Basic Amharic Expressions
Here are some common expressions in Amharic. Each row has an English term paired with their corresponding Amharic translations- spelled with Latin script and Ge’ez script in parenthesis.
| Expression (Latin Script) | Expression (Amharic) | English Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Selam neh? | ሰላም ነህ? | Are you okay? (to a male) |
| Selam nesh? | ሰላም ነሽ? | Are you okay? (to a female) |
| Awo | እው | Yes |
| Aydelem | አይደለም | No |
| Selam | ሰላም | Hello |
| Yet neh? | የት ነህ? | Where are you? (to a male) |
| Yet nesh? | የት ነሽ? | Where are you? (to a female) |
| Indemin neh? | እንዴት ነህ? | How are you? (to a male) |
| Indemin nesh? | እንዴት ነሽ? | How are you? (to a female) |
| Dehna aderk? | ደህና አደርክ? | Did you wake up well? (to a male) |
| Dehna aderachihu? | ደህና አደራችሁ? | Did you all wake up well? |
| Ameseginalehu | አመሰግናለሁ | Thank you |
| Betam ameseginalehu | በጣም አመሰግናለሁ | Thank you very much |
| Amesegnalehugn! | አመሰግናለሁኝ! | I really appreciate it! |
| Min iyasera new? | ምን እየሠራ ነው? | What are you doing? (to a male) |
| Min iyaserash new? | ምን እየሠራሽ ነው? | What are you doing? (to a female) |
| Dehna hun | ደህና ሁን | Goodbye (to a male) |
| Dehna hunu | ደህና ሁኑ | Goodbye (to a group or formal) |
| Yekun dehna | ይኩን ደህና | Stay well |
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