Pronouns and Possession

This unit covers the Amharic pronoun system — independent pronouns and suffix pronouns — as well as the expressions for “have” and “have not.” You will also learn the feminine definite suffix and the direct object suffix. These tools let you talk about possession, identify yourself and others, and form simple transitive sentences.

Basic Sentences (መሠረታዊ ዓረፍተ ነገሮች)

Amharic	English
ıne temari nəñ	I am a student
anta yəmın agar nəh?	What country are you from? (masc.)
ıssu ityoPiyawi new	He is Ethiopian
ısswa ityoPiyawit nat	She is Ethiopian
ıñña temariwoč nən	We are students
mekinaw yəne new	The car is mine
betu yəssu new	The house is his
mekina alləñ	I have a car
bet alləw	He has a house
mekina yəlləññəm	I don’t have a car
məsahıfu yəne new	The book is mine
betwa tilliK nat	The house (fem.) is big
mekinawn ayyəhut	I saw the car (object)

Key Vocabulary

Amharic	English
ıne	I
anta	you (masc.)
anči	you (fem.)
ıssu	he
ısswa	she
ıñña	we
ınnantə	you (plural)
ınnəssu	they
-e / -ye	my
-h / -ıh	your (masc.)
-š / -ıš	your (fem.)
-u / -w	his
-wa	her
alləñ	I have
yəlləññəm	I don’t have
nat	she is
nəñ	I am
nəh	you are (masc.)

Grammar Notes

Independent Pronouns

Amharic	English
ıne	I
anta	you (masc. sg.)
anči	you (fem. sg.)
ıssu	he
ısswa	she
ıñña	we
ınnantə	you (pl.)
ınnəssu	they

Suffix Pronouns (Possessive)

Suffix pronouns attach to nouns to express possession:

Suffix	Meaning	Example
-e / -ye	my	bete (my house)
-h	your (m.)	beth (your house)
-š	your (f.)	betš (your house)
-u / -w	his	betu (his house)
-wa	her	betwa (her house)
-aččın	our	betaččın (our house)
-aččıhu	your (pl.)	betaččıhu (your house)
-aččəw	their	betaččəw (their house)

“Have” and “Have not”

Possession is expressed with the verb of existence allə plus a suffix pronoun:

Amharic	English
alləñ	I have (lit. “there is to me”)
alləh	you have (masc.)
alləš	you have (fem.)
alləw	he has
allat	she has
allən	we have
allaččəw	they have

The negative uses yəlləm + suffix:

Amharic	English
yəlləññəm	I don’t have
yəlləhəm	you don’t have (m.)
yəlləšəm	you don’t have (f.)
yəlləwəm	he doesn’t have
yəllatəm	she doesn’t have

Feminine Definite Suffix

Feminine nouns take the suffix -wa or -ıtwa instead of /-u/:

Indefinite	Definite	English
mekina (f.)	mekinawa	the car
set	setwa	the woman
agar	agərıtwa	the country

Direct Object Suffix

The suffix -(ı)n marks a definite direct object:

Amharic	English
mekinawn ayyəhut	I saw the car
betun gəzzahu	I bought the house
məsahıfun anbəbku	I read the book

Drills (ልምምዶች)

Drill 1: Identify with Pronouns

Translate each sentence:

English	Amharic
I am a student	ıne temari nəñ
He is a teacher	?
She is Ethiopian	?
We are Americans	?

Drill 2: Possessive Suffixes

Add the correct suffix pronoun:

English	Amharic
my house	bete
his car	?
her book	?
our room	?

Drill 3: Have / Don’t Have

English	Amharic
I have a book	məsahıf alləñ
He has a car	?
I don’t have a pen	?
She doesn’t have a house	?

Narrative

ıne Mark nəñ. amerika nəñ. mekina alləñ. mekinaw tilliK new. bet-əm alləñ. betu addis new. yəne gwadenñaye Almaz nat. ısswa ityoPiyawit nat. ısswa-m bet allat. betwa beTam Tiru new. ıñña temariwoč nən. amarıñña ınnəmaralən.

I am Mark. I am American. I have a car. The car is big. I also have a house. The house is new. My friend is Almaz. She is Ethiopian. She also has a house. Her house is very nice. We are students. We are learning Amharic.