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
name	ስም	səm
My name is ...	የኔ ስም... ነው	yäne səm ... näw
My name is ...	ስሜ ... ነው።	səme ... näw
madam	እሜቴ , እመቤት	əmäbet
miss	ወይዘሪት	wäyzärit
mister, sir	ጌታዬ , አቶ	ato
goodbye	ደኅና ይዋሉ , ቻው	chaw
best wishes	መልካም ምኞት
kiss	ሳመ	samä
kiss	መሳም	mäsam
please [for male]	እባክህ(ን)	ehbakahen
please [for female]	እባክሽ	ehbakesh
thanks	ምስጋና	amesegenalehu
yes	አዎ , አዎን	awon
no	አይ	ay
sorry	ይቅርታ	yəqərəta

Long time no see	ረጂም ጊዜ ከተለያየን።	räǧǧim gize kätäläyayän
Where are you from?	ከየት ነህ፧ (käyät näh?) : spoken to a man ከየት ነሽ፧ (käyät näš?) : spoken to a woman ከየት ኖት፧ (käyät not?) : formal አንተ ከየት ነህ፧ (antä käyät näh?) : spoken to a man አንቺ ከየት ነሽ፧ (anchi käyät näš?) : spoken to a woman እርስዎ ከየት ኖት፧ (ərswo käyät not?) : formal
I'm from ...	እኔ ከ ... ነኝ። (əne kä ... näň) ከ ... ነኝ። (kä ... näň)
Pleased to meet you	ስለተዋወቅን ደስ ብሎኛል (səlätäwawäqən däs bəloňňall)
Goodbye (Parting phrases)	ቻው (chaw) : informal ደህና ሁን (dähna hun) : spoken to a man ደህና ሁኚ (dähna hunyi) : spoken to a woman ደህና ሁኑ (dähna hunu) : spoken to a group of people
Good luck!	መልካም እድል (mälkam əddəl) - inf
Cheers! Good Health! (Toasts used when drinking)	ለጤናችን (läṭenaččən) ለፍቅራችን (läfəqraččən) ለጓደኛነታችን (lägwadäňňannätaččən)
Have a nice day	መልካም ቀን። (mälkam qän) መልካም ቀን ይሁንልህ። (mälkam qän yəhunəlləh) : spoken to a man መልካም ቀን ይሁንልሽ። (mälkam qän yəhunəlləš) : spoken to a woman መልካም ቀን ይሁንላችሁ። (mälkam qän yəhunəllaččhu) : spoken to a group of people
Bon appetit / Have a nice meal	ብላ (bəla) - eat! >m ብዪ (biy) - eat! >f ብሉ (bəlu) - eat!  : spoken to a group of people መልካም ምግብ (mälkam məgəb) - good feasting
Bon voyage / Have a good journey	መልካም ጉዞ። (mälkam guzo) መልካም ጉዞ ይሁንልህ። (mälkam guzo yəhunəlləh) : spoken to a man መልካም ጉዞ ይሁንልሽ። (mälkam guzo yəhunəlləš) : spoken to a woman መልካም ጉዞ ይሁንላችሁ። (mälkam guzo yəhunəllaččhu) : spoken to a group of people
Christmas greetings	መልካም ገና (melikami gena)
New Year greetings	እንኳን አደረሰህ (ənkwan adärräsäh) : spoken to a man እንኳን አደረሰሽ (ənkwan adärräsäš) : spoken to a woman እንኳን አደረሱ (ənkwan adärräsu) : formal እንኳን አደረሳችሁ (ənkwan adärräsaččhu) : spoken to a group of people [even you have ushered in (the holiday)!] እንኳን አብረው አደረሰን (ənkwan abräw adärräsän) [reply - even we have ushered in together!]
Easter greetings	መልካም ፋሲካ (mälkam fasika)
Birthday greetings	መልከም ልደት (mälkam lədät)
Congratulations!	እንኳን ደስ አለዎ! (Inikwani desi ālewo!)

Sources

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

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