Language/Amharic/Grammar/Comparing-and-Contrasting
Here are some adjectives, and their verb forms, which are commonly used in Amharic to compare and contrast items:
ትልቅ tïlïk’ = ይተልቃልyïtälïk’al
ጠባብ t’äbab = ይጠባል yï t’äbal
ረዥም räžïm/ räjïm = ይረዝማል yïräzïmal
ትንሽ tïnïš = ያንሳል yansal
አጭር ač’ïr = ያጥራል yat’ïral
Examples
ይህ ሸሚዝ ይተልቃል yïh šämiz yïtälïk’al. ይህ ግን ያንሳል yïh gïn yansal.
ከዚህ ጉርድ ቀሚስ ያኛው ይረዝማል käzih gurd k’ämis yaňňaw yïräzïmal.
Adding the adjective በጣም bät’am shows a greater degree, equavialent to the English በጣም “very”:
- ይህ ሸሚዝ በጣም ይተልቃል yïh šämiz bät’am yïtälïk’al. This shirt is very large.
- ይህ ጉርድ ቀሚስ በጣም ያጥራል yïh gurd k’ämis bät’am yat’ïral. This skirt is very short.
በጣም bät’am is used with descriptive adjectives as well as verbs. The words bät’am and እጅግ በጣም ïjjïg bät’am show greater degrees, according to the following:
Examples:
Table XLS
Compare the above examples to:
- ይህ ጃኬት ይተልቃል Yïh jaket yïtälïk’al. This jacket is big (compared to another).
Source
https://www.livelingua.com/peace-corps/Amharic/Amharic%20Peace%20Corps%20Language%20Manual-2015.pdf