Common Amharic Greeting Words for Beginners

In this lesson, you will learn 23 Common Amharic Greeting Words for Beginners, including key words like ሰላም (Selam), እንዴት (Endet), and ደህና (Dehna), as well as the conjugation of be verbs (e.g., ነኝ, ነህ, ነሽ) and subjective pronouns (e.g., እኔ, አንተ, እሱ).

And you will also learn how to use these words to ask and respond to common Amharic greetings like እንዴት ነህ? (How are you?) and ሰላም ነኝ (I am fine).

So, by the end of this lesson, you will be able to greet others, respond appropriately, and understand basic sentence structures in Amharic. Are you ready? Let’s dive into it!

1️⃣ Common Amharic Greeting Words for Beginners:

1. ሰላም (Selam) – Peace / Fine / Okay
2. ደህና (Dehna) – Well / Good
3. እንዴት (Endet) – How
4. እንደምን (Endemn) – How

2️⃣ Be Verbs (Used in Greetings & Responses)

1. ነኝ (Negn) – I am
2. ነን (Nen) – We are
3. ነህ (Neh) – You are (male)
4. ነሽ (Nesh) – You are (female)
5. ናችሁ (Nachhu) – You are (plural/respectful)
6. ነው (New) – He is
7. ናት (Nat) / ነች (Nech) – She is
8. ናቸው (Nachew) – They are
9. አላችሁ? (Alachhu) Are you alive?

3️⃣ Pronouns Used in Sentences

1. እኔ  – I
2. እኛ – We
3. አንተ– You (male)
4. አንቺ – You (female)
5. እርስዎ – You (formal)
6. እናንተ  – You (plural)
7. እሱ – He
8. እሷ  – She
9. እናንተ  – You all
10. እነሱ – They

Now let’s use these three different groups of words in constructing sentences:

🔹 እንደት and እንደምን → Only used for questions (greetings).
🔹 ሰላም and ደህና → Used for both greetings and responses. Greeting examples:

Second Person (You – Male & Female)
1️⃣ አንተ እንደት ነህ? – How are you? (to a man)
2️⃣ አንቺ እንደት ነሽ? – How are you? (to a woman)
3️⃣ አንተ ሰላም ነህ? – Are you fine? (to a man)

Plural “You”
6️⃣ እናንተ እንደት ናችሁ? – How are you? (to a group)
7️⃣ ደህና ናችሁ? – Are you well? (to a group)
8️⃣ እንደምን አላችሁ? – How are you all?

Formal / Polite “You”
4️⃣ እርስዎ እንደት ነዎት? – How are you? (formal/polite)
5️⃣ ሰላም ነዎት? – Are you fine? (formal/polite)

Third Person (He/She/They)
9️⃣ እሱ ሰላም ነው? – Is he fine?
🔟 እንደት ነው? – How is he / it?
1️⃣1️⃣ እሷ ደህና ናት? – Is she fine?
1️⃣2️⃣ እንደት ናት? – How is she?
1️⃣3️⃣ እነሱ ሰላም ናቸው? – Are they fine?

Examples of Responses:

1️⃣ እኔ ሰላም ነኝ። I am fine.
2️⃣ እኛ ደህና ነን። We are well.
3️⃣ እሱ ሰላም ነው። He is fine.
4️⃣ እሷ ደህና ናት።  She is fine.
5️⃣ እነሱ ደህና ናቸው። They are fine.

🟢 Practice Time!

I will ask you: እንዴት ነህ? And you can respond with ደህና ነኝ or ሰላም ነኝ።

And if I say you, ሰላም ነህ? You can say ደህና ነኝ or ሰላም ነኝ። easily. The answer is slightly the same with the question. But try to answer in Amharic! This is how you develop communication skills.

👉 Also pay attention to the subject!

• If I ask in the masculine form, respond as a male would.
• If I ask in the plural form, answer in the same way.
• If the question is in the third person (he/she/they), respond accordingly.

Are you ready? Let’s Do it!

For male:

1. እንዴት ነህ?
2. ደህና ነህ?
3. ሰላም ነህ?
4. አማን ነህ?
5. ፒስ ነህ?

For female:

How would a woman respond when she is greeted with the following Amharic greetings? Now try to respond like her.

1. እንዴት ነሽ?
2. ደህና ነሽ?
3. ሰላም ነሽ?
4. አማን ነሽ?
5. ፒስ ነሽ?

For plural:

How would a group of people respond when they are greeted with the following greetings? Now try to respond like them.

1. እንዴት ናችሁ?
2. ደህና ናችሁ?
3. ሰላም ናችሁ?
4. አማን ናችሁ?
5. እንደምን አላችሁ?

For formal:

1. እንዴት ነዎት?
2. ደህና ነዎት?
3. ሰላም ነዎት?
4. እንደምን አሉ?

Asking about third person:

1. እሷስ እንዴት ናት?
2. እሱም ሰላም ነው?
3. ቤተሰቦችህ ደህና ናቸው?

🔵 Your Turn!

Now, it’s your turn to ask me a greeting question in Amharic!

Use what you’ve learned about greetings and be verbs to form a correct questions.

Here are some possible answers I might give:
✅ ደህና ነኝ።
✅ ሰላም ነኝ።
✅ አለሁ።
✅ ይመስገን፣ ደህና ነኝ።
✅ በጣም ደህና ነኝ።
✅ አልሐምዱሊላህ።
✅ ፒስ ነኝ።
✅ እሷ ደህና ናት።
✅ አዎ፣ እሱም ደህና ነው።
✅ ቤተሰቦቼ ሰላም ናቸው።

Try to match the answer with an appropriate question. For example, if my response is “ደህና ነኝ,” what question would you ask?

✨ Well done! 🎉 You’ve just practiced forming questions and responses in Amharic. Keep practicing, and soon, greeting people in Amharic will feel natural. Try greeting someone around you in Amharic right now! 😊