If you are reading this page, please do not proceed further until you have read Introduction to Verb Conjugation (including paying attention to the pronunciation and transliteration system I’ve chosen to use).
In Amharic, you typically affix direct object or indirect object pronouns onto the ends of verbs (or, in the middle of verbs in some tenses, but we’re not there yet. For now, we’re just going to worry about the past perfective). One commonly adds this suffixes even if the object is already a noun in the sentence. E.g. “I wanted the book” might be Mets’hafu felleghut መፅሃፉ ፈለግሁት, which means, literally, “The book, I wanted it.”
So, let’s take a look at those suffixes:
| English | After consonants | After vowels |
| Me, to/for me | -eny | -ny |
| You, to/for you (male) | -ih | -h |
| You, to/for you (female) | -ish | -sh |
| Him/it, to/for him/it | -ew | -w OR -t after u and o |
| Her, to/for her | -at | -at |
| Us, to/for us | -en | -n |
| You, to/for you (plural) | -achihu | -achihu |
| Them, to/for them | -achew | -achew |
Here’s some examples of these suffixes attached to verbs:
After a verb ending in a consonant:
| She said to me | Alechiny አለቸኝ |
| She said to you (male) | Alechih አለችህ |
| She said to you (female) | Alechish አለችሽ |
| She said to him | Alechew አለቸው |
| She said to her | Alechwa አለችዋ |
| She said to us | Alechen አለቸን |
| She said to you (plural) | Alechachihu አለቻችሁ |
| She said to them | Alechachew አለቻቸው |
After a verb ending in a vowel:
| They gave me | Set’uny, ሰጡኝ |
| They gave you (male) | Set’uh ሰጡህ |
| They gave you (female) | Set’ush ሰጡሽ |
| They gave him | Set’ut ሰጡት |
| They gave her | Set’uwat* ሰጡዋት |
| They gave us | Set’un ሰጡን |
| They gave you (plural) | Set’uwachihu* ሰጡዋችሁ |
| They gave them | Set’uwachew* ሰጡዋቸው |
* For verbs ending in -u, you add a -w- slide before adding -at, -achihu, and -achew. This keeps them from running together. Why don’t you just drop the first vowel sound of these suffixes like you do for all the other ones, you ask? I have no idea. Amharic is like that. Accept it and move on: this, I have discovered, is an essential trait one must acquire if one is to learn Amharic.
So, when you take into account all the different verb conjugations and all the different suffix endings, you realize there are a lot of variation any one verb can have. So, just for laughs, let’s do all the past perfective conjugations of mayet (“to see”) with all the possible direct or indirect object endings. Are you ready for this?
| ENGLISH | TRANSLITERATION | AMHARIC |
| I saw (no direct/indirect object) | Ayyehu | አየሁ |
| I saw you (male) | Ayyehuh | አየሁህ |
| I saw you (female) | Ayyehush | አየሁሽ |
| I saw him/it | Ayyehut | አየሁት |
| I saw her | Ayyehuwat | አየሁዋት |
| I saw you (plural) | Ayyehuwachihu | አየሁዋችሁ |
| I saw them | Ayyehuwachew | አየሁዋቸው |
| You (male) saw (no direct/indirect object) | Ayyeh | አየህ |
| You (male) saw me | Ayyeheny | አየሀኝ |
| You (male) saw him/it | Ayyehew | አየሀው |
| You (male) saw her | Ayyehat | አየሃት |
| You (male) saw us | Ayyehen | አየሀን |
| You (male) saw them | Ayyehachew | አየሃቸው |
| You (female) saw (no direct/indirect object) | Ayyesh | አየሽ |
| You (female) saw me | Ayyeshiny | አየሽኝ |
| You (female) saw him/it | Ayyeshiw | አየሽው |
| You (female) saw her | Ayyeshat | አየሻት |
| You (female) saw us | Ayyeshin | አየሽን |
| You (female) saw them | Ayyeshachew | አየሻቸው |
| He saw (no direct/indirect object) | Ayye | አየ |
| He saw me | Ayyeny | አየኝ |
| He saw you (male) | Ayyeh | አየህ |
| He saw you (female) | Ayyesh | አየሽ |
| He saw him/it | Ayyew | አየው |
| He saw her | Ayyat | አያት |
| He saw us | Ayyen | አየን |
| He saw you (plural) | Ayyachihu | አያችሁ |
| He saw them | Ayyachew | አየቸው |
| She saw (no direct/indirect object) | Ayyech | አየች |
| She saw me | Ayyechiny | አየችኝ |
| She saw you (male) | Ayyechih | አየችህ |
| She saw you (female) | Ayyechish | አየችሽ |
| She saw him/it | Ayyechiw | አየችው |
| She saw her | Ayyechat | አየቻት |
| She saw us | Ayyechin | አየችን |
| She saw you (plural) | Ayyechachihu | አየቻችሁ |
| She saw them | Ayyechachew | አየቻቸው |
| We saw (no direct/indirect object) | Ayyen | አየን |
| We saw you (male) | Ayyenih | አየንህ |
| We saw you (female) | Ayyenish | አየንሽ |
| We saw him/it | Ayyenew | አየነው |
| We saw her | Ayyenat | አየናት |
| We saw you (plural) | Ayyenachihu | አየናችሁ |
| We saw them | Ayyenachew | አየናቸው |
| You (plural) saw (no direct/indirect object) | Ayyachihu | አያችሁ |
| You (plural) saw me | Ayyachihuny | አያችሁኝ |
| You (plural) saw him | Ayyachihut | አያችሁት |
| You (plural) saw her | Ayyachihuwat | አያችሁዋት |
| You (plural) saw us | Ayyachihun | አያችሁን |
| You (plural) saw them | Ayyachihuwachew | አያችሁዋቸው |
| They saw (no direct/indirect object) | Ayyu | አዩ |
| They saw me | Ayyuny | አዩኝ |
| They saw you (male) | Ayyuh | አዩህ |
| They saw you (female) | Ayyush | አዩሽ |
| They saw him/it | Ayyut | አዩት |
| They saw her | Ayyuwat | አዩዋት |
| They saw us | Ayyun | አዩን |
| They saw you (plural) | Ayyuwachihu | አዩዋችሁ |
| They saw them | Ayyuwachew | አዩዋቸው |
Got all that? Let me tell you, this takes some hardcore repetition in multiple contexts. You have you work cut out for you, my friends. I hope I’ve given you a good start! Try this out with some other common verbs:
| Infinitive | Verb Stem |
| Mefelleg, “To want” | Felleg-/ፈለግ |
| Mawek’/ማወቅ “To know” | Awek’-/አወቅ |
| Malet/ማለት “To say” | Al-/አል |
| Megbat/መግባት “To enter/to get in” | Geba-/ገባ |
| Memt’at/መምጣት “To come” | Met’a-/መጣ |
| Maref/ማረፍ “To rest” | Aref-/አረፍ |
| Mechal/መቻል “To be able” | Chal-/ቻል |
| Menger/መንገር “To tell” | Neger-/ነገር |
| Mest’et/መስጠት “To give” | Set’e/ሰጠ |
| Mewsed/መውሰድ “To take” | Wesed-/ወሰድ |
Learning Amharic 