Learn Amharic Blog

Tips, phrases, and guides to help you speak Amharic

Amharic Prepositions Explained: be-, le-, ke-, and More

Master Amharic's prefix prepositions be-, le-, and ke- plus postpositions like lay and sir. Real examples with Ge'ez script and romanization.

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Business Amharic: Phrases for Meetings, Negotiations, and Emails

Master Amharic for professional settings: formal greetings, meeting-room phrases, negotiation language, and email conventions with Ge'ez script.

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5 Amharic Songs Every Language Learner Should Know

Five Amharic songs — from Tizita to Teddy Afro — that build vocabulary, train your ear for real speech, and give you cultural literacy that no textbook provides.

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Days of the Week, Months, and Seasons in Amharic

Learn the Amharic days of the week, all 13 months of the Ethiopian calendar, and the four seasons — with Ge'ez script, romanization, and key phrases.

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How to Say 'I Love You' in Amharic (and 12 Other Romantic Phrases)

Say 'I love you' in Amharic correctly — Ewedishalehu to a woman, Ewedehalehu to a man — plus 12 romantic phrases, cultural etiquette, and the Tizita tradition.

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5 Common Amharic Mistakes English Speakers Make

Avoid the five errors that mark an English speaker's Amharic — from silent gemination to wrong verb order — with Ge'ez script examples and corrections.

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Emergency Phrases in Amharic: Hospital, Police, Lost

Essential Amharic emergency phrases for travelers — call for help, talk to doctors and police, and find your way when lost in Ethiopia.

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How to Tell Time in Amharic (and Why Ethiopians Are 'Six Hours Off')

Ethiopian time starts the day at sunrise, not midnight — learn how to tell time in Amharic, convert between systems, and avoid scheduling disasters.

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Amharic Question Words: Who, What, Where, When, Why, How

Learn Amharic question words — who, what, where, when, why, how — with Ge'ez script, IPA, sentence position rules, and 20 practice question-and-answer pairs.

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10 Ways to Say Thank You in Amharic (and When to Use Each)

Beyond ameseginalehu — the full register of Amharic thank-you expressions, including religious forms, hospitality thanks, and what to do when thanks gets deflected.

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Amharic Pronunciation for English Speakers: The 7 Tricky Sounds

Master the 7 sounds that trip up English speakers learning Amharic — ejectives, pharyngeals, gemination, and the schwa that disappears. With IPA and drill tips.

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The Ethiopian Calendar: Why It's 7-8 Years Behind (and Other Surprises)

Why Ethiopia is 7–8 years behind the Gregorian calendar, has 13 months, and runs its clock six hours differently — all explained with Amharic vocabulary.

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Amharic Pronouns: Personal, Possessive, and Demonstrative

The complete Amharic pronoun system in one place — personal, possessive suffixes, and demonstratives — with Ge'ez script, romanization, and IPA throughout.

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The Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony: Vocabulary and Cultural Context

Learn the Amharic vocabulary of the Ethiopian coffee ceremony — the three rounds, key objects, and phrases that honor your host — with Ge'ez script and IPA.

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How to Greet an Ethiopian Elder Respectfully

The exact phrases, physical gestures, and cultural rules for greeting Ethiopian elders in Amharic — what to say, what to do, and what to avoid.

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How to Introduce Yourself in Amharic (With Cultural Context)

Learn how to introduce yourself in Amharic with name, origin, and purpose — plus formal vs informal variations and what to say when meeting elders.

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Ethiopian Food Vocabulary: 60 Words from Injera to Tej

Learn 60 essential Amharic food words — ingredients, dishes, drinks, and mealtime phrases — with Ge'ez script, romanization, and Ethiopian table etiquette.

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The 'To Be' Verb in Amharic: Negn, Neh, Nesh, New

Master the Amharic 'to be' verb in full — present forms, negation, past tense, and future — with Ge'ez script, romanization, and real sentence examples.

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Amharic vs Tigrinya: How Similar Are They Really?

Amharic and Tigrinya share the Ge'ez script and a common ancestor, but diverged over 1,000 years ago. Here's exactly where they overlap and where they split.

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Family Members in Amharic: 40 Words You'll Use Constantly

Learn nuclear and extended family vocabulary in Amharic with Ge'ez script, romanization, and the possessive forms Ethiopians actually use in conversation.

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How to Order Food in Amharic: A Restaurant Phrasebook

Order food confidently at any Ethiopian restaurant with Amharic phrases for menus, dietary requests, fasting food, and paying the bill with Ge'ez script.

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Formal vs Informal Amharic Greetings: When to Use Which

Master Amharic greeting registers — formal, informal, and age-based — with the masculine/feminine distinction and real social consequences of getting it wrong.

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Mastering the 7 Vowel Orders of Ge'ez Script

A clear guide to all 7 vowel orders of the Amharic fidel — with visual patterns, IPA, and full consonant series walkthroughs to make the system click.

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The Amharic Alphabet: All 33 Base Consonants of Ge'ez

All 33 base consonants of the Amharic fidel in first-order form, with romanization, IPA, family groupings, and the 8-10 letters worth learning first.

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Amharic Numbers 1 to 100: How to Count in Ethiopian

Count 1-100 in Amharic with Ge'ez numerals, word forms, and romanization. Learn how Ethiopians actually use numbers in daily life.

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30 Essential Amharic Phrases for Travelers to Ethiopia

The bare-minimum Amharic phrase set for traveling Ethiopia — greetings, transactions, directions, emergencies, and phrases locals appreciate.

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Essential Amharic Greetings: How to Say Hello in Ethiopian

Learn the most important Amharic greetings and polite phrases with Ge'ez script, romanization, and cultural context for when to use each one.

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The Ge'ez Script: A Beginner's Guide to Reading Amharic

Everything you need to know about the Ge'ez writing system — the ancient alphabet used to write Amharic, with tips for learning it from scratch.

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