# Amharic phrasebook

       "Ethiopian Language" redirects here. For other languages of this multilingual country see Ethiopia#Talk
Amharic (አማርኛ) is the lingua franca and first official language of Ethiopia. It is spoken natively by the Amhara people in northern and central Ethiopia, and as a second language by most other Ethiopians.

## Pronunciation guide
### Consonants and vowels
#### Consonants

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 ny as in canyon
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 pronounced 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

#### Vowels

ኧ e as in commander
ኡ u as in Uzbek
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
As in Japanese, Arabic or Hebrew, Amharic vowels are not written separately; vowels are marks attached to consonants. See this .

## 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.

#### 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 minute

    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)

#### 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 ?)

#### 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)

#### I don't understand.

    Algebagnem. (አልገባኝም)

#### Where is the toilet?

    Metatebiya bet yet new? (መታጠቢያ ቤት የት ነው?)

### Numbers
#### 0

    ዜሮ (Zeh-Roh)

#### 1

    አንድ (And)

#### 2

    ሁለት (Hoo-luht)

#### 3

    ሶስት (Sohst)

#### 4

    አራት (Uh-Raat)

#### 5

    አምስት (Uhm-mist)

#### 6

    ስድስት (Sid-dist)

#### 7

    ሰባት (Sih-baht)

#### 8

    ስምንት (Sih-mehnt)

#### 9

    ዘጠኝ (Zat-ayn)

#### 10

    አስር (Ah-sir)

#### 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
##### 7am

    1 se'at ke tewatu(o'clock in the morning) (1 አንድ ሰዓት ከጠዋቱ)

##### 8am

    2 se'at ke tewatu (2 አንድ ሰዓት ከጠዋቱ)

##### 9am

    3 se'at ke tewatu (3 አንድ ሰዓት ከጠዋቱ)

##### 10am

    4 se'at ke tewatu (4 አንድ ሰዓት ከጠዋቱ)

##### 11am

    5 se'at ke tewatu (5 አንድ ሰዓት ከጠዋቱ)

##### 12am

    6 se'at ke tewatu (6 አንድ ሰዓት ከጠዋቱ)

##### 1pm

    7 se'at ke tewatu (7 አንድ ሰዓት ከጠዋቱ)

##### 2pm

    8 se'at ke tewatu (8 አንድ ሰዓት ከጠዋቱ)

##### 3pm

    9 se'at ke tewatu (9 አንድ ሰዓት ከጠዋቱ)

##### 4pm

    10 se'at ke tewatu (10 አንድ ሰዓት ከጠዋቱ)

##### 5pm

    11 se'at ke tewatu (11 አንድ ሰዓት ከጠዋቱ)

##### 6pm

    12 se'at ke tewatu (12 አንድ ሰዓት ከጠዋቱ)

##### 7pm

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

##### 8pm

    2 se'at ke'mishtu (2 አንድ ሰዓት ከምሽቱ)

##### 9pm

    3 se'at ke'mishtu (3 አንድ ሰዓት ከምሽቱ)

##### 10pm

    4 se'at ke'mishtu (4 አንድ ሰዓት ከምሽቱ)

##### 11pm

    5 se'at ke'mishtu = 11pm

##### 12am

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

##### 1am

    7 se'at ke'lelitu (7 ስድስት ሰዓት ከለሊቱ)

##### 2am

    8 se'at ke'lelitu (8 ስድስት ሰዓት ከለሊቱ)

##### 3am

    9 se'at ke'lelitu (9 ስድስት ሰዓት ከለሊቱ)

##### 4am

    10 se'at ke'lelitu (10 ስድስት ሰዓት ከለሊቱ)

##### 5am

    11 se'at ke'lelitu (11 ስድስት ሰዓት ከለሊቱ)

##### 6am

    12 se'at ke'lelitu (12 ስድስት ሰዓት ከለሊቱ)

#### Days
##### Sunday

    Ehood (እሁድ)

##### Monday

    Segno (ሰኞ)

##### Tuesday

    Maksegno (ማክሰኞ)

##### Wednesday

    Erob (እሮብ)

##### Thursday

    Hamoos (ሐሙስ)

##### Friday

    Arb (አርብ)

##### Saturday

    Qdame (ቅዳሜ)

#### Months
##### January

    Tir (ጥር)

##### February

    Yekatit (የካቲት)

##### March

    Megabit (መጋቢት)

##### April

    Miyaziya (ሚያዚያ)

##### May

    Ginbot (ግንቦት)

##### June

    Senay (ሰኔ)

##### July

    Hamle (ሐምሌ)

##### August

    Nehasie (ነሐሴ)

##### September

    Meskerem (መስከረም)

##### October

    Tikimt (ጥቅምት)

##### November

    Hidar (ህዳር)

##### December

    Tahisas (ታኅሣሥ)

#### Writing time and date
### 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...

##### Turn right

    wede Qegn...

##### to a man

    taTef (ታጠፍ)

##### to a woman

    taTefi (ታጠፊ)

##### to more than one person or to an elderly

    taTefu (ታጠፉ)

#### Taxi (ታክሲ)
### Money
#### How much?

    Sint new? (ስንት ነው)

#### fifty cents

    hamsa santim (ሀምሳ ሳንቲም)

#### money

    genzeb (ገንዘብ)

### Eating
#### Bread (Ethiopian)

    dabo (ዳቦ)

#### Curry

    wet (ወጥ)

#### Meat (red)

    siga (ስጋ)

#### Chicken

    doro (ዶሮ)

#### Vegetable

    ataklt (አታክልት)

#### Spicy

    qmemama kemem (ቅመማማ ቅመም)

#### 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)