Gerund and Perfect Tenses

This unit introduces the gerund form, the present perfect, the past perfect, and the imperfect tense. You will also learn about two-radical verbs ending in /-e/. The gerund is one of the most frequently used verb forms in Amharic, serving to connect sequential actions in a single sentence.

Basic Sentences (መሠረታዊ ዓረፍተ ነገሮች)

Amharic	English
meTTo ınjəra bəlla	Having come, he ate injera
hedə ayyəhum	He went; I haven’t seen him
bunnna TeTTa wəTTa	Having drunk coffee, he went out
dəbdabbe Sıfo laKə	Having written a letter, he sent it
ınjəra bəlyallehu	I have eaten injera
hedwallehu	I have gone
bunnna TeTTwallehu	I have drunk coffee
hedə nəbbər	He had gone
bəllo nəbbər	He had eaten
yıhedə nəbbər	He used to go
yıbəla nəbbər	He used to eat
ıssu meTTo ıne hedku	After he came, I went

Key Vocabulary

Amharic	English
meTTo	having come (gerund)
hedo	having gone (gerund)
bəllo	having eaten (gerund)
TeTTo	having drunk (gerund)
Sıfo	having written (gerund)
laKə	he sent
wəTTa	he went out
gəbba	he entered
Komə	he stood
Kəmmətə	he sat
alle	he said
seTTə	he gave
ţəyyəKə	he asked
mət’a	he came (2-radical)
šit’a	he sold (2-radical)

Grammar Notes

Two-Radical Verbs in /-e/

Some two-radical verbs have a perfective stem ending in -e:

Perfective	English	Gerund
meTTe	he came	meTTo
šeTTe	he sold	šeTTo
reTTe	he ran	reTTo

These follow the same conjugation patterns but with the -e ending in the 3sg masculine perfective.

The Gerund

The gerund is formed by changing the perfective vowel pattern. It expresses a completed action leading to the next:

Perfective (3sg m.)	Gerund (3sg m.)	English
hedə	hedo	having gone
meTTa	meTTo	having come
bəlla	bəllo	having eaten
TeTTa	TeTTo	having drunk
Safə	Sıfo	having written
gəbba	gəbbo	having entered

The gerund conjugates for person:

Person	hedə (go)
1sg	hedye
2sg m.	hedəh
2sg f.	hedəš
3sg m.	hedo
3sg f.	heda
1pl	hedən
2pl	hedaččıhu
3pl	hedu

Present Perfect

The present perfect is formed with the gerund + allə (auxiliary):

Amharic	English
hedwallehu	I have gone
bəlyallehu	I have eaten
TeTTwallehu	I have drunk
Sıfwallehu	I have written
hedwal	he has gone
bəlyallačč	she has eaten

Past Perfect

The past perfect uses the gerund + nəbbər:

Amharic	English
hedə nəbbər	he had gone
bəllo nəbbər	he had eaten
Sıfo nəbbər	he had written
meTTo nəbbər	he had come

Imperfect (Past Habitual)

The imperfect uses the imperfective + nəbbər to express habitual past actions:

Amharic	English
yıhedə nəbbər	he used to go
yıbəla nəbbər	he used to eat
yınaggərə nəbbər	he used to speak

Drills (ልምምዶች)

Drill 1: Form the Gerund

Perfective	Gerund
meTTa	meTTo
bəlla	?
Safə	?
gəbba	?
TeTTa	?

Drill 2: Present Perfect

Convert to present perfect:

Perfective	Present Perfect
hedku	hedwallehu
bəllahu	?
Safəčč	?
meTTan	?

Drill 3: Past vs. Past Perfect

Translate:

English	Amharic
He went	hedə
He had gone	hedə nəbbər
She ate	?
She had eaten	?
I wrote	?
I had written	?

Narrative

təñña Tıwat kə-bet wəTTe wədə sıra hedku. bə-mekina hedo sıra bota dərrəsku. bunnna TeTTe sıra jəmmərku. kə-sıra bəhwala wədə wədaje bet hedku. ıssu ınjəra-inna wəT azzagajjto Koyyəñ. bəlləñña TeTTən. Kebede bə-sost saat meTTo nəbbər, gın ayyəhum. bəfit bəyyə Kən yımeTTa nəbbər.

Yesterday morning I went out from the house and went to work. Having gone by car, I arrived at the workplace. Having drunk coffee, I started work. After work I went to my friend’s house. He had prepared injera and stew and waited for me. We ate and drank. Kebede had come at three o’clock, but I didn’t see him. Before, he used to come every day.