Amharic Gender

Welcome to the fifth Amharic lesson about gender. This time we will view a list of people, feminine and masculine, followed by grammar rules, finally a list of expressions in Amharic to help you practice your daily phrases. To hear the pronunciation, just click on the sound icon.

man ወንድ [wänədə]

woman ሴት [setə]

husband ባል [balə ]

wife ሚስት [misətə]

boy ወንድ ልጅ [wänədə ləǧə ]

girl ልጃገረድ [ləǧagärädə ]

father እባት [ʾəbatə]

mother እናት [ʾənatə]

Gender Grammar Rules

In general, gender is used to distinguish between male and female, sometimes referred to as masculine and feminine. For example: my son and daughter are students the noun [son] is masculine, while [daughter] is feminine. The following examples use gender in different ways and places to demonstrate their behavior.

Grammar + Rules - Amharic + Pronunciation
my son is a student [masculine + noun] ወንድ ልጄ ተማሪ ነው [wänədə ləǧe tämari näwə ]
her daughter is a student [feminine + noun] ሴት ልጅዋ ተማሪ ነች [setə ləǧəwa tämari näčə]
he has a tall brother [adjective + masculine] ረጅም ወንድም አለው [räǧəmə wänədəmə ʾäläwə ]
she has a tall sister [adjective + feminine] ረጅም እህት አላት [räǧəmə ʾəhətə ʾälatə ]
his brothers are young [plural masculine + adjective] ወንድሞቹ ወጣቶች ናቸው [wänədəmoču wät'atočə načäwə ]
his sisters are young [plural feminine + adjective] እህቶቹ ወጣቶች ናቸው [ʾəhətoču wät'atočə načäwə ]

The list below will probably provide more clarification. These are family members (males and females). I think it would be wise to memorize them as part of your important vocabulary list.

son ወንድ ልጅ [wänədə ləǧə ]

daughter ሴት ልጅ [ setə ləǧə]

brother ወንድም [wänədəmə]

sister እህት [ʾəhətə]

grandfather ወንድ አያት [wänədə ʾäyatə]

grandmother ሴት አያት [setə ʾäyatə]

child ልጅ [ləǧə]

children ልጆች [ləǧočə]

Expressions in Amharic

Now it's time to practice expressions used in daily conversations. If you're a beginner in learning Amharic, then the phrases below are something you would want to know.

English - Amharic - Pronunciation
What do you mean? ምን ማለትህ ነው? [mənə malätəhə näwə?]
I don't understand አልገባኝም [ʾäləgäbañəmə]
I don't know አላውቅም [ʾälawəqəmə]
What is that called in Amharic? ያ በአማርኛ ምን ተብሎ ይጠራል? [ya bäʾämarəña mənə täbəlo yət'äralə?]
What is this? ይህ ምንድነው? [yəhə mənədənäwə?]
What does that word mean in English? ያ ቃል በእንግሊዘኛ ምን ማለት ነው? [ya qalə bäʾənəgəlizäña mənə malätə näwə?]
Sorry (if you made a mistake) አዝናለሁ [ʾäzənalähu]

I hope you enjoyed this lesson about the gender in Amharic. Please check out our main menu here for more lessons: homepage. To see the full menu, you can also click on the "Menu" icon on the left side.