Language/Tigrinya/Grammar/Descriptive-Adjectives
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Descriptive Adjectives in Tigrinya
In Tigrinya, adjectives are words that describe or modify nouns. They are an important part of speech and are often used to convey information about the size, shape, color, or other attributes of people, places, and things.
Basic Rules for Descriptive Adjectives
Here are some basic rules for using descriptive adjectives in Tigrinya:
- Adjectives come before the noun they describe.
- In Tigrinya, adjectives must agree with the noun they modify in gender and number.
- Most Tigrinya adjectives have the same form for masculine and feminine and are marked for plural by the addition of the suffix -at.
- A few Tigrinya adjectives have different forms for masculine and feminine or for singular and plural, and these forms must be learned individually.
Examples of Descriptive Adjectives in Tigrinya
Here are some common Tigrinya adjectives for describing people, places, and things:
| Tigrinya | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| ብዝሒ | bizha | big |
| ትእዛዝ | te'zaz | small |
| እምባ | emba | beautiful |
| ዝበለጸ | zibelets' | ugly |
| ተመሳሳይ | temesaseyi | smart |
| ተናደ | tenade | stupid |
| ትሕቲ | thiti | cold |
| ሓቶም | hatom | hot |
| ጉንዳይ | gunday | red |
| ምዕባለ | m'eblay | blue |
| ንቡር | nbure | yellow |
| ብርቱካን | brutukan | green |
| ንብረት | nberet | white |
| ጸኒታት | t'senitat | black |
Agreement of Adjectives with Nouns in Tigrinya
In Tigrinya, adjectives must agree with the noun they describe in gender and number. This means that the form of the adjective changes depending on whether the noun is masculine or feminine and whether it is singular or plural.
Most Tigrinya adjectives have the same form for masculine and feminine and are marked for plural by the addition of the suffix -at. For example:
- ብዝሒ (bizha) - big (masculine singular)
- ብዝሓት (bizhat) - big (plural)
- እምባ (emba) - beautiful (feminine singular)
- እምባታት (embatat) - beautiful (plural)
There are a few Tigrinya adjectives that have different forms for masculine and feminine or for singular and plural. Here are some examples:
| Tigrinya | Pronunciation | English | Adjective Forms |
|---|---|---|---|
| ቴምብርን | tembrin | thin | masculine singular: ቴምብር (tembri), feminine singular: ቶምብርታ (tombr'ata), plural: ቴምብራታት (tembrinatat) |
| ካብዚ | kabzi | short | masculine singular: ካብዙ (kabzu), feminine singular: ካብዘይት (kabzeyti), masculine plural: ካብዝብል (kabzibl), feminine plural: ካብዝብልታት (kabziblatat) |
| ህዝብን | hizbin | happy | masculine singular: ህዝብ (hizbi), feminine singular: ህዝብታ (hizbata), plural: ህዝብያታት (hizbinayatat) |
When using multiple adjectives to describe the same noun, separate the adjectives with the conjunction እና (ena). For example: ዝችንና ናይ ተንበላን ንቀላፍ ሓጸራይካ (zichna ena nay tenbelan n'qelaf hasahr'ayka) - The small, red, plastic cup.
Position of Adjectives in Tigrinya Sentences
In Tigrinya, adjectives generally come before the noun they describe. For example:
- ናብ ዕድል ፍቕሪ ብዝሓት ኣቆጣጥ (nab edil fikri bizhat ak'atat) - In a small room with many books.
However, in some cases, adjectives can come after the noun they describe. For example:
- ኣብ ሽንተትና ዝተናዘዙ ሰብ ብትሕትናዊ ውሕደት ኣይደልዩ (ab shintetna zetenaz'u seb bthitaynawi whedet aydelyu) - In a beautiful garden with unique plants.
Common Tigrinya Descriptive Adverbs
In addition to descriptive adjectives, Tigrinya also has adverbs that can be used to add more detail to a sentence. Here are some common Tigrinya adverbs for expressing time, place, and manner:
Other Lessons
- Future Tense
- How to Use Have
- 0 to A1 Course
- Tigrinya Alphabet
- Questions
- Plurals
- Negation
- Noun Gender and Plurality
- How to Use Be
Sources
| Tigrinya | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| ወዲ ንጥቅም | wedi n'teqem | yesterday |
| ስለዚ ዘይበለ | sellezi zeyble | now |
| ንጥቃዊ | nteqawi | quickly |
| ኣቢላት | abilat | slowly |
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