥቅምት (t’ik’imiti) |
| November | ህዳር (hidari) |
| December | ታህሳስ (tahisasi) |
Seasons in Amharic
| Winter | ክረምት (kiremiti) |
|---|---|
| Spring | ፀደይ (t͟s’edeyi) |
| Summer | ክረምት (kiremiti) |
| Autumn | በልግ (beligi) |
Telling Time in Amharic
| What time is it | ስንት ሰዓት ነው? (siniti se‘ati newi?) |
|---|---|
| Hours | ሰዓታት (se‘atati) |
| Minutes | ደቂቃዎች (dek’īk’awochi) |
| Seconds | ሰከንዶች (sekenidochi) |
| O clock | ሰዓት (se‘ati) |
| Half | ግማሽ (gimashi) |
| Quarter past | ሩብ አለፈ (rubi ālefe) |
| Before | ከዚህ በፊት (kezīhi befīti) |
| After | በኋላ (beḫwala) |
