# Tigrinya phrasebook

Tigrinya (ትግርኛ) is spoken in Eritrea and Ethiopia by the Tigrinya people. It is the lingua franca of Eritrea, and the first language of the vast majority of people in the Tigray region of Ethiopia.

## Phrase list

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.

### Basics
#### Hello.

    ሰላም (selam)

#### How are you?

    ከመይ ኣለኻ/Kemay al'eka? (to men) ከመይ ኣለኺ/Kemay al'eki? (to women)

#### What is your name?

    መን ሽምካ/Men'shimka (for men) መን ሽምኪ/Men'shimki (for women)

#### My name is ______ .

    ሽመይ ___ እዩ(Shimay ___ iyu)

#### Nice to meet you.

    ጽቡቕ ሌላ(Tsubu leyla)

#### Please.

    በጃኻ/bejakha (to men) በጃኺ/bejakhi (to women)

#### Thank you.

    የቐኔለይ(yekenyeley)

#### You're welcome.

    ገንዘብካ (to men) ገንዘብኪ (to women) ( )

#### Yes.

    እወ. ('Eweh)

#### No.

    ኣይኮነን. (No )

#### Excuse me. (getting attention)

    ይቅሬታ ግበረለይ! (to men) ይቅሬታ ግበርለይ! (to women) ( )

#### I'm sorry.

    ይቕሬታ! (to men) ኣይትሓዘለይ (to women) ( )

#### Goodbye

    ደሓን ኹን (Dehan-koon)

#### Where are you from? (country of origin)

    ካበይ መጺኻ ? (to men) ካበይ መጺኺ ? (to women) ( )

#### I can't speak Tigrinya.

    ትግርኛ ኣይፈልጥን. ( [ ])

#### Do you speak English?

    ኢንግልዘኛ ትዛረብዶ/inglizenya tzarebdo (for men) ኢንግልዘኛ ትዛረቢዶ/inglizenya tzarebido(for women)

#### Is there someone here who speaks English?

    እንግሊዝኛ ዝዛረብ ሰብ ይርከብዶ? ( ?)

#### Help!

    ሓግዘኒ!(Hagezeni!)

#### Good morning.

    Dehando(!?) kemay'haderka/ደሓንዶ/ከመይ ሓዲርካ (to men) Dehando(!?) kemay haderki/ደሓንዶ/ከመይ ሓዲርኪ(for women)

#### Good afternoon.

    ከመይ ውዒልካ (to men) ከመይ ውዒልኪ (to women) ( )

#### Good evening.

    ከመይ ኣምሲኻ (to men) ከመይ ኣምሲኺ (to women) ( )

#### Good night.

    ልዋም ለይቲ ('Buruk leyti)

#### I understand.

    ተረዲኡኒ (Teredi-uni)

#### I don't understand.

    ኣይተረድኣኒን (ayteredianin)

#### Where is the toilet?

    ሽቓቅ ኣበይ ኣሎ፧/ሽንቲ ቤት ኣበይ ኣሎ(sha'ah abeylo?)

### Problems
#### Leave me alone.

    Gedefenaግደፈኒ! (to men) በይነይ ግደፍGedefeni! (to women)

#### Don't touch me!

    ኣይቲተኒኪፈኒ. Aytetenikifeni

#### I'll call the police.

    ፖሊስ ጸውዕ! (to men) ፖሊስ ጸውዒ! (to women) ( .)

#### Police!

    ፖሊስ ! ( !)

#### I need your help.

    ሓገዝካ(for male) ሓገዝኪ(for female) የድልየኒ ዩ። Hagezika yediliyeni yu(speaking to male) / Hageziki yediliyeni yu(speaking to female).

#### It's an emergency.

    . ( ህጹጽ ኵነታት እዩ. Hidsu...)

#### I'm lost.

    መንገዲ ጠፊእኒ። Megedi teFieni. ( .)

#### I lost my bag.

    ሳንጣይ ጠፊእኒ. SanTay tefieni.

#### I'm sick.

    ተጸሊእኒ ኣሎ፣ ሓሚመ. TseliEni alo/ Hamime.

#### I've been injured.

    ማህሰይቲ ኣሎኹ ( .)

#### I need a doctor.

    (ኣነ) ሓኪም የድሊየኒ ኣሎ ( .)

#### Can I use your phone?

    ሰሊኪኪ ካ ተለፎንኪ ካ ኣጥቅመኒ። Silkiki / Telefoniki AteQimeni (toward female), Silkika AtetiQimeni(toward male)

### Numbers
#### 1

    ሓደ (hade)

#### 2

    ክልተ (kilitey)

#### 3

    ሰለስተ (seleste)

#### 4

    ኣርባዕተ (arbaete)

#### 5

    ሓሙሽተ (hamushte)

#### 6

    ሽዱሽተ (shudushte)

#### 7

    ሸውዓተ (shewa'ate)

#### 8

    ሸሞንተ (shemonte)

#### 9

    ትሽዓተ (tishe'ate)

#### 10

    ዓሰርተ ('aserte)

#### 11

    ዓሰርተ ሓደ (aserte hade)

#### 12

    ዓሰርተ ክልተ (aserte kilitey)

#### 13

    ዓሰርተ ሰለስተ ( )

#### 14

    ዓሰርተ ኣርባዕተ ( )

#### 15

    ዓሰርተ ሓሙሽተ ( )

#### 16

    ዓሰርተ ሽዱሽተ ( )

#### 17

    ዓሰርተ ሸውዓተ ( )

#### 18

    ዓሰርተ ሸሞንተ ( )

#### 19

    ዓሰርተ ትሽዓተ ( )

#### 20

    ዕስራ (esra)

#### 21

    ዕስራን ( )

#### 22

    ዕስራን ( )

#### 23

    ዕስራን ( )

#### 30

    ዕስራን (selasa)

#### 40

    ኣርባዓ (arba'a)

#### 50

    ሓምሳ (hamsa)

#### 60

    ስሳ (susa)

#### 70

    ሰብዓ (seb'a)

#### 80

    ሰማንያ (semanya)

#### 90

    ተስዓ (tes'a)

#### 100

    ሚእቲ (meetee)

#### 200

    ክልተ ሚእቲ ( )

#### 300

    ሰለስተ ሚእቲ ( )

#### 1,000

    ሽሕ (sheh or elfi)

#### 2,000

    ክልተ ሽሕ ( )

#### 1,000,000

    ሚልዮን ( )

#### 1,000,000,000

    ቢልዮን ( )

#### half

    ፍርቂ ( )

#### less

    ዝወሓደ ( )

#### more

    ዝበዝሐ ( )

### Time
#### now

    ሕጂ(hiji)

#### later

    ደሓር ( )

#### morning

    ንጉሆ ( )

#### afternoon

    መዓልቲ ( )

#### evening

    ምሸት ( )

#### night

    ለይቲ ( )

#### Duration
##### _____ minute(s)

    _____ ደቒቕ ( )

##### _____ hour(s)

    ሰዓት ( )

##### _____ day(s)

    _____ መዓልቲ ( )

##### _____ week(s)

    _____ ሰሙን ( )

##### _____ month(s)

    _____ ወርሒ ( )

##### _____ year(s)

    _____ ዓመት ( )

#### Days
##### today

    ሎሚ (lomi)

##### yesterday

    ትማሊ ( )

##### tomorrow

    ጽባሕ ( )

##### next week

    ኣብ ዝመጽእ ሰሙን ( )

##### Sunday

    ሰንበት ( )

##### Monday

    ሰኑይ ( )

##### Tuesday

    ሰሉስ ( )

##### Wednesday

    ረቡዕ ( )

##### Thursday

    ሓሙስ ( )

##### Friday

    ዓርቢ ( )

##### Saturday

    ቀዳም ( )

#### Months
##### January

    ጥሪ ( )

##### February

    ለካቲት ( )

##### March

    መጋቢት ( )

##### April

    ሚያዝያ ( )

##### May

    ግንቦት ( )

##### June

    ሰነ ( )

##### July

    ሓምለ ( )

##### August

    ነሓሰ ( )

##### September

    መስከረም ( )

##### October

    ጥቅምቲ ( )

##### November

    ሕዳር ( )

##### December

    ታሕሳስ ( )

#### Writing time and date
### Colors
#### black

    ጸሊም (ts’eleme )

#### white

    ጻዕዳ (tsa'ada)

#### gray

    ሕሙኽሽታይ ( )

#### red

    ቀይሕ ( )

#### blue

    ሰማያዊ ( )

#### yellow

    ቢጫ ( )

#### green

    ሓምላይ ( )

#### orange

    ሓምላይ ( )

#### purple

    ሊላ ( )

#### brown

    ቡናዊ ( )

### Transportation
#### Directions
##### How do I get to _____ ?

    ከመይ ገይረ ናብ ... ይኸይድ ? ( )

##### ...the bus station?

    መዕረፊ ኣውቶቡስ ( )

##### ...the airport?

    መዕረፊ ነፋሪት ( )

##### ...the _____ hotel?

    ሆተል _____? ( )

##### ...hotels?

    ሆተላት ( )

##### ...restaurants?

    ቤትምግቢታት ( )

##### ...bars?

    ቤት መስተታት ( )

##### Turn left.

    ንጸጋም ተጠወ ( )

##### Turn right.

    ንየማን ተጠወ ( )

##### intersection

    መራኽቦ መንገዲ ( )

##### north

    ሰሜን ( )

##### south

    ደቡብ ( )

##### east

    ምብራቅ ( )

##### west

    ምዕራብ ( )

##### downhill
#### Taxi
##### Take me there, please.
### Lodging
#### Do you have any rooms available?

    መደቀሲ ክፍሊ ኣሎኻ ዶ? ( )

#### How much is a room for one person/two people?

    ንሓደ / ንክልተ ሰብ ክንደይ ይክፍል? ( )

#### Does the room come with...

    ኣብ እዚ ክፍሊ ... ይረክብዶ ( )

#### ...a bathroom?

    ባኞ ( )

#### ...a telephone?

    ተለፎን ( )

#### ...a TV?

    ቲቪ ( )

#### Do you have a safe?

    መቐመጥ ገንዘብ ኣሎካ ዶ፧

#### Is breakfast/supper included?

    ( ቀርሲ /ድራር የጠቓልል ድዩ፧)

#### I want to check out.
### Money
#### Do you accept British pounds?

    (ባጤራ ብርጣንያ ክትቅበል ትኽእል ዶ፧ )

#### Do you accept euros?

    (ዩሮ ክትቅበል ትኽእል ዶ፧ )

#### Where can I get money changed?

    (ቅያር ገንዘብ ኣበይ እረክብ፧ )

#### Where is an automatic teller machine (ATM)?
### Eating
#### breakfast

    ቁርሲ (kursi )

#### lunch

    ምሳሕ ( )

#### supper

    ድራር ( drar )

#### I want _____.

    ደልየ ("_____ deliye")

#### chicken

    ደርሆ ( )

#### beef

    ስጋ ከብቲ ( )

#### fish

    ዓ("asa")

#### ham

    ስጋ ሓሰማ ( )

#### sausage

    ግዕዝም ( )

#### cheese

    ፎርማጆ ( )

#### eggs

    እንቋቑሖ ( )

#### salad

    ሳላጣ ( )

#### (fresh) vegetables

    ኣሕምልቲ ( )

#### (fresh) fruit

    ፍሩታ ( )

#### bread

    (bani )

#### toast

    ጥቡስ ባኒ ( )

#### pasta

    ማካሮኒ ( )

#### spaghetti

    ስፓገቲ ( )

#### rice

    ሩዝ ( )

#### beans

    ዓተር ( )

#### Hamburger

    ሃምበርገር ( )

#### Orange

    ኣራንሺ ( )

#### Apple

    ቱፋሕ ( )

#### Banana

    ባናና ( )

#### Pineapple

    ኣናናስ ( )

#### Grapes

    ወይኒ ( )

#### May I have a glass of _____?

    ጥርሙዝ ... ሃበኒ በጀኹም ( )

#### May I have a cup of _____?

    ኩባያ ... ሃበኒ በጀኹም ( )

#### May I have a bottle of _____?

    ጥርሙዝ ... ሃበኒ በጀኹም ( )

#### coffee

    ቡን (boon )

#### tea (drink)

    ሻሂ ("shahi")

#### milk

    ጸባ ("tsaba")

#### juice

    ጽማቝ ( )

#### (bubbly) water

    ማዕድናዊ ማይ ( )

#### (still) water

    ማይ(mai)

#### beer

    ቢራ ( )

#### wine

    ነቢት ( )

#### It was delicious.

    (du'um )

#### The check, please.
### Bars
#### Cheers!
### Shopping
#### How much is this?

    ክንደይ’ዩ ዋግኡ እዚ? ( )

#### expensive

    ክቡር ( )

#### cheap

    ሕሱር ( )

#### I don't want it.

    እዚ ኣይደልን ( )

#### I need...

    ኣነ .... የድሊየኒ ኣሎ ( )

#### ...toothpaste.

    መሕጸብ ስኒ ( )

#### ...soap.

    ሳሙና ( )

#### ...shampoo.

    ሻምፑ ( )

#### ...pain reliever. (e.g., aspirin or ibuprofen)

    ኣስፕሪን ( )

#### ...a razor.

    መላጸ ( )

#### ...an umbrella.

    ጽላል ( )

#### ...postage stamps.

    ቲምብር ( )

#### ...writing paper.

    ወረቐት ( )

#### ...a pen.

    ፕሮ ( )

#### ...an English-English dictionary.
### Driving
#### petrol

    በንዚን ( )