Talking About What You Have Done in Amharic

The prefix Ye- is commonly used for forming the past participle (used in the Present Perfect and Past Perfect tenses) in Amharic. The suffixes vary according to the pronoun, as shown in the table below.

Examples:

I have eaten → yebelehu (የበለሁ ነኝ)

You (m) have written → yetsafka (የጻፈከ ነህ)

The verbs am, is, or are, will follow.

I have eaten would be yebelehu neñ (የበለሁ).
You (m) have written would be yetsafka neh (የጻፈከ).

Pronouns and Corresponding Prefixes and Suffixes

Pronoun (Singular)	Prefix	Suffix	Pronoun (Plural)	Prefix	Suffix
I	ye-	-ku	We	ye-	-nen
You (m)	ye-	-ka	You all	ye-	-achu
You (f)	ye-	-sh	They	ye-	-achu
You (formal)	ye-	-wot
He	ye-	-w
She	ye-	-ch

Examples Using Other Verbs

Pronoun (Singular)	To Eat (Meblat)	To Drink (Met'et'at')	To Write (Metsafet)	To See (Mayet)	Pronoun (Plural)	To Eat (Meblat)	To Drink (Met'et'at')	To Write (Metsafet)	To See (Mayet)
I	yebelku	yet’etku	yetsafku	yeyayku	We	yebelnen	yet’etnen	yetsafnen	yeyaynen
You (m)	yebelka	yet’etka	yetsafka	yeyayka	You all	yebelachu	yet’etachu	yetsafachu	yeyayachu
You (f)	yebelsh	yet’etsh	yetsafsh	yeyaysh	They	yebelachu	yet’etachu	yetsafachu	yeyayachu
You (formal)	yebelwot	yet’etwot	yetsafwot	yeyaywot
He	yebelw	yet’etw	yetsafw	yeyayw
She	yebelch	yet’etch	yetsafch	yeyaych

Negating the Past Participle Tense

To negate the past participle tense in Amharic, the prefix “al-” (አል-) is added before the verb root, and the suffix “-m” (ም) is appended to the end.

Formula:

• Prefix: al- (አል-)
• Verb stem: (e.g., tsaf for “write”)
• Past participle suffix: (e.g., ku for “I”)
• Negation suffix: -m (ም)

Examples:

• I have written → yetsafku (የጻፍኩ)
• I have not written → altsafkum (አልጻፍኩም)
• You (m) have written → yetsafka (የጻፍከ)
• You (m) have not written → altsafkam (አልጻፍከም)
• He has eaten → yebelw (የበላው)
• He has not eaten → albelwm (አልበላውም)

Notes:

• "al-" always precedes the verb stem.
• "-m" comes at the end to complete the negation.
• This construction works universally across all pronouns.