The Behavior of Amharic Prepositions

Amharic prepositions are not only used before nouns and pronouns but also before adjectives, verbs, and adverbs.

In this lesson, we will explore these features in depth. Make sure to read until the end to fully understand them. If you review this lesson repeatedly and memorize these rules, your Amharic will improve significantly, Insha’Allah.

Preposition: ለ – to, for

1. ለአንተ ብየ ነው።
   It is for you. (before a pronoun)
2. ለማምጣት የታሰበውን ብልጽግና ለማሳካት
   To achieve the prosperity intended to bring. (before a verb)
3. እንደምሳሌ በመጠጠም
   As an example, by summarizing. (በ = before the verb)
4. ለአካባቢው ህዝብ መልእክት አስተላልፈዋል።
   They conveyed a message to the local people. (before a noun)
5. ለገበያ ለማቅረብ
   To present to the market. (before a verb)
6. ለሶስት ተከታታይ ሳምንታት
   For three consecutive weeks. (before an adjective)
7. ተማሪዎች ለረጅም ጊዜ ከትምህርት ርቀው በመቆየታቸው
   Because the students stayed away from education for a long time. (before an adjective)

Preposition: በ  – in, by, with

1. በኢትዮጵያ ለማምጣት የታሰበውን ብልጽግና እውን ለማድረግ
   To realize the prosperity intended to bring to Ethiopia. (before a noun)
2. በህዳሴ ግድቡ ግንባታ ላይ
   At the construction of the Grand Renaissance Dam. (before a noun)
3. በሶስቱ አገራት መካከል የሚካሄደው ውይይት
   The discussion taking place among the three countries. (before an adjective)
4. ፕሬዚዳንት ትራንፕ የሚታወቁት ስርዓት በሌለው ንግግራቸው ነው።
   President Trump is known for his unstructured speeches. (በ + adjective)
5. በተጀመረበት ሰአት ላይ
   At the time it started. (before a verb)
6. በስብሰባ ላይ እንደተገለጸው፤
   As it was explained at the meeting. (before a noun)
7. ወጪው ሙሉ በሙሉ በኢትዮጵያ መንግስት የሚሸፈን ይሆናል።
   The cost will be fully covered by the Ethiopian government. (before an adverb)

Preposition: ከ  – from, since

1. ከትናንት በስቲያ
   Since yesterday evening. (ከ + adverb)
2. ከ2 ቢሊየን ብር በላይ የሚፈጅ ሲሆን
   While it costs more than 2 billion birr. (ከ + adjective)
3. ከአዲስ አበባ እስከ ተንታ ድረስ
   From Addis Ababa to Tenta. (before a noun)
4. የአካባቢው ማህብረሰብ ከዚህ ተጠቃሚ እንዲሆን
   For the local community to benefit from this. (before a pronoun)
5. ከአንደኛ እስከ ስምንተኛ ደረጃ
   From the first to the eighth level. (ከ + adjective)
6. ከህዳር 21 እስከ 23
   From November 21 to 23. (ከ + noun)

Preposition: ወደ – to, toward

1. አካባቢው በልማት ወደኋላ መቅረቱን ተናገሩ
   They mentioned that the area has fallen behind in development. (ወደ + adverb)
2. ሰዎች ወደቤት ሲገቡ When people go home. (ወደ + noun)
3. አመራሩ በጥንካሬ ወደእንቅስቃሴ ገብቷል
   The leadership has vigorously taken action. (ወደ + verb)
4. ወደተዘጋጀው የለይቶ ማቆያ ክፍል
   To the prepared quarantine section. (ወደ + adjective)
5. ወደፊት ተማሪዎች ቁጥራቸው ስለሚጨምር
   As the number of students increases in the future. (ወደ + adverb)
6. የአገራቸውን ሉዓላዊነት ለመጠበቅ ወደኋላ እንደማይሉ ተናገሩ
   They said they will not step back from protecting their country’s sovereignty. (ወደ + verb)

Preposition: እስከ – until, up to

1. እስከ ስምንተኛው ቀን ድረስ እዚያው ነበር
   He was there until the eighth day. (እስከ + adjective)
2. የባለሙያዎች ድርሻና ኃላፊነት እስከ ምን ድረስ ነው?
   To what extent is the role and responsibility of the experts? (እስከ + pronoun)
3. እስከ አለፈው ዓመት ድረስ ባለን መረጃ
   According to the information we have up to last year. (እስከ + adverb)
4. ከጋራ መኖሪያ ቤቶች ጀምሮ እስከ ባዶ መሬት እንዲያገኙ ሆኗል
   From shared housing to empty land, they have been provided with everything. (እስከ + adjective)
5. እስከ ዛሬ ድረስ
   Up to today. (እስከ + adverb)

Preposition: ስለ – about, because of

1. ትራንፕ ስለኢትዮጵያ ህዳሴ ግድብ የተናገሩት ያልተገባ ንግግር
   The inappropriate speech Trump made about Ethiopia’s Grand Renaissance Dam. (ስለ + noun)
2. ስለትምህርት አሰጣጡና ስለጥንቃቄ ርምጃዎች ገለጻ ተደርጓል
   An explanation was given about education delivery and precautionary measures. (ስለ + noun)
3. ሊተገብሩ ስለሚገባቸው አስገዳጅ ሁኔታዎች
   The urgent conditions that need to be implemented. (ስለ + verb)
4. ተጽእኖ ሊያደግርባቸው ስለሚችል
   Because it can have an impact on them. (ስለ + verb)
5. የህዳሴ ግድብ ግንባታ በሚፈለገው ደረጃ እና ጥራት እየተከናወነ ስለመሆኑ በቂ መረጃ
   Sufficient information about the construction of the Grand Renaissance Dam being carried out at the desired level and quality. (ስለ + verb)
6. ስለፕሮጀክቱ አላማ
   About the project’s goal. (ስለ + noun)

Preposition: እንደ like, as

1. ይሄ እንደ መፍትኤ ሃሳብ ሊታይ የሚችል አይደለም
   This cannot be seen as a solution. (እንደ + noun)
2. በስነ ስርአቱ ላይ እንደተገለጸው፤
   As it was explained in the system. (እንደ + verb)
3. መንግስት ሌሎች የልማት ጥያቄዎችንም ለመመለስ እንደሚሰራ ተናገረ።
   The government stated that it is working to address other development issues. (እንደ + verb)
4. እነዚህን ምርቶች ለገበያ ለማቅረብ ምቹ ሁኔታ እንደሚፈጠር ገልጸዋል።
   They explained that a favorable condition is being created to market these products. (እንደ + verb)
5. እንደ ርእሰ መምህሩ አቶ አብርሃም ማብራሪያ፤
   As explained by the principal, Mr. Abraham. (እንደ + noun)
6. የመማር ማስተማር ስራው ለሶስት ተከታታይ ሳምንታት እንደሚቀጥል ተናግረዋል።
   They said that the teaching and learning process will continue for three consecutive weeks. (እንደ + verb)
7. ችግር እንደሌለው ይታወቃል
   It is known that there is no problem. (እንደ + adverb)

Preposition: በስተ – on the side of, toward

1. በስተመጨረሻ ራሳቸውም የቫይረሱ ተጠቂ ሆነው ተገኙ።
   In the end, they themselves were found to be victims of the virus. (በስተ + adverb)
2. ከጣና ሐይቅ በስተምስራቅ በምትገኝ ቦታ
   A place located to the east of Lake Tana. (በስተ + noun)
3. በስተ ኋላው ድምፅ ይጮኻል፤
   A voice is heard from behind. (በስተ + adverb)

Preposition: ያለ – without

1. ያለ ምንም ማስረጃ ሰውን መክሰስ አይቻልም
   One cannot accuse someone without any evidence. (ያለ + pronoun)
2. ስልጣንን ያለአግባብ በመጠቀም የከሰሱት ኔታኒያሁ
   Netanyahu, who was accused of abusing power improperly. (ያለ + adverb)
3. ያለመተዳደሪያ አራት ልጆች ይዤ ሜዳ ላይ ወድቄያለሁ
   I fell on the field with four uncontrollable children. (ያለ + noun)
4. ሴትዮዋ ያለመሬትና ያለእርስት ሜዳ ላይ መውደቃቸውን ይናገራሉ።
   They say that Seyteowa fell on the field without land or property. (ያለ + noun)