Course Material

This unit covers the suffix /-e/ in compound words and the formation of plurals after numerals.

Basic Sentences (መሠረታዊ ዓረፍተ ነገሮች)

Amharic (Romanized)	English
bet-e-saw bizu new.	My family (house-people) is large.
agar-e-bet-u tilliq new.	The homeland (country-house) is big.
sost meTTahift-oč allegNNi.	I have three books.
amist temari-woč meTTu.	Five students came.
arat bet-oč alleggu.	There are four houses.
ye sira-e-bet astemari-w man new?	Who is the workplace manager?
hullet lij-oč alleggu.	There are two children.
ye wuha-e-bet-u reddj new.	The bathroom (water-house) is far.
assir saw-oč meTTu.	Ten people came.
sost-u temari-woč hedu.	The three students went.

Key Vocabulary

Amharic	English	Amharic	English
bet-e-saw	family, household	agar-e-bet	homeland
sira-e-bet	workplace	wuha-e-bet	bathroom
migib-e-bet	restaurant/kitchen	timhirt-e-bet	school
meTTahift-oč	books	temari-woč	students
bet-oč	houses	saw-oč	people
lij-oč	children	-(o)č	plural suffix

Grammar Notes

1. The Suffix /-e/ in Compound Words

Amharic forms compound nouns by joining two nouns with the linking suffix /-e/. The first noun modifies the second:

Pattern: noun₁ + /-e/ + noun₂

Compound	Components	English
bet-e-saw	bet (house) + saw (person)	family member, household
agar-e-bet	agar (country) + bet (house)	homeland
sira-e-bet	sira (work) + bet (house)	workplace, office
wuha-e-bet	wuha (water) + bet (house)	bathroom
migib-e-bet	migib (food) + bet (house)	restaurant, kitchen
timhirt-e-bet	timhirt (education) + bet (house)	school
meTTahif-e-bet	meTTahif (book) + bet (house)	library
birr-e-wereqet	birr (money) + wereqet (paper)	banknote

The /-e/ connector is sometimes written as a separate element and sometimes joined:

Amharic	English
bet-e-saw-oč-e bizu naččew.	My family members are many.
ye sira-e-bet-u astemari man new?	Who is the office manager?
wede migib-e-bet hedku.	I went to the restaurant.

2. Plurals After Numerals

When a noun follows a numeral, the plural suffix /-(w)oč/ is typically used:

Singular	Plural with Number	English
meTTahif	sost meTTahift-oč	three books
temari	amist temari-woč	five students
bet	arat bet-oč	four houses
saw	assir saw-oč	ten people
lij	hullet lij-oč	two children

Note: In everyday speech, the plural suffix is sometimes omitted after numerals, especially with higher numbers:

With Plural	Without Plural (colloquial)
sost meTTahift-oč	sost meTTahif
amist temari-woč	amist temari
assir saw-oč	assir saw

3. Definite Plurals with Numerals

When the noun is both numbered and definite, the definite article /-(w)u/ follows the plural:

Amharic	English
sost-u temari-woč	the three students
hullet-u bet-oč	the two houses
arat-u saw-oč	the four people

Drills (ልምምዶች)

Drill 1 — Form Compound Nouns

Noun₁	Noun₂	Compound	English
bet (house)	saw (person)	bet-e-saw	family member
sira (work)	bet (house)	sira-e-bet	workplace
wuha (water)	bet (house)	wuha-e-bet	bathroom
migib (food)	bet (house)	migib-e-bet	restaurant
timhirt (study)	bet (house)	timhirt-e-bet	school
meTTahif (book)	bet (house)	meTTahif-e-bet	library

Drill 2 — Plurals After Numerals

Numeral	Noun	Combined
hullet	lij	hullet lij-oč
sost	meTTahif	sost meTTahift-oč
arat	bet	arat bet-oč
amist	temari	amist temari-woč
assir	saw	assir saw-oč

Drill 3 — Definite Plural

Make definite:

Indefinite	Definite
sost temari-woč	sost-u temari-woč
hullet bet-oč	hullet-u bet-oč
arat saw-oč	arat-u saw-oč
amist meTTahift-oč	amist-u meTTahift-oč

Drill 4 — Translation

My family is large. — /bet-e-saw-e bizu new./
There are four houses. — /arat bet-oč alleggu./
The three students came. — /sost-u temari-woč meTTu./
I went to the restaurant. — /wede migib-e-bet hedku./
Who is the office manager? — /ye sira-e-bet astemari man new?/
Ten people came. — /assir saw-oč meTTu./

Narrative

ato kebbede tilliq bet-e-saw allew. amist lij-oč allegut. hullet-u lij-oč be timhirt-e-bet yimaralu. sost-u wede sira-e-bet yihedu. kebbede yemigib-e-bet-un sira yiqeyyiral — inna hullu qen wede migib-e-bet yihedal. be bet-u-m bizu meTTahift-oč alleggu. amist-u meTTahift-oč yeamarigNa naččew. “bet-e-saw-e timhirt yifellgal” yilal. meKnat-u — tilliQinnet be timhirt yijemmiral.

Translation: Mr. Kebbede has a large family. He has five children. Two of the children study at school. Three go to the workplace. Kebbede manages the restaurant’s work — and every day he goes to the restaurant. At home there are also many books. The five books are in Amharic. “My family needs education,” he says. The reason — greatness begins with education.

Compound Words and Plurals

Grammar Focus