Language/Amharic/Vocabulary/How-to-Say-Hello-and-Greetings

🤗 Amharic Greetings for Everyday Life

ጤና ይስጥልኝ! Amharic Learners! 😃

➡ Do you want to learn how to say “Hello” in Amharic?

Greetings are an important part of any language because they allow you to connect and communicate with others.

If you’re planning a trip to the country or are trying to learn Amharic, keep reading to discover some of the most important greetings.

Greeting plays a critical role in speeding up your assimilation to the community. Even though the way Ethiopians greet each other might differ slightly from region to region or place to place, it is always an important part of social interaction. Sometimes the greeting may extend to asking after families, cattle, sheep, crop yield, weather conditions, etc. It is also common, particularly in the countryside, to greet someone who you don’t know.

While greeting and taking leave, bowing, shaking hands and removing hats are common. Kissing one another’s cheeks is also practiced, especially upon meeting after an extended period of time. Using both hands when shaking hands with elders and officials indicates respect (the left hand to support the right forearm OR put both hands on the elder’s hand). Young people in Ethiopia will typically greet each other by shaking hands and bumping shoulders.

Raising the eyebrows is sometimes used to greet someone in a situation in which someone doesn’t want or is unable to talk, or in a situation in which the two people are very familiar with one another.

Upon the entry or arrival of elders or officials, it is customary to stand and say, nor (signifying welcome and respect). The person arriving would respond, በግዜር bägzer (lit. “by God”). Not leaving a seat for respected or elder people shows disrespect. Also, putting hands in your pockets while talking with elders shows disrespect.

Greetings can be replied to by saying እግዚአብሔር ይመስገን ïgziabher yïmmäsgän. A person will be happy if you call her or him by name while greeting.

Let’s get started! 🤗

Greetings

English	Amharic script	Latin script
general greeting	ጤና ይስጥልኝ	teanastëllën
informal greeting	ታዲያስ	tadiyaas
: informal greeting	ሰላም	selam
: morning greeting (respectful)	አንደምን፡አደሩ	indemin adderu
: morning greeting, spoken to a man	እንደምን፡አደርክ	indemin adderk
: morning greeting, spoken to a woman	እንደምን፡አደርሽ	indemin addersh
indet adderk: morning greeting, spoken to a man	እንዴት፡አደርክ?	indet adderk
: morning greeting, spoken to a woman	እንዴት፡አደርሽ?	indet addersh
: afternoon greeting (respectful)	አንደምን፡ዋሉ?	indemin walu
: afternoon greeting, spoken to a man	እንደምን፡	indemin walk
: afternoon greeting, spoken to a woman	እንደምን፡ዋልሸ?	indemin walsh
: afternoon greeting, spoken to a man	እንዴት፡ዋልክ?	indet walk
: afternoon greeting, spoken to a woman	እንዴት፡ዋልሸ?	indet walsh
: evening greeting (respectful)	አንደምን፡አመሹ	indemin ameshu
: evening greeting, spoken to a man	አንደምን፡አመሸህ?	indemin amesheh
: evening greeting, spoken to a woman	አንደምን፡አመሸሸ?	indemin ameshesh
: evening greeting, spoken to a man	እንዴት፡አመሸህ?	indet amesheh
: evening greeting, spoken to a woman	እንዴት፡አመሸሸ?	indet ameshesh
: how are you? spoken to a man	እንደምን፡አለህ፧	indemin alleh
: how are you? spoken to a woman	እንደምን፡አለሸ፧	indemin allesh
: how are you? spoken to a group	እንደምን፡አላችሁ፧	indemin allachihu
: reply to እንደምን አለህ፧, እንደምን አለሸ፧, and እንደምን አላችሁ፧	ደህና፡ነኝ	dehna nenye
: thank you	አመሰግናለሁ	ameseginalehugn
: thank you very much	ጣም አመሰግናለሁኝ	betam ameseginalehugn
: how are you? spoken to a man	ደህና፡?	dehina neh
: how are you? spoken to a woman	ደህና፡ነሸ?	dehina nesh
: how are you? spoken to a group	ደህና፡?	dehina newot
: how are you? informal, spoken to a man	እንደምን፡ነህ?	indemin neh
: how are you? informal, spoken to a woman	እንደምን፡ነሸ?	indemin nesh
: how are you?, informal	እንዴት፡ነህ?	indet neh
: welcome greeting spoken to a man	እንኳን፡ደህና፡መጣህ	inkuan dehna metah
: welcome greeting spoken to a woman	እንኳን፡ደህና፡መጣሸ	inkuan dehna metash
: welcome greeting spoken to a group of people	እንኳን፡ደህና፡መጡ	inkuan dehna metachu
How are you?	እንደምን ነህ əndämn näh ? [for male] əndämn näsh ? [for female]
fine, well	ደኅና , መልካም
I am fine	ደህና፡ነኝ : dehna negn
name	ስም : səm
My name is ...	ስሜ ... ነው
madam miss	እሜቴ , እመቤት : əmäbet ወይዘሪት : wäyzärit
mister, sir	ጌታዬ , አቶ : ato
good morning	እንደምን አደርክ əndämn adärk [for male] əndämn adärsh [for female]
good afternoon	እንደምን ዋልክ əndämn walk [for male] əndämn walsh [for female]
good night	ደህና፡እደሩ dehna ederu
goodbye	ደኅና ይዋሉ , ቻው : chaw
best wishes	መልካም ምኞት
kiss	ሳመ : samä መሳም : mäsam
please	እባክህ(ን) ehbakahen [for male] እባክሽ ehbakesh [for female]
thanks	ምስጋና : amesegenalehu
yes	አዎ , አዎን : awon
no	አይ : ay
sorry	ይቅርታ : yəqərəta

Sources

• http://users.elite.net/runner/jennifers/
• http://amharic.ethiopien.free.fr/index_uk.php

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