Useful foreign phrases |
Individual languages |
Colours |
Numbers |
Idioms |
Tongue twisters |
Proverbs
Useful foreign phrases |
Individual languages |
Colours |
Numbers |
Idioms |
Tongue twisters |
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.
If you can help fill in the gaps on this page, please contact me.
| 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 |
እንደምን አለህ፧ (indemin alleh?) - m እንደምን አለሸ፧ (indemin allesh?) - f እንደምን አላችሁ፧ (indemin allachihu?) - pl |
| ደህና ነኝ (dehna negn) | |
| Long time no see | ረጂም ጊዜ ከተያየን |
| What's your name? My name is ... |
ስምህ ማን ነጡ፧ (simi man new?) - m ስምሸ ማን ነጡ፧ (simish man new?) - f 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 | |
| Pleased to meet you | ስለተዋወቅን ደስ ብሎኛል (siletewaweqin dess bilognal) |
| 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?] |
| Good night | |
| Goodbye | chow (inf) dähna hun (m) dähna hungi (f) dähna hunu (pl) |
| Good luck | መልካም እድል (me’elkam edil) |
| Cheers/Good health! | |
| Have a nice day | መልካም ቀን ይሁንልህ። (me’elkam ken yihunilih) (m) መልካም ቀን ይሁንልሽ። (me’elkam ken yihunilish) (f) መልካም ቀን ይሁንላችሁ። (me’elkam ken yihunilachu) (pl) |
| Bon appetit | melkam megeb |
| Bon voyage | mehlkahm goozoh yehhoonehlih (m) mehlkahm goozoh yehhoonehlesh (f) |
| I don't understand | ገባኝ (gebany) |
| I don't understand | አልገባኝም (algebanymi) |
| Please speak more slowly | እባክህ ቀስ ብለህ ተናገር። (i’bakih kes bileh tenagger) - m እባክሽ ቀስ ብለሽ ተናገሪ። (i’bakish kes bilesh tenaggeri) - f |
| Please say that again | እባክህ ያልከዉን ድገምልኝ። (i’bakih yalekewin degemelegn!) እባክሽ ያልሽዉን ድገሚልኝ። (i’bakish yaleshiwn degemilign) |
| Please write it down | |
| Do you speak Amharic? Yes, a little |
አማርኛ ትችላለህ?
(amarenya techelallueh?) m አማርኛ ትችያለሽ? (amarenya techiyalleush?) f |
| አዎ፣ ትንሽ ትንሽ (ow, tennish tennish) | |
| How do you say ... in Amharic? |
|
| Excuse me | ይቅርታ (yiqirta) |
| How much is the price? | ሰንት ንው ዋጋው፧ (sent new wagaw?) |
| Sorry | አዝናለሁ። (aznallehu) |
| Please | እባክህ (i'bakih) - m እባክሸ (i'bakish) - f እባክዎን (i'bakwon) - frm |
| Thank you Response (All right / OK) |
አመሰግናለሁ (ameseginalehugn) በጣም አመሰግናለሁኝ (betam ameseginalehugn) |
| ተቀብያለሁ። (te’kebeyalehu) | |
| Where's the toilet? | መጸዳጃ ክፍል የት ነዉ? *metsedaja kifil yet new?) |
| This gentleman/lady will pay for everything |
ለ ሁሉም ነገር ሰዉየዉ/ሴትዮዋ/ ይከፍላል/ትከፍላለት። (le hulum neger sewuyew/seteyowa tikefilalech) |
| Would you like to dance with me? |
ከኔ ጋር መደነስ ትፈልጋለህ። (kene gar medenes tefelegaleh?) - m ከኔ ጋር መደነስ ትፈልጊያለሽ። (kene gar medenes tefelegiyalesh?) - f |
| I like you | እወድሀለሁ። (iwedihalehu) - m እወድሻለሁ። (iwedishalehu) - f |
| I love you | አፈቅርሻለሁ። (afekirishalehu) - f አፈቅርሀለሁ። (afekirhalehu) - m |
| Get well soon | ምህረቱን ያምጣልህ (mihretun yamitalih) - m ያምጣልሽ። (yamitalish) f "may god give you a speedy recover" |
| Go away! | |
| Leave me alone! | ለቀቅ አርገኝ። (lekek argeng) - m ለቀቅ አርጊኝ። (lekek argign) - f |
| Help! Fire! Stop! |
koom! (m) koomee! (f) |
| Call the police! | ፖሊስጥራ ጥሪ። (policetira tiri!) - m ፖሊስጥራ ጥሩ። (policetira tiru!) - f |
| Merry Christmas and 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 Easter | መልካም ፋሲካ (me’elkam fasika) |
| Happy Birthday | መልከም ልደት (melkam ledet) |
| 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.
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
Amharic, Arabic (Egyptian), Arabic (Modern Standard), Arabic (Moroccan), Hausa, Hebrew, Maltese, Somali