Grammar book · Words and sentences
Parts of speech
የንግግር ክፍሎች (parts of speech)
Every English word has a job in the sentence: it names, acts, describes, joins or points. Knowing the job tells you where the word goes and what form it takes.
The nine parts of speech
English grammar books divide words into nine groups. Amharic has the same groups (ስም, ግሥ, ቅጽል …), so you already know the ideas. The difference is in the small words: English has articles (a, the) that Amharic does not have, and English uses separate prepositions (in, on, at) where Amharic adds a prefix or a word after the noun (በ-, ከ-, ውስጥ, ላይ).
In Amharic
የእንግሊዝኛ ሰዋሰው መጻሕፍት ቃላትን በዘጠኝ ቡድን ይከፍላሉ። አማርኛም እነዚህ ቡድኖች አሉት (ስም፣ ግሥ፣ ቅጽል …)፣ ስለዚህ ሐሳቡን ቀድመው ያውቁታል። ልዩነቱ በትናንሽ ቃላት ላይ ነው፦ እንግሊዝኛ አማርኛ የሌለው መስተአምር (a, the) አለው፤ አማርኛ ቅድመ ቅጥያ ወይም ከስሙ በኋላ ቃል በሚጨምርበት ቦታ (በ-፣ ከ-፣ ውስጥ፣ ላይ) እንግሊዝኛ ለብቻው የቆመ መስተዋድድ (in, on, at) ይጠቀማል።
| Part of speech | Its job | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| noun (ስም) | names a person, place, thing or idea | mother, Las Vegas, car, money, help |
| pronoun (ተውላጠ ስም) | stands in place of a noun | I, you, she, it, them, mine |
| verb (ግሥ) | an action or a state | work, drive, be, have, know |
| adjective (ቅጽል) | describes a noun | big, cheap, Ethiopian, tired |
| adverb (ተውሳከ ግሥ) | describes a verb, an adjective or another adverb | quickly, often, very, here, tomorrow |
| preposition (መስተዋድድ) | shows place, time or direction before a noun | in, on, at, to, from, with |
| conjunction (መስተጻምር) | joins words or sentences | and, but, or, because, so |
| determiner (ወሳኝ) | comes before a noun to say which or how many | a, the, this, my, some, every |
| interjection (ቃለ አጋኖ) | a short sound of feeling | Oh! Wow! Oops! Hey! |
- Every complete English sentence needs a subject and a verb: She works. It is cold.
- Adjectives describe nouns (a quick lunch); adverbs describe verbs (eat quickly).
- Determiners come first, before any adjective: my old car, the big blue bus.
- My neighbour drives a white taxi.
- We usually shop at the Ethiopian market on Saturday.
- She is tired, but she works very hard.
- Wow! The rent is really high this year.
- They called me because the order was ready.
One word, more than one job
In English the same word can often be a noun or a verb with no change in spelling. You know which it is from its place in the sentence: after a determiner (a, the, my) it is a noun; after a subject (I, she, they) it is a verb. Amharic usually changes the word itself (ሥራ / ይሠራል), so watch the position in English.
In Amharic
በእንግሊዝኛ አንድ ቃል ፊደሉ ሳይቀየር ብዙ ጊዜ ስም ወይም ግሥ ሊሆን ይችላል። የትኛው እንደሆነ በዓረፍተ ነገሩ ውስጥ ካለው ቦታ ያውቃሉ፦ ከወሳኝ (a, the, my) በኋላ ከሆነ ስም ነው፤ ከባለቤት (I, she, they) በኋላ ከሆነ ግሥ ነው። አማርኛ ብዙ ጊዜ ቃሉን ራሱን ይቀይራል (ሥራ / ይሠራል)፣ ስለዚህ በእንግሊዝኛ ቦታውን ይመልከቱ።
| Word | As a noun | As a verb |
|---|---|---|
| work | My work starts at six. | I work at the airport. |
| call | I got a call from the school. | Please call me later. |
| rent | The rent is due on the first. | We rent a two-bedroom apartment. |
| help | Thank you for your help. | Can you help me? |
| drive | It's a long drive to Phoenix. | She drives to work. |
- Many adjectives become adverbs with -ly: slow → slowly, careful → carefully.
- Some words have their own noun form: decide → decision, pay → payment, safe → safety.
- I need a ride to the clinic. Can you give me a ride?
- The landlord will text you. I got his text this morning.
- Her answer was quick. She answered quickly.
- We made a decision. We decided to move.
English order and Amharic order
The biggest difference: Amharic puts the verb at the end (እኔ ቡና እጠጣለሁ = I coffee drink). English puts the verb right after the subject, and the object after the verb: I drink coffee. English word order also carries the meaning: The dog bit the man and The man bit the dog are different, because English has no ending like Amharic -ን to mark the object.
In Amharic
ትልቁ ልዩነት፦ አማርኛ ግሡን መጨረሻ ላይ ያደርጋል (እኔ ቡና እጠጣለሁ)። እንግሊዝኛ ግሡን ወዲያው ከባለቤቱ በኋላ፣ ተሳቢውን ደግሞ ከግሡ በኋላ ያደርጋል፦ I drink coffee። የእንግሊዝኛ ቅደም ተከተል ትርጉምም ይይዛል፦ The dog bit the man እና The man bit the dog የተለያዩ ናቸው፤ ምክንያቱም እንግሊዝኛ ተሳቢን የሚያመለክት እንደ አማርኛው -ን ያለ ቅጥያ የለውም።
| Amharic order | English order |
|---|---|
| እኔ ቡና እጠጣለሁ (I – coffee – drink) | I drink coffee. (subject – verb – object) |
| እሷ በላስ ቬጋስ ትኖራለች (she – in Las Vegas – lives) | She lives in Las Vegas. |
| ልጆቹ ትምህርት ቤት ሄዱ (the children – school – went) | The children went to school. |
| ቤቱ ትልቅ ነው (the house – big – is) | The house is big. |
- Put the verb second, after the subject: subject – verb – object – place – time.
- Prepositions go before the noun: in the kitchen, not the kitchen in.
- Don't drop be: Amharic ነው/ናት is at the end, but English is/are comes after the subject: She is a nurse.
- My brother sends money to our parents every month.
- We bought injera at the store yesterday.
- The bus leaves at 7:15.
- Our apartment is small but quiet.
Common mistakes
| Mistake | Correct | Why |
|---|---|---|
| I drink coffee every morning. | In English the verb comes after the subject, not at the end. | |
| She is very kind. | English needs the verb be; don't leave it out. | |
| He drives carefully. | Use an adverb (-ly) to describe a verb. | |
| She is a careful driver. | Use an adjective to describe a noun. | |
| I live in Las Vegas. | Prepositions come before the noun in English. | |
| The dog bit the man. | English shows who did what by word order: the doer comes first. |
Practice
Each answer is checked as you go, with the reason. Nothing here is saved.
In “She works quickly”, “quickly” is a ___.
Which sentence has the right English order?
Write the missing verb: My sister ___ a nurse. (one word)
In “We rent a small apartment”, “rent” is a ___.
In “The rent is too high”, “rent” is a ___.
Make the adverb: slow → ___
Which word is a conjunction?
Which word is a preposition?
Put in order: to / goes / work / she / by bus → ___
Choose the correct sentence.