Language/Tigrinya/Grammar/How-to-Use-Be

Tigrinya Grammar - How to Use "Be"

Hi Tigrinya learners! 😊
In this lesson, we will learn how to use the verb "to be" in Tigrinya. This is an important verb in any language, as it allows us to describe things, people, and situations. We will also look at some cultural information and interesting facts about Tigrinya language and its people.

Once you've mastered this lesson, take a look at these related pages: Adjectives & Conditional Mood.

Introduction

"To be" is a very important verb in English, and it is no less important in Tigrinya. It is used to describe the state of things, people, and situations, as well as to make statements and ask questions. Therefore, it is essential to master this verb to improve your Tigrinya Grammar. In this lesson, we will look at how to use "be" in different contexts, and we will provide you with some examples and exercises to practice.

If you want to improve your Tigrinya, you can also use the Polyglot Club website. Find native speakers and ask them any questions!

Basic Forms of "Be"

In Tigrinya, "to be" can be expressed with two different verbs: "nbra" and "qomna". The first one is used to describe an inherent quality or a permanent state, e.g., "I am tall" or "He is smart". The second verb is used to describe a temporary state, an action in progress, or a present state, e.g., "I am eating" or "She is sleeping".

Therefore, it is essential to understand the differences between these two verbs before using them in sentences.

The present tense of "nbra" has three different forms, depending on the gender of the subject:

Tigrinya	Pronunciation	English
ንብራ መደመር።	nəb-ra me-de-mar	I am happy.
ንብራ ምንቅስቓስ ኣንቀጽ ነው።	nəb-ra mənkusna:sa ang'a:s ne:w	Mathematics is difficult.
ንብራ ስለዝንቦር ንክብራት ተጠቀምኩም።	nəb-ra sɨlzɨnbɔr nək'əbrat tət'ak'əmuk'um	I am from Asmara, the capital city of Eritrea.
ንብራ ዘሰርቲ መጽሒ።	nəb-ra zəserti me:tshe	You are brave.
ንብራ ርኢቶ ጠዋት ይሰናንልና።	nəb-ra ri:to:t təwat yisananlana	He is a doctor
ንብራ ሓሙስ ኣብ ቀይሕ ዓደይ።	nəb-ra hamus ab k'ɨyh ad̠ɨy	It's Thursday today.

Here are some examples of the present tense of "qomna":

Tigrinya	Pronunciation	English
ኣሳስበን ገዲፍ ቆሞ ቆሞ ቆሞ ተነበረ።	ʔasa:səbən gədif komo komo komo tənəbbe:r	We are laughing hard.
ሓሙስ ከም ዘበን ሓያላት ጠዋትን ቆሎ	hamus k'm zəbən hayəlat təwat'n komo	On Thursdays, I usually wake up early.
ድሕሪ በዝሒ ልቢ ትዕቢታት ተናዎም ቆጥባት	dəhri bezhə li:b ti'be:tat tenawom kot'ibbat	The students are writing beautiful essays.

Negation

To negate the verb "to be", we use the word "aɗən" or "aɗin". The former is used for the present tense, and the latter for the past tense. For example:

Tigrinya	Pronunciation	English
ዓዲ ኣብ ትሕትና ንዋይ ነድም ኣብ ኤርትራ እንዳ ዝወገዱ ህዝቢ ሃገር ኣይተወጽእን	ʔadi ab təhtəna nəway nəd̠məm ab əritra ʔənd̠a zəw'əgʷadu həzbi hagər aytewwučən	I am not a member of the opposition parties in Eritrea.
ኣየርልና አመሰግናለሁ።	a:yərəlna aməsgʷənaləhu	I am not interested.
ኣብ ትሕቲ ተስዲኢ ገበቲ ኣምልኾ ዜና ኣፍና ናይ ዲኣ ጥንቕሲ ኣይወገዱን	ab təhti təs'di'i gibti ʔamlk'o zena 'afəna nay de'a t'ink̠si aytewwagədun	In the past, we did not have the opportunity to access information easily.

Interrogation

To ask questions with "to be", we simply invert the order of the subject and the verb. For instance:

Tigrinya	Pronunciation	English
ኣበይ ዘለዉ ምድረት ኣለና?	abəy zəlu md̠rət ʔaləna?	Are they at school?
ማን ኣብ ውሽጢ ስር ዓይነት ኣለን?	man ab waxəs'sər əy:net ʔalən?	Is there diversity in the workplace?

Dialogue

• Person 1: ዋዕላ ኣብ ሕማማት ጸላኢ ዓቢ ኣምልኾ። (waela ab hama'mat ts'la'i 'abi amlk'o) (I'm tired of studying right now.)
• Person 2: ኢኹ ንብረት ዝወነስ እዩ ተጻፊ። (ik'u nəbre:t zəwenes ʔayu təs'a:f'i) (Yeah, taking a break can help.)
• Person 1: ኣይተጸንሕዓኹም እንታይ ይሰሓብካ። (ʔaytəts'nha'ak'um ʔəntay yisa:h'bak'a.) (I don't feel like it now.)
• Person 2: ማዕረ ስለዝንብርዋይ ጊዜ እቲ ትምህርቲ መሃንድስ ወደ ሎሚ? (maʕəra səlzɨnberway gi:z əti tməhreti mah'nd̠i:s wədə lomi?) (What about taking a walk outside in the afternoon?)
• Person 1: ዓይ ኸይድ ኣካላት ዝበሃልና ዋዕላ እንታይ ኢዩ። (əyi:k'idz ak'lat zəbahalana waela ʔəntay 'iyu.) (That sounds like a good idea.)
• Person 2: እንታይ ከም ይወገዱ እዩ። (ʔəntay k'm yiwwagʷədu 'ayu.) (Let's go then.)

Exercises

1. Fill in the blanks with the correct form of "nbra": a) እዚ ታሪኽ ሕዝቢ... ("This book is interesting.")

b) ሓበሬታ ከይተናዎም... ("The students are happy.")

c) ምዕራብ ምቅመሞ... ("The moon is beautiful.")

2. Fill in the blanks with the correct form of "qomna": a) ኣቦ ዘወዕትኦም... ("We are together now.")

b) በዓል ማን ኣብ ቀሊል ዓሳ... ("Who is at the airport now?")

c) መዘመራ ከም ዝወነስ... ("Taking a shower is refreshing.")

Conclusion

In this lesson, we learned how to use the verb "to be" in Tigrinya, distinguishing between the two verbs "nbra" and "qomna". We also looked at how to negate and interrogate these verbs, and we provided you with some examples and exercises to practice. Remember, Tigrinya is not just a language, it is a culture and a way of life. Therefore, understanding the language is also about understanding the people who speak it. If you want to learn more about Tigrinya, you can find more information on the Tigrinya page.

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➡ 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. 😎

Great work on completing this lesson! Take a moment to investigate these connected pages: Pronouns & Questions.

Other Lessons

• Future Tense
• Conditional Mood
• Plurals
• How to Use Have
• Adjectives
• Pronouns
• Questions
• Negation

Sources

• Tigrinya grammar - Wikipedia
• Tigrinya Grammar - How to Use "Be"
• Tigrinya Grammar (English and Tigrinya Edition ... - Amazon.com