Ways to Say I Know & I Don’t Know in Amharic:
In this lesson, we will learn how to express knowing and not knowing in Amharic.
We’ll start with the positive form “I know” and then move to the negative “I don’t know.”
We will also learn how to form questions and tag questions and how to conjugate the verb ማወቅ and አለማወቅ (to know) for different pronouns.
At the end, we’ll explore sample sentences and cultural notes about how to speak politely when you don’t know something.
✅ Conjugation of ማወቅ (to know) – Positive Form
- አውቃለሁ = I know
- እናውቃለን = We know
- ታውቃለህ = You know (M)
- ታውቂያለሽ = You know (F)
- ታውቃላችሁ = You all know
- ያውቃል = He knows
- ታውቃለች = She knows
- ያውቃሉ = They know
❓ Asking Questions in Amharic: “Do you know…?”
- ታውቃለህ? = Do you know? (M)
- ታውቂያለሽ? = Do you know? (F)
- ታውቃላችሁ? = Do you all know?
- ያውቃል? = Does he know?
- ታውቃለች? = Does she know?
- ያውቃሉ? = Do they know?
- እንግሊዝኛ ያውቃሉ? Do you know English? (Formal)
- አማርኛ ያውቃሉ? Do you know Amharic? (Formal)
🏷 Tag Questions “You know, right?”
- ታውቃለህ፣ አይደል? You know, right?
- ታውቂያለሽ፣ አይደል? You know, right?
- ታውቃላችሁ፣ አይደል? You all know, right?
- ያውቃል፣ አይደል? He knows, right?
- ታውቃለች፣ አይደል? She knows, right?
- ያውቃሉ፣ አይደል? They know, right?
- ታውቃለህ፣ ኣ? You know, yeah? (informal)
- ታውቂያለሽ፣ ኣ? You know, yeah? (informal)
🧠 Examples Using “አውቃለሁ” (I Know)
- የአቶ አበበን ስልክ ቁጥር ታውቀዋለህ? (Ye’ato Abeben silk kutr tawqaleh?) Do you know Ato Abebe’s phone number?
- አዎ፣ አውቀዋለሁ። (Awo, awuqalehu.) Yes, I know.
- የዚህን ቃል ትርጉም ታውቃለህ? (Do you know the meaning of this word?)
- አይ፣ አላውቀውም። No, I don’t know it.
❌ Conjugation of “ማወቅ” – Negative Forms
Amharic = English
አላውቅም = I don’t know
አናውቅም = We don’t know
አታውቅም = You don’t know (m)
አታውቂም = You don’t know (f)
አታውቁም = You all don’t know
አያውቅም = He doesn’t know
አታውቅም = She doesn’t know
እነሱ አያውቁም = They don’t know
Example for አላውቅም:
- ሙሐመድ መቼ ይመጣል? (Muhammed meche ymetal?) When will Muhammed come?
- አላውቅም። (Alawqim.) I don’t know.
- አሁን ስንት ሰዓት እንደሆነ ታውቃለህ?
(Do you know what time it is now?)
አላውቅም። (I don’t know.) - ስልካችን መጠለፉን በምን እናውቃለን? How do we know if our phone has been hacked?
- እኔ እንጃ። I have no idea.
💡 Cultural Note on Saying “I Don’t Know”
Saying አላውቅም directly can sound a little rude in some situations.
To sound softer or more polite, you can:
- Add አይ or ኧረ before it
- Use the past tense: አላወቅኩም
- Or say እኔ እንጃ (meaning: It beats me)
Polite Responses:
- አይ፣ አላውቅም። – No, I don’t know.
- ኧረ፣ አላውቅም። – Oh, I don’t know.
- እኔ እንጃ፣ አላወቅኩም። – Honestly, I just don’t know.
Using polite forms will make people feel respected, even if you don’t have the answer.
Example፦
- መምህሩ መቼ እንደሚመጣ ታውቃላችሁ? (Memhru meche endemimeta tawqalachihu?) Do you all know when the teacher will come?
- ኧረ አናውቅም። (Ere anawqim.) We don’t know. Or
- አይ አናውቅም። (Ay anawqim.) No, we don’t know.
- አሁን ስንት ሰዓት እንደሆነ ታውቃለህ? (Ahun sint se’at indehōne tawqaleh?) Do you know what time it is now?
- አይ አላውቅም። (Ay Alawqm.) – No, I don’t know.
🔧 Expressing: “I Don’t Know How to Do Something”
Amharic = English
- እንዴት እንደሚሰራ አላውቅበትም። = I don’t know how to do it.
- አላውቅበትም። = (Shorter version)
- አልችልበትም። = I’m not able to do it.
- እኔ እዚህ ላይ ጎበዝ አይደለሁም። = I’m not good at this.
- አልችልም። = I can’t.
- አይሳካልኝም። = It won’t work for me.
- ይሳካልኝ አይመስለኝም። = I doubt it will work for me.
- ስለዚህ ጉዳይ ምንም የማውቀው ነገር የለም። = I know nothing about this matter.
