Sunday, May 4, 2014

Amharic Plural

Welcome to the fourth Amharic lesson about the plural. This time we will learn about the singular form and what it looks like in the plural, followed by grammar rules, finally a list of emergency phrases. To hear the pronunciation, just click on the sound icon.

book
book Audio
መጽሐፍ [mäs'əhäfə ]
books
books Audio
መጽሐፍት [mäs'əhäfətə]
car
car Audio
መኪና [mäkina]
cars
cars Audio
መኪናዎች [mäkinawočə]
tree
tree Audio
ዛፍ [zafə]
trees
trees Audio
ዛፎች [zafočə]
flower
flower Audio
አበባ [ʾäbäba]
flowers
flowers Audio
አበባዎች [ʾäbäbawočə]

Plural Grammar Rules
The plural is the form which refers to more than one object or person. For example: I speak two languages the plural here is [languages] because it refers to more than one [language]. The examples below use plurals in different ways and places to demonstrate how they look when converted from their singular form.

Grammar + RulesAmharic + Pronunciation
I speak one language
[singular form]
አንድ ቋንቋ እናገራለሁ Audio
[ʾänədə qwanəqwa ʾənagäralähu]
we speak three languages
[plural noun]
ሶስት ቋንቋዎች እንናገራለን Audio
[sosətə qwanəqwawočə ʾənənagäralänə ]
he visits many countries
[adverb + plural noun]
ብዙ ሃገር ጎበኘ Audio
[bəzu hagärə gobäñä]
they are happy now
[plural pronoun]
አሁን ደስተኛ ናቸው Audio
[ʾähunə däsətäña načäwə]
she has five red shoes
[adjective + plural noun]
አምስት ቀይ ጫማዎች አሏት Audio
[ʾäməsətə qäyə č'amawočə ʾälätə ]
I want a sandwich without onions
[preposition + plural noun]
ሽንኩርት የሌለዉ ሳንድዊች እፈልጋለሁ Audio
[šənəkurətə yäleläwu sanədəwičə ʾəfäləgalähu]
The following is a list of examples showing both the singular and plural form. This demonstrates how the plural is used with humans, objects and animals.

woman
woman Audio
ሴት [setə]
women
women Audio
ሴቶች [setočə]
man
man Audio
ወንድ [wänədə]
men
men Audio
ወንዶች [wänədočə]
house
house Audio
ቤት [betə]
houses
houses Audio
ቤቶች [betočə]
cup
country Audio
ኩባያ [kubaya]
cups
countries Audio
ኩባያዎች [kubayawočə]
cow
cow Audio
ላም [lamə]
cows
cows Audio
ላሞች [lamočə]
horse
horse Audio
ፈረስ [färäsə]
horses
horses Audio
ፈረሶች [färäsočə]

Emergency Phrases
Now it's time to practice your Amharic by looking at these phrases which are related to emergencies. Be prepared when traveling abroad, just in case you need help or by offering help to someone else. I recommend writing these expressions down on a notebook before traveling.
EnglishAmharicPronunciation
Helpእርዳታ[ʾərədata] Audio
Call the ambulanceአምቡላንስ ጥራ[ʾäməbulanəsə t'əra] Audio
I need a doctorሐኪም እፈልጋለሁ[häkimə ʾəfäləgalähu] Audio
Where is the closest pharmacy?ቅርብ የሆነው መድኃኒት ቤት የት ነው ያለው?[qərəbə yähonäwə mädəhanitə betə yätə näwə yaläwə?] Audio
Are you okay?ደህና ነህ?[dähəna nähə?] Audio
I am sickአሟኛል[ʾämañalə] Audio
Call the policeፖሊስ ጥራ[polisə t'əra] Audio
Source: Learn 101

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