Language/Amharic/Grammar/Simple-Gerundive

From Polyglot Club WIKI
< Language‎ | Amharic‎ | Grammar
Revision as of 13:59, 19 September 2021 by Vincent (talk | contribs)
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Rate this lesson:
5.00
(one vote)

Simple Gerundive in Amharic

Consecutive actions in the past

In English, we express consecutive actions in the past with the conjunction and. “I went to school and took a test.” “She arrived at the restaurant and drank coffee.” In Amharic, however, it is more common to see these sequences addressed using a verb form called the gerundive, which has no exact equivalent in English.


Look at the following examples of how two consecutive actions in the past can be combined:


1. ሱቅ ሄደ suk’ hedä.


2. እስክሪፕቶ ገዛ їskripto gäza.


3. ሱቅ ሄዶ እስክሪፕቶ ገዛ suk’ hedo ïskripto gäza. “He went to the store and bought a pen.” (He going to the store, he bought a pen.)


The first action in all of these examples precedes and is somehow subordinate to the “main” action of the sentence: I had to go to school before I could take the test; she had to arrive at the restaurant before she could take some coffee; he had to go to the store before he could buy the pen. Look at the table below.


This pattern also applies to consecutive actions in the future:


(e.g.ትምህርቴን እጨርሳለሁ tïmïhїrten ïč’ärsalähu

ባንክ ውስጥ እሰራለሁ bank wїst’ ïsäralähu


ትምህርቴን ጨርሼ ባንክ ውስጥ እሰራለሁ tïmïhїrten č’ärše bank wїst’ ïsäralähu (finishing my studies, I will work at a bank)


This tense can also be used in the present tense to indicate precedence of actions. It can also be used with the approximate meaning of verbs in English ending in “-ing” (e.g. ሮጣ መጣች rota mätač = she came running).


Look at the following example of a verb in the simple gerundive.


Amharic-Language-Simple-Gerundive-PolyglotClub.jpg


The construction of this tense will be left for the Grammar Appendix. However, listen for this tense when you hear native speakers talking to one another.

Source

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

Contributors

Maintenance script


Create a new Lesson