Language/Amharic/Grammar/Pronouns

Amharic Grammar - Pronouns

Hi Amharic learners! 😊
In this lesson, we will dive into the world of pronouns and how they work in Amharic. This is an intermediate level lesson, so we will assume that you already have a basic understanding of Amharic grammar. But don't worry, we will use cultural information, interesting facts, and analogies to help you master this concept. So let's get started! 🎉

With the completion of this lesson, consider investigating these related pages: “to be” and “to have”, Direct and Indirect Object Affixes, Conjugation of the verb መኖር “to live” (present tense) & Negation and Questions.

What are pronouns?

Before we jump into Amharic pronouns, let's review what pronouns are. A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun. For example, instead of saying "Zewdu is my friend. Zewdu lives in Addis Ababa. Zewdu likes to eat injera," we can use pronouns to make the sentence more concise and less repetitive: "Zewdu is my friend. He lives in Addis Ababa and likes to eat injera."

In English, pronouns include words like he, she, it, they, us, and so on. Similarly, in Amharic, there are several pronouns that are used to replace nouns in a sentence. We will cover these pronouns in the following sections.

Personal pronouns

Personal pronouns are the ones we use to refer to people or things. In Amharic, personal pronouns vary depending on the gender and number (singular/plural) of the noun they replace. Here are the personal pronouns in Amharic:

Amharic	Pronunciation	English
እኔ	ʾəne	I/me
አንቺ	ənči	You (singular, female)
አንቻችሁ	ənčačəhu	You (plural, female)
እናንተ	ʾənanaču	You (plural)
እንደ	ʾəndə	He/him
እስክንድር	ʾəskəndər	She/her
እሱ	ʾəsu	Him/Her/It
እነሱ	ʾənašu	They

Now let's see some examples to help you understand how you can use these pronouns:

• Person 1: እኔ ብናጭ ነኝ። (ʾəne bināči nāgē.) (I am hungry.)
• Person 2: እሷ ካልሰሙ ቤት ከጤና ይሰራል። (ʾəšua kaləsmu bētə kētəna yisəral.) (She will cook dinner with spices.)
• Person 1: ከፍተኛ ቀን እነዚያ ተመልካለች። (kfətəna kʾən ʾənnažətəməlakalacči.) (They will be busy on the weekend)
• Person 2: እናንተ ወደ ባሕር ስንት ሰዓት ነው? (ʾənanaču wädä Bahärä sənta säʿat na'əw?) (What time are you guys leaving to Bahir Dar?)

Remember to pay attention to the gender and number of the nouns they replace. Once you have a good understanding of personal pronouns, let's move on to possessive pronouns.

Possessive pronouns

Possessive pronouns are pronouns that show ownership or possession. In English, we use words like mine, yours, his, hers, and theirs to express possession. Similarly, Amharic has its own set of possessive pronouns that vary depending on gender and number.

Here are the possessive pronouns in Amharic:

Amharic	Pronunciation	English
እኔዎች	ʾənewōču	My
አንቺዎች	ənčiwōču	Your (singular, female)
እናቶች	ʾənatōču	Your (plural)
የእውቀት	yäʾəwkät	His
የሴት እውቀት	yäsət ʾəwkät	Hers
የእኔና እስያት	yäʾənena ʾəsyaṭ	Ours
የእኛውም	yäʾənewäm	Theirs

It's important to remember that these pronouns also change depending on the gender and number of the nouns they replace. Let's see some examples:

• Person 1: እውቀት የኔ ነው። (ʾəwkät yänə nagē.) (This is my book.)
• Person 2: የታዩት ቤቶች ከቶ ይበላሉ? (yätayutəću bētōčə kätō yibaləlu?) (Whose houses are those?)
• Person 1: በዚህ ስትያት እናት ያስተማራል። (bəzihə səyatʾa ʾənat yasətəmaral.) (Her mother will be here soon.)
• Person 2: የነበሩት መተማመኛ ወደድ የሚኖረው ሉቀት ነው። (yänäbbəru mätəmaməgna wedä yämənəräw ləkətə nagē.) (Their favorite restaurant is closed today.)

Now that you have a good understanding of personal and possessive pronouns, let's move on to demonstrative pronouns.

Demonstrative pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns are used to point to something specific within a sentence. In English, we use words like this, that, these, and those to indicate the objects being referred to. Similarly, in Amharic, demonstrative pronouns are used to indicate the location of the noun they replace. Let's see some examples:

Amharic	Pronunciation	English
ይህ	yih	This (singular)
ይኸው	yihekew	This (plural)
አንድ	əndə	That (singular)
አንድም	əndəmə	That (plural)
ድምር	dəmr	It (as subject)
ይተግበር	yitəgäbär	It (as object)

Now let's see some examples:

• Person 1: ይህ ገበያ ነው። (yih gabäya nagē.) (This is a pen.)
• Person 2: እንደ ድንጋይ እናት ያስደንቀዋል። (ʾəndənğači ʾənat yasədnəkwawal.) (That mother is very kind.)
• Person 1: ይኸው ቤት ተጭነዋል። (yihekew bētə täčənəwal.) (These houses are big.)
• Person 2: አንድም ሰው አይደርስም። (əndəmə səwu ayyidirism.) (Those guys are not trustworthy.)

By now, you should have a good understanding of the different types of pronouns in Amharic. Keep practicing and don't forget to ask native speakers if you have any questions. Also, make sure to check out other resources on Polyglot Club to improve your Amharic language skills! 😊👍

---

➡ If you have any questions, please ask them in the comments section below.
➡ Feel free to edit this wiki page if you think it can be improved. 😎

Sources

• Amharic - Wikipedia
• Amharic Grammar | LEARN101.ORG

• Pronoun
• Demonstrative pronoun

Other Lessons

• Time Adverbs
• How to Use Be
• Negative Present Future Tense
• Negation
• Expressing Obligation or Necessity
• Simple Gerundive
• Give your Opinion
• “to be” and “to have”
• 2 sequential actions in the present
• Gender