A collection of useful phrases in Amharic, a Semitic language spoken in Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Key to abbreviations: inf = informal, frm = formal, >m = said to men, >f = said to women, pl = said to more than one person.
See these phrases in any combination of two languages in the Phrase Finder. If you can provide recordings, corrections or additional translations, please contact me.
| English | ኣማርኛ (Amharic) |
|---|---|
| Welcome | እንኳን ደህና መጣህ። (ənkwan dähna mäṭṭah) m እንኳን ደህና መጣሽ። (ənkwan dähna mäṭṭaš) f እንኳን ደህና መጣችሁ። (ənkwan dähna mäṭṭaččhu) pl |
| Hello (General greeting) | ሰላም። (sälam) [peace] - inf ታዲያስ። (tadyass) - inf [how is it?] - inf ጤና ይስጥልኝ። (ṭenaisṭəlləň) >frm [may he (God) give you health on my behalf] |
| How are you? | እንደምን አለህ፧ (əndämən alläh?) >m እንደምን አለሽ፧ (əndämən alläš?) >f እንደምን አላችሁ፧ (əndämən allaččhu?) - pl |
| Reply to 'How are you?' | ደህና ነኝ። (dähna näň) |
| Long time no see | ረጂም ጊዜ ከተለያየን። (räǧǧim gize kätäläyayän) |
| What's your name? | ስምህ ማን ነው፧ (səməh man näw?) ＞m ስምሽ ማን ነው፧ (səməš man näw?) ＞f የእርስዎ ስም ማን ነው፧ (yärswo səm man näw?) frm |
| My name is ... | የኔ ስም... ነው (yäne səm ... näw) ስሜ ... ነው። (səme ... näw) |
| Where are you from? | ከየት ነህ፧ (käyät näh?) ＞m ከየት ነሽ፧ (käyät näš?) ＞f ከየት ኖት፧ (käyät not?) frm አንተ ከየት ነህ፧ (antä käyät näh?) ＞m አንቺ ከየት ነሽ፧ (anchi käyät näš?) ＞f እርስዎ ከየት ኖት፧ (ərswo käyät not?) frm |
| I'm from ... | እኔ ከ ... ነኝ። (əne kä ... näň) ከ ... ነኝ። (kä ... näň) |
| Pleased to meet you | ስለተዋወቅን ደስ ብሎኛል (səlätäwawäqən däs bəloňňall) |
| Good morning (Morning greeting) |
እንደምን አደርክ? (əndämən addärk?) ＞m እንደምን አደርሽ? (əndämən addärš?) ＞f አንደምን አደሩ? (əndämən addäru?) frm [how did you pass the night?] |
| Good afternoon (Afternoon greeting) |
እንደምን ዋልክ? (i'ndemin walik?) - m እንደምን ዋልሽ? (i'ndemin walish?) - f አንደምን ዋሉ (i'ndemin walu) - frm [how did you spend the day?] |
| Good evening (Evening greeting) |
አንደምን አመሸህ? (əndämən amäššäh?) ＞m ምሽቱን እንዴት አሳለፍከው? (məššətun əndet asalläfkäw?) ＞m አንደምን አመሸሽ? (əndämən amäššäš?) ＞f ምሽቱን እንዴት አሳለፍሽው? (məššətun əndet asalläfšəw?) ＞f አንደምን አመሹ? (əndämən amäššu?) frm [how did you spend the evening?] |
| Good night | ደህና እደር (dähna där) ＞m ደህና እደሪ (dähna däri) ＞f ደህና እደሩ (dähna däru) frm/pl |
| Goodbye (Parting phrases) |
ቻው (chaw) - inf ደህና ሁን (dähna hun) - m ደህና ሁኚ (dähna hunyi) - f ደህና ሁኑ (dähna hunu) - pl |
| Good luck! | መልካም እድል (mälkam əddəl) - inf |
| Cheers! Good Health! (Toasts used when drinking) |
ለጤናችን (läṭenaččən) ለፍቅራችን (läfəqraččən) ለጓደኛነታችን (lägwadäňňannätaččən) |
| Have a nice day | መልካም ቀን። (mälkam qän) መልካም ቀን ይሁንልህ። (mälkam qän yəhunəlləh) ＞m መልካም ቀን ይሁንልሽ። (mälkam qän yəhunəlləš) ＞f መልካም ቀን ይሁንላችሁ። (mälkam qän yəhunəllaččhu) - pl |
| Bon appetit / Have a nice meal |
ብላ (bəla) - eat! >m ብዪ (biy) - eat! >f ብሉ (bəlu) - eat! - pl መልካም ምግብ (mälkam məgəb) - good feasting |
| Bon voyage / Have a good journey |
መልካም ጉዞ። (mälkam guzo) መልካም ጉዞ ይሁንልህ። (mälkam guzo yəhunəlləh) >m መልካም ጉዞ ይሁንልሽ። (mälkam guzo yəhunəlləš) >f መልካም ጉዞ ይሁንላችሁ። (mälkam guzo yəhunəllaččhu) - pl |
| Do you understand? | ገባሀ? (Gäbah?) >m ገባሸ? (Gäbaš?) >f |
| I understand | ገባኝ (gäbbaň) - it entered me |
| I don't understand | አልገባኝም (algäbbaňem) - it didn't enter me |
| I don't know | አላውቅም (alawqəm) |
| Please speak more slowly | እባክህ ቀስ ብለህ ተናገር። (əbakəh qässə bəlläh tänagär) >m እባክሽ ቀስ ብለሽ ተናገሪ። (əbakəš qässə bəlläš tänagäri) >f እባካችሁ ቀስ ብላችሁ ተናገሩ። (əbakaččhu qässə bəlläččhu tänagäru) pl እባክዎ ቀስ ብለው ይናገሩ። (ebakwo qäs beläw yenagäru) - frm |
| Please say that again | እባክህ ያልከዉን ድገምልኝ። (əbakəh yalkäwn dəgäməlləň) ＞m እባክሽ ያልሽዉን ድገሚልኝ። (əbakəš yalššəwn dəgämilləň ＞f እባካችሁ ያላችሁትን ድገሙልኝ። (ebakaččhu yalaččhuten degämulleñ) - pl እባክዎ ያሉትን ይድገሙልኝ። (ebakwo yaluten yedegämulleñ) - frm |
| Please write it down | እባካችሁ ያላችሁትን ድገሙልኝ። (ebakaččhu yalaččhuten degämulleñ) - pl እባክዎ ያሉትን ይድገሙልኝ። (ebakwo yaluten yedegämulleñ) - frm |
| Do you speak Amharic? | አማርኛ ትችላለህ? (amariňňa təčəlalläh) >m አማርኛ ትችያለሽ? (amariňňa təčiyalläš) >f አማርኛ ትችላላችሁ? (amariňňa təčəlallaččhu) pl |
| Yes, a little (reply to 'Do you speak ...?') |
አዎ፣ ትንሽ (aw tənəš) |
| How do you say ... in Amharic? | እንዴት ነው … በአማርኛ የምለው? (endiet näw … bä’amareñña yämmeläw) … በአማርኛ ምን ይባላል?) (… bä’amareñña men yebbalal) |
| Excuse me | ይቅርታ (yəqərta) - forgivness |
| How much is this? | ስንት ነው ዋጋው፧ (sənttə näw wagaw?) |
| Sorry | አዝናለሁ (azənallähw)- I am sorrowful |
| Please | እባክህ (əbakəh) - m እባክሽ (əbakəš) - f እባክዎን (əbakown) - frm - I beg of you |
| Thank you | አመሰግናለሁ (amäsäggänallähw) - I praise you በጣም አመሰግናለሁን (bäṭam amäsäggänallähun) |
| Reply to thank you | ምንም አይደለም (mənəm aydälläm) - it is nothing ችግር የለም (čəggər yälläm) - there is no problem |
| Where's the toilet / bathroom? | ሽንት ቤት የት ነው? (šəntə bet yätə näw) - inf መጸዳጃ ክፍል የት ነዉ? (mäs'ädaǧǧa kəfl yätə näw) - frm |
| This gentleman will pay for everything | ለሁሉም ይህ ሰዉየ ይከፍላል። (lähulum yəh säwye yəkäflall) |
| This lady will pay for everything | ለሁሉም ይህች ሴትዮ ትከፍላለች። (lähulum yəč setyo təkäflalläč) |
| Would you like to dance with me? | ከኔ ጋር መደነስ ትፈልጋለህ። (käne gar mädänäs təfälləgalläh?) >m ከኔ ጋር መደነስ ትፈልጊያለሽ። (käne gar mädänäs təfälləgiyalläš?) >f |
| I like you (as a friend) | እወድሀለሁ። (əwäddəhallähw) >m እወድሻለሁ። (əwäddəšallähw) >f |
| I love you | አፈቅርሻለሁ። (əfäqrəšallähw) >f አፈቅርሀለሁ። (əfäqrəhallähw) >m |
| Get well soon | ምህረቱን ያምጣልህ። (məhərätun yamṭalləh) >m ምህረቱን ያምጣልሽ። (məhərätun yamṭalləš) >f (may his (God's) mercy come for you) |
| Go away! | ሂድ! (hid) >m ሂጂ! (hiǧǧi) >f ሂዱ! (hidu) - pl |
| Leave me alone! | ለቀቅ አርገኝ። (läqäq arrəgäň) >m ለቀቅ አርጊኝ። (läqäq arrəgiň) >f |
| Help! | እርዳኝ (ərdaň!) >m እርጂኝ (ərǧǧiň!) >f እርዱኝ (ərduň!) - pl |
| Fire! | እሳት (əsat!) |
| Stop! | ቁም! (qum) >m ቁሚ! (qumi) >f |
| Call the police! | ፖሊስ ጥራ። (polis ṭərra!) >m ፖሊስ ጥሪ ። (polis ṭərri!) >f ፖሊስ ጥሩ ። (polis ṭərru!) - pl |
| Christmas greetings | መልካም ገና (melikami gena) |
| New Year greetings | እንኳን አደረሰህ (ənkwan adärräsäh) >m እንኳን አደረሰሽ (ənkwan adärräsäš) >f እንኳን አደረሱ (ənkwan adärräsu) - frm እንኳን አደረሳችሁ (ənkwan adärräsaččhu) - pl [even you have ushered in (the holiday)!] እንኳን አብረው አደረሰን (ənkwan abräw adärräsän) [reply - even we have ushered in together!] |
| Easter greetings | መልካም ፋሲካ (mälkam fasika) |
| Birthday greetings | መልከም ልደት (mälkam lədät) |
| Congratulations! | እንኳን ደስ አለዎ! (Inikwani desi ālewo!) |
| One language is never enough | አንድ ቋንቋ ብቻ በቂ አይደለም (and qwanqa bəča bäqi aydälläm) |
| My hovercraft is full of eels | የኔ ማንዣበቢያ መኪና በዓሣዎች ተሞልቷል (yäne manžabäbia mäkina bä'asawoch tämoltwal) - ["fish"] የኔ ማንዣበቢያ መኪና በእባቦች ተሞልቷል (yäne manžabäbia mäkina bä'əbaboch tämoltwal) - ["snakes"] (there is no word for eels in Amharic) |
Download the audio files (Zip format, 323K)
Corrections and additions by Joshua Smolders and Adam Young
If you would like to make any corrections or additions to this page, or if you can provide recordings, please contact me.
Hear some Amharic phrases
Information about Amharic | Phrases | Numbers | Tower of Babel
Books about and in Amharic on: Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk [affilate links]
Amharic language resources on Amazon
Other collections of Amharic phrases (some with audio)
http://ilanguages.org/amharic_phrases.php
http://learn101.org/amharic_phrases.php
https://wikitravel.org/en/Amharic_phrasebook
https://www.youtube.com/amharic4rastafari
Amharic, Arabic (Egyptian), Arabic (Lebanese), Arabic (Modern Standard), Arabic (Moroccan), Aramaic, Assyrian, Hausa, Hebrew, Maltese
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