Don’t Just Learn Amharic—SPEAK IT! Order Food Like a Local

Don’t Just Learn Amharic—SPEAK IT! Order Food Like a Local 🇪🇹

🎤 Introduction:
In this lesson, I’ll teach you how to order food in Amharic.

Most people struggle with this because they learn words but not how to use them. But today, I’ll show you exactly how to start speaking real Amharic!

And if you want to accelerate your learning, I’ll invite you to a live session where I’ll personally help you practice!

First, let’s learn the very common Amharic words.

📌 Vocabulary List

🔹 General Food-Related Words

  • ምግብ (Mgb) – Food
  • አለ? (Ale?) – Is there?
  • ምን (Mn) – What?
  • ወጥ (Wet) – Stew
  • ቀይ (Qey) – Red
  • አሳ (Asa) – Fish
  • ጥብስ (Tbs) – Tibs (fried meat)
  • ወተት (Wetet) – Milk
  • ቡና (Buna) – Coffee
  • ሻይ (Shay) – Tea

🔹 Responses to Availability

  • አዎ (Awo) – Yes
  • አለን (Alen) – We have it
  • የለም (Yelem) – No, we don’t have it
  • አልቋል (Alkwal) – It’s finished / We ran out

🔹 Ordering Food

  • እሽ (Eshi) – Okay / Please
  • ይሰራልኝ (Yseralgn) – I would like to have (literally: “Let it will be prepared for me”)
  • አንድ (And) – One
  • ይሁንልኝ (Yihunlgn) – Let it be for me / I would like to have

🔹 Calling the Waiter

  • ነይ (Ney) – Come (for female)
  • ና (Na) – Come (for male)

🔹 Asking for the Bill / Price

  • ሒሳብ (Hisab) – Bill
  • ስንት (Snt) – How much?
  • ብር (Birr) – Ethiopian currency

🔹 Paying the Bill

  • እንች /ኪ/ (Enki) – Here you go (to a female)
  • እንካ (Enka) – Here you go (to a male)
  • ይሄው (Yihiew) – Here you go (neutral)

🔹 Step 1: Asking for Food
Imagine you’re in Addis Ababa, and you’re hungry. What will you say to order food?

🗣 You ask like this; say after me:

  • ምግብ አለ? (Is there food?)
  • ምን ምን አለ? (What do you have?)

Specify the food:

  • ቀይ ወጥ አለ? (Do you have qey wot?)
  • አሳ አለ? (Do you have fish?)
  • ጥብስ አለ? (Do you have tbs?)
  • ወተት አለ? (Do you have milk?)
  • ቡና አለ? (Do you have coffee?)
  • ሻይ አለ? (Do you have tea?)

💬 When they respond, they might say:
✅ አዎ አለ። / አለን። (Yes, we have it!)
❌ የለም። / አልቋል። (No, we don’t have it.)

🔹Step 2: Ordering Your Food
Now, let’s order food!

🗣 Say after me:

    • እሽ ቀይ ወጥ ይሰራልኝ (Please, I would like to have qey wot.)

    • እሽ አንድ ቡና (Please, I would like to have a cup of coffee.)

    • እንቁላል ይሁንልኝ (Please, I would like to have eggs.)

🔹Step 3: Paying the Bill / ሒሳብ መክፈል
After finishing your meal, you’ll call the waiter to bring the bill. If the waiter is female, say ነይ (Ney!). If the waiter is male, say ና (Na!) literally mean “come,”. But they are too direct and informal.

🗣Ask for the price:

    • ስንት ነው? (How much is it?)

    • ስንት ብር ነው? (How much birr?)

🗣 Giving the money: / ገንዘቡን መስጠት

    • እንች /ኪ/ Enki! (Here you go—female)

    • እንካ / Enka! (Here you go—male)

    • ይሄው / Yihiew! (Here you go—for anyone)

Quize Time:

Ordering food in Amharic

Practice ordering food in Amharic and test your skills now! These quizzes cover essential phrases for asking about availability, prices, ordering specific dishes, and basic restaurant conversation.

1 / 10

1. If you want to ask if food is available in Amharic, you say: ______ አለ?

2 / 10

2. How do you ask for the price in Amharic?

3 / 10

3. How do you say 'please come' to a male waiter?

4 / 10

4. If a restaurant has coffee, what will they say?

5 / 10

5. What is the correct way to say "Here you go" when giving money to a female?

6 / 10

6. If you want to order fish, what should you say?

7 / 10

7. How do you politely order red stew (ቀይ ወጥ)?

8 / 10

8. What should you say when asking what foods are available?

9 / 10

9. How do you ask for tea in Amharic?

10 / 10

10. If the restaurant doesn’t have what you want, what might they say?

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The average score is 71%

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🔥Watching videos and reading articles is great, but if you really want to speak Amharic, you need practice! If you join my live session, I’ll personally help you to practice Amharic very well. So contact me and join my live session! 

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