Useful foreign phrases |
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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 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 tah (m) in kwahn deh-na meh tash (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 ነው፧ (simi man new?) - m ስምሸ ማን ነው፧ (simish man new?) - f የአርሰዎ ስም ማን ነው፧ (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 | Amharic phrases | Tower of Babel in Amharic | Amharic learning materials
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
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