Language/Amharic/Grammar/Direct-and-Indirect-Object-Affixes
In previous units, you encountered the concept of the direct object affix.
ልጁ መስታወቱን ሰበረው lïju mästawotun säbäräw. The boy broke the mirror.
እኔ መስኮቱን ከፈትኩት ïne mäskotun käfätkut. I opened the window.
ሰብለ ቤቱን አጸዳችው Seble betun as’ädačïw. Seble cleaned the house.
አልማዝ በሩን ትዘጋዋለች Almaz bärun tïzägawaläč. Almaz closes the door.
An indirect object is the person or thing to or for whom an action is done. For example, in the sentence “Give it to me,” “me” is the indirect object, while “it” is the direct object. In Amharic, direct and indirect objects are generally treated similarly, and context is used to determine which type of object is expressed. Also note that in the Amharic sentence, two objects cannot be indicated explicitly in the same verb; instead one is explicit and the other is implicit (from context).
You saw in Unit 10 that the affixes –w and –t were used for singular male or neuter objects. Now we will present the direct and indirect object affixes for feminine, plural, and personal direct objects.
Person Affix እኔ ïne -ň, ïň, or –äň እኛ ïňňa -n or –än አንተ antä -h or –ïh አንቺ anči -š or –ï እርስዎ ïrswo -wo or –wot እናንተ ïnnantä -aččïh, -yaččïh, or –waččïh እሱ ïssu -w, - äw, - ïw, or –t እሷ ïsswa -at, -yat, or –wat እሳቸው ïssačäw -aččäw, -yaččäw, -waččäw እነሱ ïnnäsu -aččäw, -yaččäw, -waččäw
The placement of these affixes in the verb form depends on the tense of the verb used.
Once you've mastered this lesson, take a look at these related pages: “to be” and “to have”, Comparing and Contrasting, Give your Opinion & Expressing Obligation or Necessity.
Imperative[edit | edit source]
Examples
ኳሷን ስጠኝ kwasun sït’äň. Give the ball to me. (Lit. The ball, you (♂) give to me.)
ስጥ sït’+ - ኧኝ-äň= sït’äň
you (♂) give + to me = give (it) to me
እሷን ውሰዳት ïsswan wïsädat. You (♂) take her.
ውሰድ wïsäd + -ኣት -at = ውሰዳት wïsädat
you (♂) take + her = you (♂) take her
Note: Notice again the suffix –un or -n on the direct object. The –u marks definiteness (“the”) and the –n marks that the noun is the direct object. Sometimes the direct object is omitted, as in simply “ውሰዳት wïsädat” taken to mean you (♂) take her.
እሷን ውሰጃት ïsswan wïsäjat. You (♀) take her.
ውሰጅ wïsäj + - ኣት-at = ውሰጃት wїsäjat
you (♀) take + her = you (♀) take her
የቤት ስራችሁን አሳዩን yäbet sïračïhun asayun. You (plural) show us your homework. (Lit. Your (pl) homework, show (it) to us.) Note: Here, the –n suffix on the direct object is attached after the possessive suffix: ስራ sïra + ችሁ čïhu+ ን n.
አሳዩ asayu + -ን -n = አሳዩን asayun
you (pl) show) + to us = you (pl) show to us
Generalization: In the imperative tense, the object affixes are attached to the end of the verb form.
Simple Past[edit | edit source]
Examples
ትናንትና አበበ ውሃ ሰጠኝ tïnantïna Abebe wïha sät’äň
Yesterday, Abebe gave me water.
ሰጠ sät’ä + ኝ ň = ሰጠኝ sät’äň
he gave + to me = he gave (to) me
Note: the noun ውሃ wïha is general, and does not take the –n direct object suffix
ባለፈው ሳምንት ዳዊት ልጅቷን ትምህርት ቤት ወሰዳት
baläfäw samïnt Dawit lïjitwan wädä tïmïhïrt bet wäsädat
Last week, Dawit took the girl to school.
ወሰደ wäsädä + ኣት -at = ወሰዳት wäsädat
he took + her = he took her
Note: the –a vowel in the suffix –at supercedes the ä vowel at the end of the verb
ባለፈው ሳምንት ሃና ልጅቷን ወደ ትምህርት ቤት ወሰደቻት
baläfäw samïnt Hana lïjituan wädä tïmïhïrt bet wäsädäččat.
Last week, Hanna took the girl to school.
ወሰደች wäsädäč + - ኣት -at = ወሰደቻት wäsädäččat
she took + her = she took her
ታሪኩን ነገራችሁን tarikun näggäračïhun
You (pl) told us the story.
ነገራችሁ näggäračïhu + -ን -n = ነገራችሁን näggäračïhun
you (pl) told + (to) us = you told us
Generalization: In the simple past tense, the object affixes are attached to the end of the verb form.
Source[edit | edit source]
https://www.livelingua.com/peace-corps/Amharic/Amharic%20Peace%20Corps%20Language%20Manual-2015.pdf
Other Lessons[edit | edit source]
- Comparing and Contrasting
- bästä prefix
- Simple Sentence
- Simple Gerundive
- Future Tense
- Conditional Mood
- Negation
- Indirect Object Pronouns
- Conjugation of the verb መኖር “to live” (present tense)
- The Present Future Tense