Amharic grammar, step by step
A guided tour through Amharic grammar with glossed examples that show how each piece of a sentence fits together.
Grammar Walkthrough
Discover how the language works through examples
Amharic is written in the ancient Ge'ez alphabet and packs subject, tense, and gender all inside a single verb — with the verb waiting at the very end of the sentence.
The verb waits at the end
SOV word orderLook at where the action word sits in each sentence. Is it first, last, or in the middle?
Amharic is an SOV (Subject–Object–Verb) language: the subject comes first, the object comes next, and the verb always closes the sentence.
The verb knows who is acting
verb agreementThe verb changes shape between these examples even though the root idea (speaking) is the same. What is it tracking?
Amharic verbs encode the subject's person, number, and gender directly in their form — using both prefixes at the start and suffixes at the end. You can often leave the pronoun out entirely because the verb already says who is acting.
Two genders shape the language
grammatical gender| Person | Masculine | Feminine |
|---|---|---|
| 2nd singular (you) | አንተ (antä) | አንቺ (anči) |
| 3rd singular (he / she) | እሱ (əssu) | እሷ (əsswa) |
| 3rd singular verb | ይናገራል (yənagärall) | ትናገራለች (tənagäralläčč) |
Two people both "speak" — but the verb ends differently for each. What is different about the two speakers?
Amharic nouns and pronouns are grammatically masculine or feminine. Gender shapes the verb ending, the definite suffix on the noun, and the form of "to be." The distinction appears in the 2nd and 3rd persons singular.
"The" is a suffix on the noun
definite suffix| Noun | Indefinite | Definite | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| man | ሰው (säw) | ሰውዬ (säwəyye) | M — informal individuating suffix |
| boy | ልጅ (ləǰ) | ልጁ (ləǰu) | M — suffix -u |
| girl | ልጅ (ləǰ) | ልጅዋ (ləǰwa) | F — suffix -wa |
| house | ቤት (bet) | ቤቱ (betu) | M — suffix -u |
| water | ውሃ (wəha) | ውሃው (wəhaw) | M — -u → -w after vowel |
There is no separate word for "the" in these examples — it seems to have merged with the noun itself. Can you spot where it attaches?
Amharic marks definiteness with a suffix attached directly to the noun: -u (masculine) or -wa / -iwa (feminine). There is no separate article word.
All persons in the present tense
present tense paradigm| Pronoun | Script | Romanization | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1SG (I) | እናገራለሁ | ənagärallähhu | I speak |
| 2SG M (you M) | ትናገራለህ | tənagärallähh | you speak (M) |
| 2SG F (you F) | ትናገሪያለሽ | tənagäriyalläš | you speak (F) |
| 3SG M (he) | ይናገራል | yənagärall | he speaks |
| 3SG F (she) | ትናገራለች | tənagäralläčč | she speaks |
| 1PL (we) | እንናገራለን | ənnagärallänn | we speak |
| 2PL (you pl) | ትናገራላችሁ | tənagärallaččəhu | you all speak |
| 3PL (they) | ይናገራሉ | yənagärallu | they speak |
Each form of the verb looks different. Can you spot which part of each form stays constant (that is the verb root) and which parts change?
The present tense is formed with a person prefix + the root ናገር (nagär, "speak") + a compound suffix. Both ends of the verb change to signal who is speaking.
The past tense: simpler endings
past (perfective) tense| Person | Script | Romanization |
|---|---|---|
| I | ተናገርኩ | tänagärku |
| you (M) | ተናገርህ | tänagärh |
| you (F) | ተናገርሽ | tänagärš |
| he | ተናገረ | tänagärä |
| she | ተናገረች | tänagäräčč |
| we | ተናገርን | tänagärn |
| they | ተናገሩ | tänagäru |
The past tense form is shorter. The long compound suffix is gone. What remains to tell you who did the action?
The past (perfective) tense drops the compound suffix and uses only a shorter ending on the stem — no prefix for most persons. Gender still shows up in the 2nd and 3rd person singular endings.
Wrapping the verb in "no"
negation al-…-mSomething was added to the verb on both sides — at the beginning and the end. Can you locate both additions?
To negate a present-tense verb, Amharic wraps it in a circumfix: the negative element a- combines with the person prefix (giving al- for "I", at- for "you/she", ay- for "he/they") at the start, and the suffix -ም (-m) attaches at the end. Both pieces must be present.
Turning a statement into a question
questionsIn the yes/no question, the word order is the same as the statement — so what marks it as a question? In the wh-question, where does the question word appear?
Yes/no questions in Amharic often use rising intonation alone. They can also be marked by the suffix -ን (-n) on the verb, or by the sentence-final word ወይ (wäy). Wh-words (who, what, where…) appear in the same position as the noun they replace — they do not move to the front.
Chaining actions without "and"
gerundive (converb)A sentence with two actions — but there is no word for "and" between them. How are the two actions linked?
The gerundive (also called a converb) is a special verb form ending in -o (masculine) or -a (feminine) that chains actions sequentially. All but the final verb take this form — only the last verb carries the full person ending.
Relative clauses wrap the noun
relative clause yä-/yämm-In English you say "the person who speaks" — the relative clause comes AFTER the noun. Where does it appear in Amharic?
Amharic relative clauses come BEFORE the noun they describe, not after. A prefix yä- (past) or yämm- (non-past) is added directly to the verb to create the relative form.
Marking the direct object
object case -nA short suffix appeared on the object noun. What do you think it is doing? Does the verb change at all?
When the direct object is definite (or when emphasis is needed), Amharic marks it with the suffix -ን (-n). This is called the accusative or object marker. The verb itself does not change — the case suffix on the noun does the work.
Making someone else do something
causative as-The verb root looks familiar — but a syllable appeared at its very front. What effect does it have on the meaning?
The prefix አስ- (as-) turns a simple action into a caused action: "speak" becomes "make/cause to speak." This is the causative voice — productive and very common in Amharic.
When the action comes back to you
passive/reflexive tä-A prefix appeared before the verb root. The subject is no longer clearly the one doing the action — it is the one receiving it. What changed?
The prefix ተ- (tä-) forms the passive and reflexive: the action circles back to the subject, or the subject is acted upon. "Speak" → "be spoken" or "speak to each other."
"Is" depends on gender
copulas näw / näččThe word for "is" is different in the two examples. What is different about the subject each time?
Amharic has two copulas (words for "is"): ነው (näw) is used with masculine subjects, and ናት (natt) or ነች (näčč) is used with feminine subjects. These words come at the very end of the sentence, following the SOV pattern.
Noun + verb compound actions
compound verbsThese verbs seem to be made of two parts — a familiar noun followed by a light verb like "did" or "made." How do you think new verbs get created in Amharic?
Amharic forms many compound verbs by combining a noun or borrowed word with a light verb like አደረገ (adärägä, "made/did") or ሆነ (honä, "became"). This pattern easily absorbs loanwords and technical terms.
The full picture
putting it togetherHow many patterns from earlier steps can you spot in these sentences? Try to name each one.
Amharic grammar is built from a small set of layered patterns: SOV order, gender, prefixes and suffixes on verbs, definiteness as a noun suffix, and converbs for chaining actions. Once you see the layers, even complex sentences reveal their structure.