Two-Radical Verb Types and Impersonal Constructions

This unit covers two-radical verb types in greater depth, introduces impersonal constructions, and presents the present perfect of stative verbs. These patterns are needed for expressing states, conditions, and impersonal statements such as “it is necessary” or “it is said.”

Basic Sentences (መሠረታዊ ዓረፍተ ነገሮች)

Amharic	English
wede bet hede	He went home
wuha meta	Water came (arrived)
debdabbe Same	He heard a letter (about it)
ityoPiya beTam tawqalečč	She knows Ethiopia very well
beru tekeffftoal	The door is open (state)
mesTihetu tesTfoal	The window is broken (state)
yibalegNal	it is said (impersonal)
yasfelligal	it is needed (impersonal)
yiTTeyal	it is asked (impersonal)
yimeTTal	one comes, it comes (impersonal)
debdabbe meSTaf yasfelligal	Writing a letter is needed
amarigNa menagger yiTTeyal	Speaking Amharic is requested

Key Vocabulary

Amharic	English
hede	he went (2-rad. /-a/)
meta	he came (2-rad. /-e/)
same	he heard (2-rad. /-a/)
tawqalečč	she knows (stative)
tefeToal	it is fast (stative)
tekefftoal	it is open (stative)
tesTfoal	it is broken/written (stative)
yibalegNal	it is said (impersonal)
yasfelligal	it is needed
yiTTeyal	it is asked, requested
yigebal	it is fitting, proper
yimeslal	it seems
mawweq	to know
mefeTen	to hurry
mekfet	to open

Grammar Notes

Two-Radical Verb Types — Review

Two-radical verbs have only two root consonants. Two main sub-types:

Type /-a/ (stem vowel -a): hede, same, qome, bore

Subject	hede (went)	same (heard)
ine	hed-ku	sam-hu
anta	hed-k	sam-h
issu	hede	same
isswa	hed-ečč	sam-ečč
inña	hed-n	sam-n
innassu	hed-u	sam-u

Type /-e/ (stem vowel -e): meta, reTe, qere

Subject	meta (came)	qere (remained)
ine	meTTa-hu	qerr-ehu
anta	meTTa-h	qerr-eh
issu	meTTa	qerre
isswa	meTTa-čč	qerr-ečč
inña	meTTa-n	qerr-en
innassu	meTTa-u	qerr-u

Impersonal Constructions

Impersonal verbs express general truths, requirements, or statements where no specific person is the subject. They appear in third-person masculine singular:

Amharic	English
yasfelligal	it is needed, one needs
yibalegNal	it is said, people say
yimeslal	it seems, it appears
yiTTeyal	it is asked, it is requested
yigebal	it is fitting, it is proper
aychilim	it is not possible

With infinitive subjects:

Amharic	English
mehed yasfelligal	Going is needed
meSTaf yasfelligal	Writing is needed
menagger yigebal	Speaking is proper
mebella yiTTeyal	Eating is requested

Present Perfect of Stative Verbs

Stative verbs describe a resulting state (not an action). They use the pattern of the gerund + auxiliary:

Amharic	English
beru tekefftoal	The door is (in a state of being) open
mesTihetu tesTfoal	The window is broken
misa-w besTtoal	The food is cooked (ready)
mekinaw qomoal	The car is stopped (standing)
iSSwa tawqalečč	She knows (is in a state of knowing)

The present perfect stative contrasts with the simple perfective:

Simple Perfective	Present Perfect Stative
beru-n keffete (He opened the door)	beru tekefftoal (The door is open)
mesTihet-u-n sebbere (He broke the window)	mesTihetu tesTfoal (The window is broken)
misa-wn beSSele (He cooked the food)	misa-w besTtoal (The food is cooked)

Drills (ልምምዶች)

Drill 1 — Conjugate Two-Radical Verbs

Give the perfective for each subject:

Verb / Subject	ine	issu	innassu
hede (went)	hed-ku	hede	hed-u
same (heard)	sam-hu	same	sam-u
meta (came)	meTTa-hu	meTTa	meTTa-u
qere (remained)	qerr-ehu	qerre	qerr-u

Drill 2 — Impersonal Constructions

Translate using impersonal forms:

English	Amharic
It is needed	yasfelligal
It is said	yibalegNal
It seems	yimeslal
It is proper to go	mehed yigebal
Writing is needed	meSTaf yasfelligal

Drill 3 — Stative Present Perfect

Convert to stative present perfect:

Action (Perfective)	State (Present Perfect)
beru-n keffete	beru tekefftoal
mesTihet-u-n sebbere	mesTihetu tesTfoal
misa-wn beSSele	misa-w besTtoal
mekinaw aqome	mekinaw qomoal

Drill 4 — Mixed Translation

English	Amharic
He went home	wede bet hede
The door is open	beru tekefftoal
It is said that he came	indemetTa yibalegNal
Writing a letter is needed	debdabbe meSTaf yasfelligal
She knows Amharic	amarigNa tawqalečč

Narrative

zare ato tadesse wede sira hede. betopist wuSTT sira bizu new. beru tekefftoal inna mesTihet-u-m tekefftoal. ayyeru Tiru sile-hone mesTihetu mekfet yigebal. debdabbe meSTaf yasfelligal, yibalegNal. ato tadesse yih-in sam-inna meSTaf jemmere. misa-w gena albeSTem — gena misa mebeSSel yasfelligal. keza beru-n zegga. beru tezegtoal. ato tadesse amarigNa tawqoal — beTam Tiru new ye-amarigNa ChiloTaw.

Today Mr. Tadesse went to work. Inside the office there is a lot of work. The door is open and the window is also open. Since the air is good, it is proper to open the window. It is said that writing a letter is needed. Mr. Tadesse heard this and began writing. The food is not yet cooked — it is still necessary to cook the food. Then he closed the door. The door is closed. Mr. Tadesse knows Amharic — his Amharic ability is very good.