Grammar book · Words and sentences
Nouns and plurals
ስሞችና ብዙ ቁጥር (nouns and plurals)
Nouns name people, places and things. Most add -s for more than one, but the spelling changes with some endings, and a few common nouns are irregular.
Common and proper nouns
A common noun is a general word: city, doctor, church, month. A proper noun is the name of one particular person, place or thing: Las Vegas, Dr. Haile, St. Mary's Church, January. Proper nouns always start with a capital letter, wherever they are in the sentence. Amharic has no capital letters, so this is easy to forget.
In Amharic
የወል ስም አጠቃላይ ቃል ነው፦ city, doctor, church, month። የተጸውዖ ስም የአንድ የተወሰነ ሰው፣ ቦታ ወይም ነገር መጠሪያ ነው፦ Las Vegas, Dr. Haile, St. Mary's Church, January። የተጸውዖ ስሞች በዓረፍተ ነገሩ የትም ቦታ ቢሆኑ ሁልጊዜ በትልቅ ፊደል ይጀምራሉ። አማርኛ ትልቅ ፊደል ስለሌለው ይህን መርሳት ቀላል ነው።
| Common noun | Proper noun |
|---|---|
| a city | Las Vegas, Denver |
| a language | English, Amharic |
| a day / a month | Monday, September |
| a store | Walmart, the Ethiopian market on Maryland Parkway |
| a country | Ethiopia, the United States |
- Capitalise names, cities, countries, languages, nationalities, days and months.
- Seasons are common nouns: summer, winter (small letter).
- My cousin moved from Addis Ababa to Las Vegas in May.
- She speaks Amharic, Tigrinya and English.
- The clinic is closed on Sunday.
- We go to church every week.
Plural spelling rules
Amharic makes plurals with -ኦች (መኪና → መኪናዎች), and often leaves the noun singular after a number (ሁለት መኪና). English always marks the plural after two or more: two cars, three children. Most nouns add -s, but the ending of the word changes the spelling.
In Amharic
አማርኛ ብዙ ቁጥርን በ -ኦች ይሠራል (መኪና → መኪናዎች)፣ ከቁጥር በኋላም ብዙ ጊዜ ስሙን ነጠላ ይተወዋል (ሁለት መኪና)። እንግሊዝኛ ከሁለትና ከዚያ በላይ በኋላ ሁልጊዜ ብዙ ቁጥርን ያሳያል፦ two cars, three children። አብዛኞቹ ስሞች -s ይጨምራሉ፤ የቃሉ መጨረሻ ግን አጻጻፉን ይቀይራል።
| Ending | Rule | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| most nouns | + s | car → cars, job → jobs, house → houses |
| -s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, -z | + es | bus → buses, class → classes, dish → dishes, watch → watches, box → boxes |
| consonant + y | y → ies | city → cities, baby → babies, party → parties |
| vowel + y | + s | day → days, key → keys, boy → boys |
| -f / -fe | → ves (most) | knife → knives, wife → wives, half → halves, shelf → shelves |
| consonant + o | + es (some) | tomato → tomatoes, potato → potatoes (but photo → photos, radio → radios) |
- After a number bigger than one, use the plural: two years, five dollars, 30 minutes.
- -es after s, sh, ch and x is an extra syllable: bus-es, watch-es.
- A number used as an adjective stays singular: a ten-dollar bill, a two-hour shift.
- I have three classes on Tuesday.
- There are two buses to the Strip from here.
- Many cities in Nevada are small.
- She washed the dishes and put the knives away.
- He works two eight-hour shifts on the weekend.
Irregular plurals and nouns that are always plural
A few very common nouns change their vowel or add -en instead of -s. Learn them as pairs. Some nouns are the same in singular and plural, and some are only plural because they have two parts (jeans, scissors). people is the normal plural of person.
In Amharic
ጥቂት በጣም የተለመዱ ስሞች -s ከመጨመር ይልቅ አናባቢያቸውን ይቀይራሉ ወይም -en ይጨምራሉ። እንደ ጥንድ ያጥኗቸው። አንዳንድ ስሞች በነጠላም በብዙም አንድ ናቸው፤ አንዳንዶቹ ደግሞ ሁለት ክፍል ስላላቸው ሁልጊዜ ብዙ ናቸው (jeans, scissors)። የ person የተለመደው ብዙ ቁጥር people ነው።
| Singular | Plural |
|---|---|
| man / woman | men / women |
| child | children |
| person | people |
| tooth / foot | teeth / feet |
| mouse | mice |
| sheep / fish | sheep / fish (no change) |
| — | jeans, pants, glasses, scissors, clothes (always plural) |
- people, children, men and women already mean more than one: never add -s.
- Always-plural nouns take a plural verb: My glasses are on the table. Use a pair of for one: a pair of jeans.
- Two women and three men work in the kitchen.
- How many people live in your house?
- The children brush their teeth before bed.
- These pants are too long.
Common mistakes
| Mistake | Correct | Why |
|---|---|---|
| I have two children. | After two, use the plural; child → children is irregular. | |
| Many people came to the party. | people is already plural. | |
| I lived here for five years. | After a number bigger than one, add -s. | |
| There are many cities in California. | Consonant + y → -ies. | |
| I go to work on Monday. | Days of the week are proper nouns and take a capital letter. | |
| My jeans are new. | jeans is always plural, so use are. |
Practice
Each answer is checked as you go, with the reason. Nothing here is saved.
Plural of “bus”: ___
Plural of “city”: ___
Plural of “child”: ___
Plural of “key”:
Plural of “knife”:
How many ___ work at your company?
Plural of “watch”: ___
Which needs a capital letter?
It's a ___ drive to Los Angeles.
Plural of “tooth”: ___
My new glasses ___ expensive.