Amharic overview

Free Amharic starter kit — 57 phrases you can print

A one-page Amharic cheat sheet for absolute beginners. Every phrase shows the Amharic spelling, what it means, and a respelling with the stressed syllable in capitals so you can say it out loud today. Ethiopiaaround 60 million including second-language speakers.

First words

Greet someone and be polite

  • ሰላምHello/seh-LAM/
  • አመሰግናለሁThank you/a-meh-seh-gee-NA-leh-hoo/
  • እንኳን ደህና መጣህWelcome/en-KWAN DEH-na meh-TAH/
  • ደህና ሁንGoodbye/DEH-na hoon/
  • አዎYes/A-wo/
  • አይደለምNo/ay-deh-LEM/
  • እባክህPlease/eh-BA-keh/
  • አዝናለሁSorry/az-NA-leh-hoo/

Free starter kit

Get all 57 Amharic phrases

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Is Amharic hard to learn?

  • You learn a syllabary, not an alphabet: each of the base consonants has seven vowel forms.
  • Ethiopia uses its own calendar and clock, and both show up in everyday phrases.
  • Politeness is grammatical — there are distinct respectful verb forms.