This guide provides a structured approach to understanding Amharic verb conjugation for the First Person in the Simple Present and Simple Past tenses. The focus is on recognizing verb prefixes (beginnings) and suffixes (endings) of the Amharic main verbs.
1. Simple Present Tense (First Person)
Positive Forms:
Amharic infinitive verbs typically begin with መ or ማ. Examples include መስራት (to work), መሄድ (to go), ማንበብ (to read), and ማየት (to see).
Verbs starting with “መ”:
I (Singular): Start with “እ” and end with “ለሁ”. Let’s use these verbs for this example to show how conjugation works:
- መስራት = to work
- መሄድ = to go
e.g., እሰራለሁ – I work, እሄዳለሁ – I go.
We (Plural): Start with “እን” and end with “ለን”. (e.g., እንሰራለን – We work, እንሄዳለን – We go).
Verbs starting with “ማ”:
- ማንበብ (to read)
- ማየት (to see)
I (Singular): Start with “አ” and end with “ለሁ”. (e.g., አነባለሁ = I read, አያለሁ – I see).
We (Plural): Start with “እና” and end with “ለን”. (e.g., እናነባለን = We read, እናያለን- We see).
Negative Forms:
Negative: Use the prefix “አል & አን” for መ-verbs and “አላ & አና” for ማ-verbs. Add the suffix “ም”. ለምሳሌ፦
መ
- አልሰራም – I don’t work, አልሄድም – I don’t go.
- አንሰራም – We don’t work, አንሄድም – We don’t go).
ማ
- አላነብም = I don’t read, አላይም – I don’t see).
- አናነብም = We don’t read, አናይም – We don’t see).
Interrogative Forms:
Simply change your vocal intonation (rising at the end) and add a question mark (e.g., እመጣለሁ? – Do I come?).
2. Simple Past Tense (First Person)
In the Simple Past, prefix patterns vary, but suffixes for the First Person are consistent.
Positive Form:
Remove the infinitive “መ/ማ” prefix and add the suffix “ሁ” or “ኩ” for the singular “እኔ/I”, and “ን” for the plural “እኛ/We”.
If the verb stem ends in a vowel, use “ሁ” (e.g., አያለሁ – I see), እናያለን – we see. ለ is a vowel.
If the verb stem ends in a consonant, use “ኩ” (e.g., ተማርኩ – I learned). ተማርን we learned. ር is a consonant.
Negative Form:
Add the prefix “አል” or “አላ” and the suffix “ም” to the positive past tense form (e.g.,
- አልሰራሁም – (I did not work)
- አላ/አልአነበብኩም – (I did not work)
Now ሰራሁ is a simple past verb, when we put in አል &ም, it becomes negative, means I didn’t work.
አነበብኩ is a simple past verb, when we add አል and ም, it becomes negative, means I didn’t read.
Interrogative Form:
As with the present tense, change your vocal intonation and add a question mark to the positive past form (e.g., ሰራሁ? – Did I work?, ሰራን? – Did we work? አነብብኩ? አነበብን?).
Note: This overview covers only First Person (Singular and Plural) conjugation. Second and Third person conjugations involve different prefixes and suffixes.
While Amharic grammar has many irregularities, mastering these patterns provides a strong foundation for daily communication.
ጥያቄዎች / Quizzes
1. Make present simple sentences using the following verbs in positive form for I and we.
- መምጣት
- መናገር
- መቆም
- ማሰብ
2. የሚከተሉትን አረፍተ ነገሮች ወደ አሉታዊ ቀይር። (Change the following sentences to negative.)
- እኔ እሄዳለሁ። __________________
- እኛ እናያለን። __________________
- እኔ አነባለሁ።__________________
- እኛ እንሰራለን።__________________
3. የሚከተሉትን ቃላት ወደ ፓስት ቀይሩ፦ (Change the following words to the past tense:)
- (እኛ) መሮጥ (to run)
- (እኔ) መተኛት (to sleep)
- (እኔ) ማወቅ (to know)
- (እኛ) መጠጣት (to drink)
