105 essential Amharic phrases with pronunciation written out for English speakers. Everything below is what a beginner actually needs first: greetings, polite words, numbers, family, food, time and getting around. The stressed syllable is in capitals so you can say it out loud without guessing.
Quick answers Thank you
Welcome
How are you?
I love you
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First words Greet someone and be polite
ሰላም Hello አመሰግናለሁ Thank you እንኳን ደህና መጣህ Welcome ደህና ሁን Goodbye አዎ Yes አይደለም No እባክህ Please አዝናለሁ Sorry Meeting people Say who you are and ask after someone
እንደምን ነህ How are you? ደህና ነኝ I am fine ስምህ ማን ነው What is your name? ስሜ ... ነው My name is... ውሃ Water ምግብ Food ጓደኛ Friend ገንዘብ Money Counting Numbers and asking a price
አንድ One ሁለት Two ሶስት Three አራት Four አምስት Five አስር Ten ስንት ነው How much is it? ገበያ Market ቡና Coffee Family The people closest to you
እናት Mother አባት Father ወንድም Brother እህት Sister ልጅ Child ቤተሰብ Family ሚስት Wife ባል Husband Days and times Say when something happens
ዛሬ Today ነገ Tomorrow ትናንት Yesterday አሁን Now ጠዋት Morning ማታ Evening ለሊት Night ቀን Day Food and drink Order and share a meal
ዳቦ Bread ስጋ Meat ወተት Milk እንቁላል Egg ሻይ Tea ስኳር Sugar ተርቦኛል I am hungry ጣፋጭ ነው It is delicious Getting around town Directions and travel words
መኪና Car ቤት House መንገድ Road ሱቅ Shop ግራ Left ቀኝ Right ቀጥታ Straight ahead ቁም Stop Colours and describing Say what something looks like
ቀይ Red ጥቁር Black ነጭ White ቀለም Colour ትልቅ Big ትንሽ Small ጥሩ Good መጥፎ Bad At home Name the things around you
ቤት House በር Door አልጋ Bed ወንበር Chair ጠረጴዛ Table መስኮት Window ቁልፍ Key ክፍል Room Body and health Say what hurts and ask for help
ራስ Head እጅ Hand ዓይን Eye ሆድ Stomach አመመኝ I am sick ሐኪም Doctor ሆስፒታል Hospital መድኃኒት Medicine Work and school Talk about what you do
ሥራ Work ትምህርት ቤት School መምህር Teacher ተማሪ Student መጽሐፍ Book አማርኛ እማራለሁ I am learning Amharic ጥያቄ Question ቃል Word Feelings Say how you feel
ደስ ብሎኛል I am happy ደከመኝ I am tired እወድሻለሁ I love you ጓደኛ Friend ተርቤያለሁ I am hungry ጠምቶኛል I am thirsty አዝናለሁ I am sorry እንኳን ደስ አለህ Congratulations Small talk Keep a short conversation going
ከየት ነህ? Where are you from? ከአሜሪካ ነኝ I am from America እንግሊዝኛ ትችላለህ? Do you speak English? ትንሽ A little ነገ እንገናኝ See you tomorrow ደህና እደር Good night ችግር የለም No problem በእርግጥ Of course Questions people ask about Amharic How do you say "hello" in Amharic? "Hello" in Amharic is ሰላም , pronounced /seh-LAM/ (stressed syllables in capitals).
How do you say "thank you" in Amharic? "Thank you" in Amharic is አመሰግናለሁ , pronounced /a-meh-seh-gee-NA-leh-hoo/ (stressed syllables in capitals).
How do you say "how are you?" in Amharic? "How are you?" in Amharic is እንደምን ነህ , pronounced /en-deh-MEN neh/ (stressed syllables in capitals).
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. Where is Amharic spoken? Ethiopia — around 60 million including second-language speakers. Writing system: Ge'ez (Fidäl) syllabary — each character is a consonant plus a vowel.
Can I learn Amharic for free? Yes. This phrasebook is free to read, and SemaSoma gives you the first three units of the course plus 15 translations a day before anything is paid.