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What does ነው mean?

And how do you say ‘it is’ in Amharic?

How do you say ‘is,’ ‘it is,’ or ‘he is‘ in Amharic?
ነው (new) means “it is” or “he is.” But we use it only for masculine, not for feminine. Let’s see some examples below:

  • ይህ የአማርኛ ትምህርት ነው። This Amharic lesson.
  • ጥሩ ነው። It is good.
  • እሱ አስተማሪ ነው። He is a teacher.
  • እኔ ምግብ እየበላሁ ነው። I am eating food.
  • ይሄ ምንድን ነው? What is this?
  • ይሄ ምግብ ነው? Is this food?
  • አዎ፣ ምግብ ነው። Yeah, it’s food.
  • አይ፣ ይሄ ምግብ አይደለም። No, it’s not food;
  • እና ምንድን ነው? So what?
  • መጠጥ ነው። it is a drink.
  • ለእኔ አዲስ ነው! It is NEW to me!
  • ጣፋጭ ነው? Is it, sweetie?
  • አይ መራራ ነው። No, it is bitter.

But for present continuos tense or for question, we use it for all pronouns and genders. Example:

  • እየመጣሁ ነው። I am coming.
  • እየመጣን ነው። We are coming.
  • እየመጣህ ነው? Are you coming? 🤵‍♂️
  • እየመጣሽ ነው? Are you coming? ♀
  • እየመጣ ነው። He is coming.
  • እየመጣች ነው። She is coming.
  • እየመጡ ነው። They are coming.

This word allows you to compliment on things easily in Amharic.
So can you use ነው in a sentence now? Comment below!
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