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How do Amharic verbs change their form?

Amharic verbs change their forms according to the Subjects (Pronouns). Subjective Pronouns are classified as “አንደኛ መደብ፣ ሁለተኛ መደብ እና ሶስተኛ መደብ” which means: “first, second, and third person pronoun.”. These classes are also divided into “singular and plural.”. Let’s go ahead and make a sentence using the verb “ማስተማር (to teach)”.

(See where I am living.)

የአማርኛ ባለቤት ተውላጠ ስሞች (the Amharic subjective Pronouns)	መድብ (Person / category)	ግስ (Verb)	ምሳሌ፦ Example፡
እኔ = I	First person singular	አስተምራለሁ I teach.	እኔ አስተምራለሁ። I teach Amharic.
እኛ = We	First person plural	እናስተምራለን We teach.	እኛ እናስተምራለን። We teach Amharic.
አንተ = You	Second-person singular	ታስተምራለህ You teach.	አንተ ታስተምራለህ። You teach Amharic.
አንች = You	Second-person singular	ታስተምሪያለሽ You teach.	አንች ታስተምሪያለሽ። You teach Amharic.
እርስዎ = You	Second person singular (for respect)	ያስተምራሉ You teach.	እርስዎ ያስተምራሉ። You teach Amharic.
እናንተ = You	Second-person plural	ታስተምራላችሁ You teach.	እናንተ ታስተምራላችሁ። You teach Amharic.
እሱ = He	Third-person singular	ያስተምራል He teaches.	እሱ ያስተምራል። He teaches Amharic.
እሷ = She	Third-person singular	ታስተምራለች She teaches.	እሷ ታስተምራለች። She teaches Amharic.
እነሱ = They	Third-person plural	ያስተምራሉ They teach.	እነሱ ያስተምራሉ። They teach Amharic.
እሱ / እሷ = It	Third person singular for things	ያስተምራል /  ታስተምራለች It (the AI) teaches.	እሱ / እሷ ያስተምራል /  ታስተምራለች። It (the AI) teaches Amharic.

3 (three) Facts about Amharic Verb and Subject Agreement:

1. There are 12 Amharic Subjective pronouns.
2. As we have seen above, most of the English word “teach” has not changed its form. But the Amharic verb has changed its form according to the pronouns.
3. Notice that suffixes are added before and after the Amharic verb according to the pronouns.
4. And in English, we only add the letter “s” to the third-person male, female, or object. But on the Amharic verb, we insert four types of letters before the verb. And we also add up to eight suffixes after the verb. Look at the chart very closely.

We have seen that Amharic verbs change their form because of subjective pronouns.

If the Amharic verb is totally changed, the prefixes and suffixes added to it are also changed. For example, if we take the verb “መብላት (to eat)” and use it for all pronouns, as we did with the verb “ማስተማር (to teach)” above, the prefixes and suffixes added to the verb “ማስተማር (to teach)” will not be added to the verb “መብላት (to eat)”. Instead, other prefixes and suffixes should be added. Look at the following examples:

አስተምራለሁ I teach.	እበላለሁ I eat
እናስተምራለን We teach.	እንበላለን We eat
ታስተምራለህ You teach.	ትበላለህ you eat
ታስተምሪያለሽ You teach.	ትበያለሽ You eat
ያስተምራሉ You teach.	ይበላሉ They eat
ታስተምራላችሁ You teach.	ትበላላችሁ You eat
ያስተምራል He teaches.	ይበላል He eats
ታስተምራለች She teaches.	ትበላለች She eats
ያስተምራሉ They teach.	ይበላሉ They eat
ያስተምራል /  ታስተምራለች It (the AI) teaches.	ይበላል / ትበላለች (ለእንስሳ) Eats (for an animal)

Why is it different?

Now their prefix and suffix are different because the verb starts with “መ”. Verbs starting with ”መ” and ”ማ” do not have the same prefix and suffix. But if we change the verb “መብላት (to eat)” to “ማብላት,” then their prefix and suffix will be the same. Let’s see an example.

አስተምራለሁ I teach.	ድሆችን አበላለሁ I feed the poor.
እናስተምራለን We teach.	ድሆችን እናበላለን We feed the poor.
ታስተምራለህ You teach.	ድሆችን ታበላለህ you feed the poor.
ታስተምሪያለሽ You teach.	ድሆችን ታበያለሽ You feed the poor.
ያስተምራሉ You teach.	ድሆችን ያበላሉ They feed the poor.
ታስተምራላችሁ You teach.	ድሆችን ታበላላችሁ You feed the poor.
ያስተምራል He teaches.	ድሆችን ያበላል He feeds the poor.
ታስተምራለች She teaches.	ድሆችን ታበላለች She feeds the poor.
ያስተምራሉ They teach.	ድሆችን ያበላሉ They feed the poor.
ያስተምራል /  ታስተምራለች It (the AI) teaches.	ያበላል / ታበላለች (ለእንስሳ) he/she feeds (The cat feeds her babies)

The main thing we should learn from this PDF is that it is important to maintain the agreement of pronouns (subjects) and verbs. As we don’t say “I teachs or she teach” in English, we don’t say in Amharic “እበላለን፣ ያስተምራለች፣ or ታስተምራል”. We must add the correct prefixes and suffixes to the correct pronoun. Otherwise, the sentence will not be accepted. The verbs and subjects must agree.

Read here more about verb and subject agreement.

In another lesson, we will learn how Amharic verbs change their form due to tenses. Until then, read this over and over again.

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