Language/Amharic/Grammar/Direct-and-Indirect-Object-Affixes

The Direct and Indirect Object Affixes in Amharic

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.

Imperative

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

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

https://www.livelingua.com/peace-corps/Amharic/Amharic%20Peace%20Corps%20Language%20Manual-2015.pdf

Related Lessons

• 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