Under this course, you will learn the Amharic tenses with clear explanations and easy examples.

The Amharic tenses are so simple. Don’t think them as difficult. They are not detailed like English, and they improve your Amharic skills also, but reading them once is not helpful; you need to read them repeatedly, practice them, and memorize them.

Only knowing the grammar rules doesn’t help you to speak the language; you need to train your tongue to speak it not perfectly but effortlessly. If you can’t pronounce Amharic words and sentences very well, you need to train your mouth a lot by speaking louder any text you find in front of you.

Tense is a grammatical feature that indicates the time at which an action takes place (or will take place). We can classify an action as past, present, or future depending on when it occurs. Time is often expressed through time-indicating adverbs.

There are three types of tenses in Amharic, the same as in English. They are:

1. Present
2. Past
3. Future

Amharic Present Tense

The Amharic simple present tense divides into three tenses: simple, continuous, and present perfect tense.

Examples:

1. Present simple tense = ወደ ትምህርት ቤት ይሄዳል። He goes to school. / He will go to school.
2. Present continuous tense = ወደ ትምህርት ቤት እየሄደ ነው። He is going to school.
3. Present perfect tense = ወደ ትምህርት ቤት ሄዷል። He has gone to school.

Amharic Simple Present Tense

Let’s learn the simple Amharic tense first.

We use simple present tense to express things that happen always and general truths. Example:

• ፀሐይ በምስራቅ ትወጣለች። The sun rises from the east.
• ፀሐይ በምዕራብ አትወጣም። The sun doesn’t rise from the weast.
• ሙሐመድ ምግብ ይበላል። Muhammed eats food. 
• ሙሐመድ አማርኛ ያስተምራል። Muhammed teaches Amharic.
• ሙሐመድ እንግሊዘኛ ይችላል። Muhammed can speak English.

This is the Amharic simple present tense; it is the same with the simple future tense.

---

Now let’s see the continuous one:

Amharic present continuous tense:

We use this continuous tense to express something that is happening when we are talking.

So, when we construct Amharic present continuous tenses, we add እየ or እያ on the beginning of the main verb, and we conclude the sentence with the be verb “ነው.” For example:

• ሙሐመድ ምግብ እየበላ ነው። Muhammed is eating some food. 
• ሙሐመድ አማርኛ እያስተማረ ነው። Muhammed is teaching Amharic.
• ሙሐመድ እንግሊዘኛ እየተናገረ ነው። Muhammed is speaking English.

So እየ and እያ are prefixes we use in the continuous tense. It is simple. They don’t have meaning; they’re just like the ‘ing’s in English.

---

Amharic Present perfect tense (በቅርቡ የተፈፀመ)

We use this tense to describe something that happened recently. And the last part of the main verb contains a suffix like ኣል, ኣለሁ, or ኡኣል. For example:

• ወደ ትምህርት ቤት ሄዷል። He has gone to school. / He went to school.
• የቤት ስራየን ጨርሻለሁ። I have done my homework.
• ስራህን ጨርሰሃል። You have completed your job.

To produce the Amharic letters like ዷ፣ ሏ፣ ሟ etc, we need to press ua on our computer keyboards after we write the main letter like, ድ, ል, or ም.

So, if there is some kind of ኣል, ኣለሁ or ኡኣል, know that it is a present perfect tense.

Please read this Amharic biography ebook to find all the Amharic tense’s rules applied there in a real world.

Summary:

የ present tense አይነቶች፦

1. Present simple tense => ትምህርት ቤት ይሄዳል። He goes to school.
2. Present continuous tense => ወደ ትምህርት ቤት እየሄደ ነው። He is going to school.
3. Present perfect tense => ወደ ትምህርት ቤት ሄዷል። He has gone to school.

---

Amharic Past tense

The Amharic past tenses have three parts. They’re simple past, past continuous, and past perfect tenses. For example:

1. Past simple tense => እሱ ወደ ትምህርት ቤት ሄደ። He went to school.
2. Past continuous tense => እሱ ወደ ትምህርት ቤት እየሄደ ነበር። He was going to school.
3. Past perfect tense => እሱ ትምህርት ቤት ሄዶ ነበር። He had gone to school.

---

Amharic Past simple tense

Amharic simple pasts are really simple. You don’t need helping verbs, or you don’t need to add prefixes and sufixes; they are short. Examples:

• በጫካው ውስጥ አለፍኩ። = I passed through the jungle.
• ወደሱ ቀጥ ብዬ ሄድኩ። = I walked straight to it.
• ብዙ ተጫወታችሁ። = You played a lot.
• ቁርስ አዘጋጀ። = He prepared breakfast.
• እኔ አልሄድኩም። = I didn’t go.
• አንተ አልተጫወትክም። = You didn’t play.
• እሱ ቁርስ አላዘጋጀም። = He didn’t prepare breakfast.

---

Amharic past continuous tense:

When we construct Amharic past continuous sentences, we add prefixes እየ or እያ on the main verb of the sentence, and finally we end the sentence with the helping verb ነበር.

• ትምህርት ቤት እየሄደ ነበር። He was going to school.
• ትምህርት እየተማረ ነበር። He was learning.
• አማርኛ እየተማርኩ ነው። I am learning Amharic.
• አማርኛ እያስተማረ ነው። He is teaching Amharic.

We can use simple past tense to ask questions in Amharic. For example:

• የት ሄድክ? = Where did you go?
• ዩሱፍ የት ሄደ? = Where did Joseph go?

---

Past continuous

The English past continuous and past/present perfect continuous tenses are translated the same in Amharic. For example:

• He had been going to school. ትምህርት ቤት እየሄደ ነበር። / ወደ ትምህርት ቤት ይሄድ ነበር።
• He was going to school. ትምህርት ቤት እየሄደ ነበር። / ወደ ትምህርት ቤት ይሄድ ነበር።
• He used to go to school. = ትምህርት ቤት ይሄድ ነበር።

But don’t forget to use እየ, እያ and ነበር when you construct present or past continuous tenses. Examples:

• እኔ ተኝቼ ሳለሁ እሱ እያጠና ነበር። He was studying while I was sleepነበር።

• እሷ ሰባት ላይ (ከሰአት) ምሳ እያበሰለች ነበር። She was cooking dinner at 7 PM.
• ባለፈው ሳምንት ወደ አዲስ አበባ እየተጓዝን ነበር። We were traveling to Addis Ababa last week.
• ለዘመናት መጽሃፍ ሳነብ / እያነበብኩ ነበር። I had been reading books for ages.

Past perfect tense

The Amharic past perfect tenses are end with the helping verb ነበር። And the main verb is in this tense is meaning less sometimes. It looks incomplete. Examples:

• የቤት ስራየን ከእራት በፊት ጨርሼ ነበር። I had finished my homework before dinner.
• ከእራት በፊት እቤት ደርሰው ነበር። They had reached home before dinner.
• እሷ ባሏ ከመምጣቱ በፊት ቤቷን አጽድታ ነበር። She had cleaned her house before husband came.

So, the words ጨርሼ, ደርሰው, and አጽድታ meaningless unless there is ነበር very next them.

---

Amharic Future Tenses

The Amharic Future Tense has only one part, and it is simple future, and it is also the same with simple present tense unless we use a time expression adverb like now, soon, lately, recently, in the future, etc.

Also, the context helps us to identify whether a sentence is present tense or future simple tense. Examples:

• በጣም ስለደከመኝ ልተኛ ነው። I’m going to bed because I’m so tired.
• They will travel to Addis Abeba next month.
• ወደ ትምህርት ቤት ይሄዳል። = He will go to school.
• ወደ ትምህርት ቤት አልሄድም። = I will not go to school.

But if the main verb starts with ሊ፣ or ል, this means the sentence is a future tense. For example:

• ልመጣ ነው። I am about to come.
• ሊመጣ ነው። He is about to come.

These sentences indicate a near future.

• ልንመጣ እንችላለን። Maybe we will come.

 

Even though we don’t use them frequently, the Amharic language has future continuous and future perfect tenses. For example:

Future continuous tense (በዚህን ሰአት) ወደ ትምህርት ቤት እየሄደ ይሆናል። He will be going to school.

He goes to school. ወደ ትምህርት ቤት ይሄዳል። (Simple Present)
He will go to school. ወደ ትምህርት ቤት ይሄዳል። (Simple Future)
He will be going to school. ወደ ትምህርት ቤት ይሄዳል። (Future Continuous)

ይጠብቅሀል = He will wait for you.

• ሀላፊ ጊዜ፡- ባለፈ ጊዜ የተፈፀመ ድርጊትን ያሳያል. የዋህ፣ የቅርብና የሩቅ ተብሎ በሶስት ይከፈላል
– የዋህ ሀላፊ በቀዳማይ አንቀፅ ሲገለፅ
– የቅርብና የሩቅ ሀላፊዎች በካለዓይ አንቀፅና በረዳት ግሶች ይገለፃሉ፡፡

• የዋህ ሀላፊ፡- ድርጊቱ ባለፈ ጊዜ ተፈፅሞ ማለቁን ብቻ ይጠቁማል እንጂ ትክክለኛውን ጊዜ አያመለክትም፡፡ ምሳሌ፡- ሰበረ፣ ገደለች  ጊዜውን ለማሳየት የጊዜ ተውሳከ ግሶች ያስፈልጋሉ፡፡ ምሳሌ፡- ትናንት ሰበረ፣ ዛሬ ገደለች፣ አሁን ሰማች …

• የቅርብ ሀላፊ፡- ድርጊቱ ከተፈፀመ ብዙ ያልቆየ መሆኑን ያሳያል፡፡ – የሚገለፀው በጨራሽ አንቀፅ አምድና /-አል/ በሚል ረዳት ነው፡፡
ምሳሌ፡- ገድል-ኦ-አል፣ በልት-ኣ-ኣለች
• የሩቅ ሀላፊ፡- አንድ ድርጊት ከተፈፀመ መቆየቱን ያሳያል፡፡
– ነበር ከሚላው ረዳት ግስ ጋር ይጣመራል፡፡
ምሳሌ፡- ሰብር-ኦ ነበር፣ ሰምት -ኣ ነበር

• ኢሀላፊ ጊዜ፡- ገና ያልተፈፀመ ድርጊትን ያሳያል፡፡
– የሚመሰረተው በካልዓይ አንቀፅ ላይ /-ኣል/
የሚል ረዳት ግስ በመቀጠል ነው፡፡
ምሳሌ፡- ይ-ሰብር-ኣል
ይ-መጥ-ኣል
ይ-ሰር-ኣል
• የማይቁዋረጥጊዜ፡- ድርጊቱ ተጀምሮ በመከናወን ላይ ያለና ገና ያልተፈፀመ መሆኑን ያመለክታል፡፡
• እየ- የሚል ምዕላድ በግሱ ላይ በማስቀደምና ከተለያዩ ግሶችና ረዳት ግሶች ጋር በመጣመር ጊዜውን ያመለክታል፡፡
ምሳሌ፡- እየ-አነበበ -ነው – (የአሁን ጊዜ)
– ነበር – (የሀላፊ ጊዜ)
-ይጠብቅሀል – (የትንቢት ጊዜ)

 

• ሰላም ነህ? Hello! (Simple present)
• እንዴት ነሽ? How are you? (Simple present)
• የት ሄድክ? Where did you go? (Simple past)
• መቼ ትመጣለህ? When will you come? (Simple future)
• መቼ ትመለሳለህ? When will you return? (Simple future)