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Basic greetings

Amharic is the federal working language and is spoken widely in Addis. Afaan Oromo is the most widely spoken mother tongue, and Tigrinya, Somali, Sidama and many others are used regionally. English is common in hotels, among younger people and in business. A few Amharic words go a long way.

  • Hello

    ሰላም

    Selam

  • Hello (polite)

    ጤና ይስጥልኝ

    Tena yistilign

  • How are you? (to a man / a woman)

    እንዴት ነህ? / እንዴት ነሽ?

    Indet neh? / Indet nesh?

  • I'm fine

    ደህና ነኝ

    Dehna negn

  • Thank you

    አመሰግናለሁ

    Ameseginalehu

  • Please (to a man / a woman)

    እባክህ / እባክሽ

    Ebakih / Ebakish

  • Yes

    አዎ

    Awo

  • No

    አይደለም

    Aydelem

  • Sorry / excuse me

    ይቅርታ

    Yikirta

  • Goodbye

    ቻው / ደህና ሁን

    Chaw / Dehna hun

  • Do you speak English?

    እንግሊዝኛ ይችላሉ?

    Englizigna yichilalu?

Recordings by Woubster on Lingua Libre, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Amharic has its own alphabet

Amharic isn't written in Latin letters but in the fidel (Ge'ez script). Each character is a syllable: about 33 consonants, each in 7 forms that add a vowel. You'll see it on street signs, shop fronts, menus, receipts and official documents; in Addis many signs also have English.

The base letters of the Ge'ez script (fidel)

The base letters; each also has 6 more forms for the other vowels. Chart: Wikimedia Commons, CC0.

Getting by

  • Google Translate handles Amharic poorly and can give confusing or wrong translations. AI assistants such as Gemini do somewhat better at understanding what you need, for example when asking for directions.
  • Most people are glad to help. For directions, ask people who work in one place: shopkeepers, bank staff or the guards outside banks and offices.
  • English is common in hotels, among younger people and in business.

Translation apps

Good for single words and signs. For anything important, check with a person.

  • Google Translate

    Handy for single words and signs (camera mode); check longer sentences another way.

  • Google Lens

    Camera mode: point your phone at a sign or menu and the translation appears on screen. Built into the Google app on iPhone.

  • Microsoft Translator

    Amharic text translation; useful as a second opinion.

  • Yandex Translate

    Another English to Amharic translator and dictionary.

LesanA translator built for Amharic and Tigrinya (website only).

Learn some Amharic

  • Ling

    Short daily lessons with a full Amharic course.

  • LinGo Play

    Vocabulary games and flashcards for Amharic.