Language/Amharic/Grammar/Expressions-Using-the-Relative-Past
There are many useful expressions involving the past tense form of the verb, which describe an action’s relation to another (“after,” “before”, “when,” “since”) or express frequency of an action (“whenever,” “every time”). Consider the following examples:
Notice the following prefixes and suffixes that are used with the past tense verb form in the examples given above. Here are the meanings for some commonly used expressions of this type:
Even though these expressions use the past tense form of the verb, they can be used to relate past actions (“After he snatched my mobile, he ran.”) or habitual actions (After I eat/ I go to work.).
One of these expressions, ከ- በፊት kä- bäfit, is also commonly used with the infinitive form:
- ከመሄዴ በፊት ሻይ ጠጣሁ፡፡ kämähede bäfit šay t’ät’ahu. Before I went, I drank tea.
- ከመተኛቷ በፊት ገላዋን ትታጠባለች፡፡ kämätäňatwa bäfit gälawan tïtat’äbaläč. Before she sleeps, she takes a shower.
Notice that expressions of this sort that use the infinitive form, rather than the past tense, require the possessive pronoun suffix (-e, -ïh, -ïš, -u, etc.) attached to the end of the infinitive. (Lit: “Before my going, I drank tea.”) “Before her sleeping, she took a shower.”)
Source
https://www.livelingua.com/peace-corps/Amharic/Amharic%20Peace%20Corps%20Language%20Manual-2015.pdf