Demonstratives, Gender and Conditionals

This unit introduces demonstrative pronouns, grammatical gender, conditional constructions with /b(i)-/ (“if” or “because”), the verbal suffix /-(i)bb(i)-/, and the causal prefix /sile-/. These structures let you point out specific items, express conditions, and give reasons for actions.

Basic Sentences (መሠረታዊ ዓረፍተ ነገሮች)

Amharic	English
yih məsahıf new	This is a book (masc.)
yihi dəbdabbe nat	This is a letter (fem.)
ya bet new	That is a house
yačči mekina nat	That is a car (fem.)
ınne-zih bet	this house
ınne-ziya set	that woman
bıhed Tiru new	If he goes, it is good
bıbla dəss yıləwal	If he eats, he’ll be happy
bıməTTa ınnayyəwalləhu	If he comes, I’ll see him
yıhədbıñal	he goes at my expense / on me
sıləmeTTa	because he came
sılə-sıraw	because of the work

Key Vocabulary

Amharic	English
yih	this (masc.)
yihi	this (fem.)
ya	that (masc.)
yačči	that (fem.)
ınne-zih	this (proximal, masc.)
ınne-ziya	that (distal)
bı-	if, when (conditional)
sıle-	because of, about
-ıbbı-	at the expense of, on
wənd	masculine
set	feminine
dəss alə	he was happy
azzənə	he was sad
əwnet	truth
wəšət	lie
kəffu	it was bad

Grammar Notes

Demonstrative Pronouns

Amharic has proximal (“this”) and distal (“that”) demonstratives, each with gender distinction:

	Masculine	Feminine
this	yih	yihi (or yihhič)
that	ya	yačči
these	ınne-zzih	ınne-zzih
those	ınne-zziya	ınne-zziya

Examples:

Amharic	English
yih səw	this man
yihi set	this woman
ya bet	that house
yačči mekina	that car

Gender

Amharic nouns are either masculine or feminine. Some rules:

• Most nouns are masculine by default
• Female beings are feminine: set (woman), ınnat (mother), ıhıt (sister)
• Countries, cities, and some abstract nouns are often feminine
• The copula differs: new (masc. “is”) vs. nat (fem. “is”)
• Definite suffix: -u/-w (masc.) vs. -wa/-ıtwa (fem.)

Masculine	Feminine
yih bet new (this is a house)	yihi agar nat (this is a country)
betu (the house)	agarıtwa (the country)
ıssu (he)	ısswa (she)

Conditional /b(i)-/ — “if” / “because”

The prefix bı- on the short imperfective forms a conditional (“if”):

Amharic	English
bıhed	if he goes
bıbla	if he eats
bımeTTa	if he comes
bıSaf	if he writes

Full sentences:

• bıhed Tiru new — If he goes, it’s good
• bımeTTa ınnayyəwallehu — If he comes, I’ll see him

Suffix /-(i)bb(i)-/ — “at the expense of, on”

The suffix -ıbbı- expresses “at the expense of” or “on behalf of”:

Amharic	English
yıhədbıñal	he goes on me (at my expense)
yıbəlabbıñal	he eats at my expense
ıgəzzabbıwallehu	I buy on his behalf

Prefix /sile-/ — “because of, about”

The prefix sıle- expresses cause or topic:

Amharic	English
sıle-sıraw	because of the work
sılə-ısswa	because of her
sıləmeTTa	because he came
sıləhədə	because he went

Drills (ልምምዶች)

Drill 1: Demonstratives

Fill in the correct demonstrative:

English	Amharic
this book (m.)	yih məsahıf
that woman	?
this car (f.)	?
that house (m.)	?

Drill 2: Conditionals with bı-

Form conditional sentences:

Condition	Result	Full sentence
bıhed	Tiru new	bıhed Tiru new
bımeTTa	ınnayyəwallehu	?
bıbla	dəss yıləwal	?
bıSaf	ınnanbıballehu	?

Drill 3: sıle- Practice

Give the reason:

English	Amharic
because of work	sıle-sıra
because he came	?
because of the rain	?
because of me	?

Narrative

zare wədaje Kebede-n lıayyə hedku. yih bet yə-Kebede bet new. yačči mekinam yə-ıssu nat. sımeTTahu dəss aləw. bıhed bunnna ınnıTeTTallən allə. bunnna TeTTən. sılə-sıraw tənagərən. ıssu bıfəllıg wədə amerika məhed yıčılal. gın sılə-sıraw məhed aycılem ahun. bıhed beTam dəss yıləñal.

Today I went to see my friend Kebede. This house is Kebede’s house. That car is also his. When I arrived he was happy. “If you go, let’s drink coffee,” he said. We drank coffee. We talked about work. If he wants, he can go to America. But because of work, he can’t go now. If he goes, I’ll be very happy.