Language/Amharic/Grammar/How-to-Use-Have

Amharic Grammar - How to Use "Have"

Hi Amharic learners! 😊
In this lesson, we will learn how to use the verb "have" in Amharic.

The Verb "Have"

In Amharic, the verb "have" is translated as "እንደዚህ ነው" (endizihe new). It is often used to express possession, ownership or affiliation.

Examples:

Amharic	Pronunciation	English
"የኔ መልካም መጠን"	"yené melkam meten"	"I have a nice car"
"ሁሉንም በትክክል መመልከት አለመቻላቹህ ነው"	"hulunm bemetekikil memalket alematchalachu new"	"You all have the ability to learn quickly"
"እናትህ የምንረሳው ሆኖብኛል"	"enatihum yenimerasaw honobinishagnal"	"Your mother has a beautiful garden"

Note that in Amharic, the verb "have" does not change according to the subject. It is always "እንደዚህ ነው" (endizihe new).

How to Express "Have Not"

To express "have not" in Amharic, we add the negation particle "አይ" (ayi) before "ነው" (new).

Examples:

Amharic	Pronunciation	English
"ታዲያን ድምጾብኝ"	"tadiyan dimijot'bign"	"Tadiyan doesn't have a pen"
"ብዙም ስልጣን አይኖተም"	"buzhum sil'etan ayinot'etam"	"We don't have many options"

Note that the negation particle "አይ" (ayi) can also be used to express negation with other verbs.

How to Ask if Someone Has Something

To ask if someone has something, we can use the question word "እስካሁን?" (esekahun) before the verb "ነው" (new).

Examples:

Amharic	Pronunciation	English
"ታዲያን ገብቻ አሉት?"	"tadiyan gebicha alut?"	"Does Tadiyan have a camera?"
"አቶ ሀይብ አይተሃል ብለው ተጠያቂ ጥቅም ተቀበልን"	"ato hayib ayitahal belwe tete'yaki' timkem tetkebe'len"	"We asked Mr. Haib if he had any good news"

Practice Dialogue

• Person 1: "ቁላ አስከብርሃለሁ" (kula askibr'halehu) - I have a cat
• Person 2: "ቁላ ለመከብር መመልከት ይፈልጋሉ?" (kula lemekibr' memalket yifeligalhu?) - Can you train the cat?
• Person 1: "አዎ በቀላሉ ጠላት ይሰማል" (awo bekalalu t'elat yisemal) - Yes, it can be trained with treats.

Conclusion

That's all for using the verb "have" in Amharic! Practice and enjoy using it in your conversations. To improve your Amharic Grammar, you can also use the Polyglot Club website. Find native speakers and ask them any questions!

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➡ Feel free to edit this wiki page if you think it can be improved. 😎

Related Lessons

• The Past Perfect Tense
• Simple Sentence
• “to be” and “to have”
• Conditional Mood
• Expressing “Let me” or “May I” “Shall I”
• Negation
• Definite direct objects in the present and future tense
• The Present Perfect Tense
• The Past and Present Continuous Tenses
• Compound sentence