Amharic Verb Conjugation/Amharic Grammar pdf

Amharic Verb Conjugation/Amharic Grammar pdf

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 = IFirst person singularስተምራለሁ I teach.እኔ ስተምራለሁ። I teach Amharic.
እኛ = WeFirst person pluralእናስተምራለን We teach.እኛ እናስተምራለን። We teach Amharic.
አንተ = YouSecond-person singularስተምራለህ You teach.አንተ ስተምራለህ። You teach Amharic.
አንች = YouSecond-person singularስተምሪያለሽ You teach.አንች ስተምሪያለሽ። You teach Amharic.
እርስዎ = YouSecond person singular (for respect)ስተምራ You teach.እርስዎ ስተምራሉ። You teach Amharic.
እናንተ = YouSecond-person pluralስተምራላችሁ You teach.እናንተ ስተምራላችሁ። You teach Amharic.
እሱ = HeThird-person singularስተምራ He teaches.እሱ ስተምራል። He teaches Amharic.
እሷ = SheThird-person singularስተምራለች She teaches.እሷ ስተምራለች። She teaches Amharic.
እነሱ = TheyThird-person pluralስተምራ They teach.እነሱ ስተምራሉ። They teach Amharic.
እሱ / እሷ = ItThird person singular for thingsስተምራ /  ስተምራለች It (the AI) teaches.እሱ / እሷ ስተምራ /  ስተምራለች። 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:

ስተምራለሁ I teach.በላለሁ I eat
እናስተምራለን We teach.እንበላለን We eat
ስተምራለህ You teach.በላለህ you eat
ስተምሪያለሽ You teach.ያለሽ You eat
ስተምራ You teach.በላ They eat
ስተምራላችሁ You teach.በላላችሁ You eat
ስተምራ He teaches.በላ He eats
ስተምራለች She teaches.በላለች She eats
ስተምራ They teach.በላ They eat
ስተምራ /  ስተምራለች It (the AI) teaches. በላ / በላለች (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.

ስተምራለሁ I teach.ድሆችንበላለሁ I feed the poor.
እናስተምራለን We teach.ድሆችን እናበላለን We feed the poor.
ስተምራለህ You teach.ድሆችንበላለህ you feed the poor.
ስተምሪያለሽ You teach.ድሆችንያለሽ You feed the poor.
ስተምራ You teach.ድሆችንበላ They feed the poor.
ስተምራላችሁ You teach.ድሆችንበላላችሁ You feed the poor.
ስተምራ He teaches.ድሆችንበላ He feeds the poor.
ስተምራለች She teaches.ድሆችንበላለች She feeds the poor.
ስተምራ They teach.ድሆችንበላ They feed the poor.
ስተምራ /  ስተምራለች It (the AI) teaches. በላ / በላለች (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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This Post Has 2 Comments

  1. John

    Thanks, it is very helpfull to learn Amharic. I also download and read the PDF file. Thanks a lot! Please keep it up. I want to speak Amharic fluently.

    1. Amargna

      Thanks a lot for your appreciation. Okay, I will try.

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