Everything below is what a beginner actually needs first: greetings, polite words, numbers, family, food, time and getting around. Each entry shows the Tigrinya spelling, the English meaning, and a respelling with the stressed syllable in capitals so you can say it out loud without guessing.
First words Greet someone and be polite
ሰላም Hello የቐንየለይ Thank you እንቋዕ ደሓን መጻእካ Welcome ደሓን ኹን Goodbye እወ Yes ኣይፋልን No በጃኻ Please ይቕሬታ Sorry Meeting people Introduce yourself and ask how someone is
ስመይ ኣማራ እየ My name is Amara መን ኢዩ ስምካ? What is your name? ከመይ ኣለኻ? How are you? ጽቡቕ ኣለኹ I am fine ማይ Water ምግቢ Food ዓርኪ Friend ገዛ House Counting Numbers one to five and market basics
ሓደ One ክልተ Two ሰለስተ Three ኣርባዕተ Four ሓሙሽተ Five ብኽንደይ ኢዩ? How much is it? ዕዳጋ Market ማይ Water ክገዝእ ደልየ I want to buy Questions people ask about Tigrinya Is Tigrinya hard to learn? Uses the same Ge'ez script family as Amharic, with some extra characters. Ejective consonants are made with a sharp release of air. Verb forms mark gender for both speaker and listener. Where is Tigrinya spoken? Eritrea and northern Ethiopia — around 9 million. Writing system: Ge'ez (Fidäl) syllabary.
Can I learn Tigrinya 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.