This lesson provides a clear guide to the present tense conjugations of the Amharic “to be” verb. Mastering this verb is a fundamental step for any student of Amharic, as it is used to form basic descriptive sentences.
This lesson is especially useful because it clearly demonstrates subject-verb agreement, showing how the verb form changes to match the gender, number, and formality of the subject pronoun. The table below presents the positive, negative, and interrogative forms for all personal pronouns, which helps students see these patterns and builds a strong foundation for more complex sentence structures.
| አወንታዊ (Positive) | አሉታዊ (Negative) | ጥያቄ (Interrogative) |
|---|---|---|
| እኔ ኢትዮጵያዊ ነኝ። I am Ethiopian. | እኔ ኢትዮጵያዊ አይደለሁም። I am not Ethiopian. | እኔ ኢትዮጵያዊ ነኝ? Am I Ethiopian? |
| አንተ ኢትዮጵያዊ ነህ። You are Ethiopian. | አንተ ኢትዮጵያዊ አይደለህም። You are not Ethiopian. | አንተ ኢትዮጵያዊ ነህ? Are you Ethiopian? |
| አንቺ ኢትዮጵያዊ ነሽ። You are Ethiopian. | አንቺ ኢትዮጵያዊ አይደለሽም። You are not Ethiopian. | አንቺ ኢትዮጵያዊ ነሽ? Are you Ethiopian? |
| እርስዎ ኢትዮጵያዊ ነዎት። You are Ethiopian. | እርስዎ ኢትዮጵያዊ አይደሉም። You are not Ethiopian. | እርስዎ ኢትዮጵያዊ ነዎት? Are you Ethiopian? |
| እሱ ኢትዮጵያዊ ነው። He is Ethiopian. | እሱ ኢትዮጵያዊ አይደለም። He is not Ethiopian. | እሱ ኢትዮጵያዊ ነው? Is he Ethiopian? |
| እርሷ ኢትዮጵያዊ ናት። She is Ethiopian. | እርሷ ኢትዮጵያዊ አይደለችም። She is not Ethiopian. | እርሷ ኢትዮጵያዊ ናት? Is she Ethiopian? |
| እኛ ኢትዮጵያውያን ነን። We are Ethiopians. | እኛ ኢትዮጵያውያን አይደለንም። We are not Ethiopians. | እኛ ኢትዮጵያውያን ነን? Are we Ethiopians? |
| እናንተ ኢትዮጵያውያን ናችሁ። You are Ethiopians. | እናንተ ኢትዮጵያውያን አይደላችሁም። You are not Ethiopians. | እናንተ ኢትዮጵያውያን ናችሁ? Are you Ethiopians? |
| እነሱ ኢትዮጵያውያን ናቸው። They are Ethiopians. | እነሱ ኢትዮጵያውያን አይደሉም። They are not Ethiopians. | እነሱ ኢትዮጵያውያን ናቸው? Are they Ethiopians? |
