How to use the word “Say” in Amharic?

How to use the word “Say” in Amharic?

We Amharic speakers use the word ‘say’ in so many ways, I have mentioned most of them below.

The word ‘Say’ means in Amharic is ‘ማለት (Malet)’ But, when you want command someone in Amharic to say something, you should say ‘Bel’ instead of ‘“ማለት” you say to him ‘bel’, to her, bey, to them belu.  For example, if you want someone to say something, you can command him by saying, “አንድ ነገር ተናገር / And neger tenager.”. ‘And neger tenager’ is not the translation, it’s just a phonetic representation.

How-to-use-the-word-Say-in-Amharic-Detailed-ExplanationDownload

We have just seen above how to use the word ‘say’ in Amharic when we want to command someone. Next we will see how to forbid and warn someone using this word. To forbid someone from saying, we say ‘አትበል / Atbel’. And when we want to warn someone from saying something, we say ‘እንዳትል / Endatl’ in Amharic.

ማዘዝ Ordering መከልከል Prohibition ማስጠንቀቂያ ለመስጠት To give a warning
‘ሀ’ በል Say ‘He’. For male እንደዛ አትበል። Don’t say like that. ደግመህ እንዲህ እንዳትል! Don’t say like this again!
‘ለ’ በይ Say ‘Le’. For female እንደዛ አትበይ። Don’t say like that. ደግመሽ እንዲህ እንዳትይ! Don’t say like this again!
‘ኘ’ በሉ Say ‘Gne’. For plural እንደዛ አትበሉ። Don’t say like that. ደግማችሁ እንዲህ እንዳትሉ! Don’t say like this again!
  • እኔ ቀድሜ ልበል? (Should I say first?)
  • እሽ በል። Okay, Say it.
  • ነገር ግን በትክክል ማለት አለብህ። But you have to say it right.
  • እንደዚህ ማለት ክልክል ነው። It is forbidden to say so.
  • አባባል = saying
  • አባባሎች = sayings
  • The root word is “ማለት”

The English word ‘Say’ has many meanings and usages in Amharic. If you read this article to the end, you will know a lot of Amharic. So keep calm and try to follow. You can also watch the video here. Also, don’t forget to Subscribe my YouTube channel. If you have any question, leave me in the comment section.

We use the word “say / ማለት” in both present and future tenses.

The word ‘to say’ in Amharic functions in two tenses. Let’s delve into its usage in constructing positive sentences for both present and future tense.

Simple Present tense: Future Tens
እላለሁ I say  I will say.
እንላለን We say We will say.
ትላለህ You say (Male) You will say. (Male)
ትያለሽ You say (female) You will say. (female)
ትላላችሁ You say (Plural) You will say. (Plural)
ይላል He says He will say.
ትላለች She says She will say.
ይላሉ They say They will say.

Simple Present and Future Negative tense:

Simple Present tense: Future Tens
አልልም I don’t say. I will not say.
አንልም We do not say. We will not say.
አትልም You don’t say. (male) You will not say.
አትይም You don’t say. (female) You will not say.
አትሉም You don’t say. (plural) You will not say.
አይልም He doesn’t say. He will not say.
አትልም She doesn’t say. She will not say.
አይሉም They don’t say. They will not say.

Now, let’s use it in present contnious sentences:

  1. ምን እያልክ ነው? What are you saying? (male)
  2. ምን እያልሽ ነው? What are you saying? (female)
  3. ምን እያላችሁ ነው? What are you saying? (plural)
  4. ምን እያለ ነው?  What is he saying?
  5. ምን እያለች ነው? What is she saying?
  6. ምን እያሉ ነው? What are you saying?

Present Contnious Negative sentences:

  1. እንደዚያ እያልኩ አይደለም። I’m not saying like that.
  2. እንደዚያ እያልን አይደለም። We are not saying like that.
  3. እንደዚያ እያለ አይደለም። He’s not saying like that.
  4. እንደዚያ እያለች አይደለም። she’s not saying like that.
  5. እንደዚያ እያሉ አይደለም። They are not saying like that.

Present Perfect or simple past sentences:

  1. ብያለሁ  I have said
  2. ብለናል   We have said
  3. ብለሃል   You have said (male)
  4. ብለሻል   You have said (Female)
  5. ብላችኋል You have said (Plural)
  6. ብሏል    He has said
  7. ብላለች  She has said
  8. ብለዋል They have said

Simple Past in ጥያቄ (Question)

  1. ምን አልክ? What did you say? (Male)
  2. ምን አልሽ? What did you say? (Female)
  3. ምን አላችሁ? What did you say? (plular)
  4. ምን አለ? What did he say?
  5. ምን አለች? What did she say?
  6. ምን አሉ? What did they say?
    1. ምን አልከኝ? What did you say to me? (Male)
    1. ምን አልሽኝ? What did you say to me? (Female)
    1. ምን አላችሁ? What did you say? (plular)
    1. ምን አለ? What did he say?
    1. ምን አለች? What did she say?
    1. ምን አሉ? What did they say?

Past contnious tense Negative Sentence:

You may will need to ask also like this:

  1. ምን እያልክ ነበር? What were you saying?
  2. ምን እያልሽ ነበር? What were you saying?
  3. ምን እያላችሁ ነበር? What were you saying?
  4. ምን እያለ ነበር? What was he saying?
  5. ምን እያለች ነበር? What was she saying?
  6. ምን እያሉ ነበር? What were you saying?

Simple Past tense Negative Sentence:

  1. እኔ እንደዛ አላልኩም።     I didn’t say like that.
  2. እኛ እንደዛ አላልንም።      We didn’t say like that.
  3. አንተ እንደዛ አላልክም።    You didn’t say like that.
  4. አንች እንደዛ አላልሽም።    You didn’t say like that.
  5. እናንተ እንደዛ አላላችሁም። You didn’t say like that.
  6. እሱ እንደዛ አላለም።        He didn’t say like that.
  7. እሷ እንደዛ አላለችም።     She didn’t say like that.
  8. እነሱ እንደዛ አላሉም።      They didn’t say like that.
  1. ልል እችላለሁ           I can say
  2. ልንል እንችላለን        We can say
  3. ልትል ትችላለህ        You can say
  4. ልትይ ትችያለሽ        You can say
  5. ልትሉ ትችላላችሁ     You can say
  6. ሊል ይችላል             he can say
  7. ልትል ትችላለች        She can say
  8. ሊሉ ይችላሉ            They can say

We can also say to one another as follows:

  • ብየሃለሁ – I told you.
  • ብለንሃል – We called you. (Male)
  • ብለኸኛል – You told me. (Male)
  • ብለሽኛል – You told me. (Female)
  • ብላችሁኛል – You said to me. (Plural)
  • ብሎኛል – He told me.
  • ብላኛለች – She said to me.
  • ብለውኛል – They called me.

Present contnious sentences question:

  1. ምን ማለትህ ነው? What do you mean? (Male)
  2. ምን ማለትሽ ነው? What do you mean? (Female)
  3. ምን ማለታችሁ ነው? What do you mean? (Plural)
  4. ምን ማለቱ ነው? What does that mean?
  5. ምን ማለቷ ነው? What does she mean?
  6. ምን ማለታቸው ነው? What do they mean?

To say ‘shouldn’t have said’ in Amharic:

  • ማለት አልነበረብኝም። I shouldn’t have said it.
  • ማለት አልነበረብንም። We shouldn’t have said that.
  • ማለት አልነበረብህም። You shouldn’t have said that.
  • ማለት አልነበረብሽም። You shouldn’t have said that.
  • ማለት አልነበረባችሁም። You shouldn’t have said that.
  • ማለት አልነበረበትም። He shouldn’t have said that.
  • ማለት አልነበረባትም። She shouldn’t have said.
  • ማለት አልነበረባቸውም። They shouldn’t have said that.

To say “Not because someone said”

  • እኔ ስላልኩ አይደለም።            Not because I said so.
  • እኛ ስላልን አይደለም።             Not because we said so.
  • አንተ ስላልክ አይደለም።          Not because you said so.
  • አንች ስላልሽ አይደለም።          Not because you said so.
  • እናንተ ስላላችሁ አይደለም።     Not because you have.
  • እሱ ስላለ አይደለም። Not because he exists.
  • እሷ ስላለች አይደለም።            Not because she exists.
  • እነሱ ስላሉ አይደለም።            Not because they exist.

የወደፊት ጊዜ     Future time

እለዋለሁ            I will say to him.

እንለዋለን            We call him.

ትለዋለህ             You say to him or call him.

To express that we may say in the Future:

ማን ያውቃል ‘ገንዘብ አላበደርከኝም’ ብለህ ትክደኝ ይሆናል። Who knows, you might reject me by saying, ‘You didn’t lend me money.’

ልል እችላለሁ       I can say

ልንል እንችላለን    We can say

ልትል ትችላለህ     You can say

ልትይ ትችያለሽ     You can see

ልትሉ ትችላላችሁ You can say

ሊል ይችላል        can say

ልትል ትችላለች    She can say

ሊሉ ይችላሉ       You can say

Inevitably, someone might say.

  • ማለቴ የማይቀር ነው። Inevitably, I might say.
  • ማለታችን አይቀርም። Inevitably, we might say.
  • ማለቱ አይቀርም። Inevitably, you might say.
  • ማለቱ አይቀርም። Inevitably, you might say.
  • ማለቱ አይቀርም።  Inevitably, you might say.
  • ማለቱ አይቀርም።  Inevitably, he might say.
  • ማለቷ አይቀርም። Inevitably, she might say.
  • ማለታቸው አይቀርም። Inevitably, they might say.

To say ‘That’s not what I said.’

  1. እኔ ያልኩት እንደዛ አይደለም። That’s not what I said.
  2. እኛ ያለነው እንደዛ አይደለም። That’s not how we are.
  3. አንተ ያልከው እንደዛ አይደለም። That’s not what you said.
  4. አንች ያልሽው እንደዛ አይደለም። That’s not what you said.
  5. እናንተ ያላችሁት እንደዛ አይደለም። That is not what you have.
  6. እሱ ያለው እንደዛ አይደለም። He is not like that.
  7. እሷ ያለችው እንደዛ አይደለም። That’s not how she is.
  8. እነሱ ያሉት እንደዛ አይደለም። They are not like that.

አሉታዊ       Negative

እኔ እንደዛ አላልኩም።             I didn’t say that.

እኛ እንደዛ አላልንም።             We didn’t say that.

አንተ እንደዛ አላልክም።           You didn’t say that.

አንች እንደዛ አላልሽም።           You didn’t say that.

እናንተ እንደዛ አላላችሁም።      You don’t have that.

እሱ እንደዛ አላለም።               He didn’t say that.

እሷ እንደዛ አላለችም።             She didn’t say that.

እነሱ እንደዛ አላሉም።             They don’t say that.

ማለት      mean

ማለቴ  I mean

ማለት የምፈልገው…  What I want to say is…

ለማለት የፈለኩት  What I want to say is…

To express that we don’t mind.

ቅር አይለኝም።        I don’t mind.

ቅር አይለንም።         We don’t mind.

ቅር አይልህም?        don’t you mind

ቅር አይልሽም?        Don’t you mind?

ቅር አይላችሁም?     Don’t you mind?

ቅር አይለውም?       Does he not mind?

ቅር አይለላትም?      Does she not mind?

ቅር አይላቸውም?    Don’t they mind?

ይሻላል ብየ አስቤ ነበር። I thought it was better.
ይሻላል ብለህ ነው? Do you just think this is better?
ይሻላል ብለሽ ነው? Do you just think this is better?
ይሻላል ብለው ነው? Do you just think this is better?
ይሻላል ብሎ ነው? Do you just think this is better?
ይሻላል ብላ ነው? Do you just think this is better?
  • ማለት = to say
  • ማለት = that means
  • ማለት = እወዳለሁ = I want to say.
  • ለማለት እወዳለሁ = I want to say.
  • ብየሃለሁ = I have said to you.
By watching this video over and over again or reading the article over and over again, memorize this Amharic lesson, it can be useful for you in the future.
ይሄን ቪዲዮ ደጋግማችሁ በማየት ወይም ጽሁፉን ደጋግማችሁ በማንበብ ይሄን የአማርኛ ትምህርት ሸምድዳችሁ ያዙት ለወደፊቱ ሊጠቅማችሁ ይችላል።     

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Also, I want you to knowthat I don’t get money from advertising or affiliate commissions. And that life is a little difficult for me because I live in absolute poverty. You can see where I live here. Please note that I am not trying to cheat you. I am Honest.

So, if you feel compassionate, you can send me $5 or 5 Birr, which is about $0.086, through these links. But if you still can’t do that, please help me by subscribing to my YouTube channel and watch some videos for me till the end and also share it. Thank you for your help, it means a lot to me. I need your contribution until I start getting some money from YouTube. Your contribution helps me to move forward without giving up. So, thanks again.

I know it is humiliating to beg from people instead of God. Humans do not like to be asked for help, but God wants us to ask Him for help sincerely. However, I do so thinking that if you feel you have learned something from me, you will not find it difficult to send me even as little as 1 dollar. Thanks again for understanding my situation.

Follow me on these Social Medias:

  1. YouTube: www.YouTube/PracticeAmharic
  2. website: https://EasyeAmharic.com/help
  3. Telegram Channelhttps:/t.me/EasyAmharic
  4. Telegram Group: https://t.me/LearnAmharicGroup
  5. Titok: https://www.tiktok.com/@LearnAmharic
  6. Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/easyamharic  

If you have any question or comment, you can find me here on Telegram: https://t.me/AmharicMadeEasy

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