Learn Amharic through a beautiful moral story about honesty. This complete lesson includes the full story with translations, 4 grammar points, ready-made phrases, comprehension quizzes, and a full video lesson.
Read the story while listening to the correct pronunciation.
💡 Pro Tip: Read the story aloud as you follow along. This trains your mouth muscles to produce Amharic sounds naturally, just like physical exercise for your speech!
📖 The Story
አንድ ቀን፣ ሃና ወደ ሥራ ስትሄድ መንገድ ላይ አንድ የኪስ ቦርሳ አገኘች።
And qen, Hana wede sra stheid menged lay and yekis borsa agegnech.
One day, while Hana was going to work, she found a wallet on the road.
በውስጡ ገንዘብ፣ መታወቂያ እና ስልክ ቁጥር ነበር።
Bewstu genzeb, metaweiya ena slk qutr neber.
Inside were money, an ID card, and a phone number.
ሃና ወዲያው ለባለቤቱ ደወለች።
Hana wediyaw lebalebetu dewelech.
Hana immediately called the owner.
ሃና፦ ሄሎ፣ የኪስ ቦርሳ ጠፍቶሃል?
Hana: Hello, yekis borsa teftohal?
Hana: Hello, have you lost a wallet?
ባለቤት፦ አዎ! በየቦታው ስፈልገው ነበር!
Balebet: Awo! Beyebotaw sfelgew neber!
Owner: Yes! I’ve been looking for it everywhere!
ሃና፦ እኔ ሰላም ሆስፒታል አጠገብ ነኝ። ና ውሰደው።
Hana: Ine Selam Hospital ategeb negn. Na wsedew.
Hana: I’m near Selam Hospital. Come and get it.
ባለቤቱ በፍጥነት መጣ፤ ሃናም ቦርሳውን መለሰችለት።
Balebetu beftnet meta; Hanam borsawn melesechlet.
The owner came quickly, and Hana returned the wallet to him.
ባለቤት፦ እጅግ በጣም አመሰግናለሁ። ሃቀኛ ሰዎች ዓለማችንን የተሻለች ቦታ ያደርጓታል።
Balebet: Ejg betam amesegnalehu. Haqegna sewoch alemachinn yeteshalech bota yadereguatal.
Owner: Thank you very much. Honest people make our world a better place.
ሃና፦ ለእኔም እንዲሁ ያደርጉልኛል ብዬ ተስፋ አደርጋለሁ።
Hana: Lineim endihu yadergulignual biye tesfa adergalehu.
Hana: I hope they would do the same for me.
Grammar Notes — ሰዋሰው ማስታወሻ:
1. The prefix –ስት (St) and its usage
Put the prefix ‘ስት’ before the verb to indicate second-person masculine, second-person feminine, and third-person feminine. For example:
- ስትሄድ = When you go (M.) / When she goes
- ስትተኛ = When you sleep (M.) / When she sleeps
- ስትበላ = When you eat (M.) / When she eats
- ስትመጣ = When you come (M.) / When she comes
- ስትሄጂ = When you go (F.)
- ስትበዪ = When you eat (F.)
- ስትመጪ = When you come (F.)
- ሲሄድ = When he goes
- ሲመጣ = When he comes
2. The suffix –ለት (let) — Third Person Masculine Indirect Object
When you add -ለት to a verb, it means the action was done FOR HIM or TO HIM. The suffix -ለት always points to a male recipient.
Examples from the story:
| Amharic | English | |
| መለሰችለት/ላት/ልን/ልህ/ልሽ/ልኝ |
| |
| ሰራሁለት ሰራችልኝ | I worked for him |
|
| አየሁለት | I saw it for him |
|
| አመጣሁለት | I brought it for him |
|
| ነገርኩለት | I told for him |
|
| መለስኩለት | I returned it to him / answered him |
|
| ሰራችለት | she worked/did for him |
|
| ገዛችለት እናቴ ልብስ ገዛችልኝ ናቲ ልብስ ገዛልኝ | she bought for him |
|
| ሄደችለት | she went for him |
|
| ለናቲ ምን አመጣሽለት? ለእኔ ምን አመጣሽ/ህልኝ?
| Did you bring for him? (fem.) |
|
| አየሽለት? | Did you (fem.) see for him? |
|
3. The suffix combination -ችን (-chinin) First Person Plural Object
When ን (object marker) is added after አችን (our __), the two combine. This shows ‘our [noun]’ as the object of the verb, which is the thing being acted upon.
Story example: ሃቀኛ ሰዎች ዓለማችንን የተሻለች ቦታ ያደርጓታል — Honest people make our world a better place.
| Amharic | English |
| ዓለማችንን | our world (object) |
| ዓላማችንን | our purpose / goal (object) |
| ህይወታችንን | our life (object) |
| ቤታችንን | our house (object) |
| አገራችንን | our country (object) |
| ልጆቻችንን | our children (object) |
Now, make some sentences using these object nouns.
The Amharic sentence structure follows the S+O+V (Subject + Object + Verb). The verb comes at the end.
- እኔ አለማችንን እወዳታለሁ። I love our world.
እኔ አሜሪካን እወዳለሁ። I love America.
የትኛውን አገር ነው በጣም የምትወጂው? Which country do you love the most?
ኢትዮጵያን በጣም እወዳታለሁ። I like Ethiopia very much.
4. a simple Past verb for third Person Feminine (she) ends with -ች
All simple past actions done by a feminine end with ች. The letter before ች is always a first-order letter.
Pattern: [verb root in first order] + ች
| Amharic | English |
| ሄደች | she went |
| አገኘች | she found |
| መለሰች | she returned / gave back |
| ሰጠች | she gave |
| አየች | she saw |
| ደወለች | she called |
| ከፈተች | she opened |
| ተናገረች | she spoke |
For third person masculine, we just remove the letter at the end.
| Amharic | English |
| ሄደ | he went |
| አገኘ | he found |
| መለሰ | he returned / gave back |
| ሰጠ | he gave |
| አየ | he saw |
| ደወለ | he called |
| ከፈተ | he opened |
| ተናገረ | he spoke |
But if we attach an object, the end letters change depending the objects. For example:
| ደወለችልኝ | she called me |
| ከፈተችላት | she opened for her |
| ደወለልኝ | he called me |
| ከፈተለት | he opened for him |
ሀረጎች — Ready-Made Daily Phrases
| Amharic | English |
| እንዲህ አላት | he said to her like this (narrative phrase before quoting speech) |
| ፈገግ ብሎ | smiling / with a smile (he) |
| ፈገግ ብላ | smiling / with a smile (she) |
| ቀስ ብሎ | slowly (he) / carefully / gently |
| ቀስ ብላ | slowly (she) / carefully / gently |
| ወዲያው | immediately / without delay |
| እንዳታስጠብቀኝ | do not keep me waiting (lit. don’t make me wait) |
| ምን አይነት | what kind of / what type of |
| በሙሉ | all / completely / in full / totally, entirely |
| ተስፋ አደርጋለሁ | I do hope / I hope |
| የተሻለ ቦታ | a better place |
| የት ላቀብልህ? | Where shall I bring it to you? (formal daily phrase) |
| አሁኑኑ እዛው እመጣለሁ | I will come there right now |
Try to answer these comprehension questions in Amharic. And you can send your answers through the comment section.
የውይይት ጥያቄዎች — Discussion Questions
- ሃና ምንድን ነው ያገኘችው? — What did Hana find?
- የት ነው ያገኘችው? — Where did she find it?
- በቦርሳው ውስጥ ምን ምን አለ? — What was inside the wallet?
- ለምንድን ነው ሃና ለባለቤቱ የደወለችለት? — Why did Hana call the owner?
- ባለቤቱ ምን አለ? — What did the owner say?
- ሃና ቦርሳውን ወሰደችው ወይስ መለሰችለት? — Did Hana keep the wallet or return it?
- አንቺ ብትሆኚ ምን ታደርጊ ነበር? — What would you have done?
- ሌላ ሰው ተመሳሳይ ነገር አድርጎልሽ ያውቃል? — Has anyone ever done something similar for you?
- ከዚህ ታሪክ ምን አይነት ትምህርት ወሰድሽ? — What lesson did you take from this story?
- ሃና ወዴት ስትሄድ ነው የኪስ ቦርሳውን ያገኘችው? (Where was Hana going when she found the wallet?)
- በቦርሳው ውስጥ ያልነበረው ነገር የትኛው ነው? (Which of the following was NOT inside the wallet?)
- ሃና የቦርሳውን ባለቤት እንዴት ልታገኘው ቻለች? (How was Hana able to reach the owner of the wallet?)
- የቦርሳው ባለቤት ሃናን “ሃቀኛ” (Honest) ያላት ለምንድን ነው? (Why did the owner call Hana “honest”?)
You can watch our private class here. This was the exact lesson I taught my student, Libby.
