Prepositions and Postpositions

This unit covers Amharic prepositions and postpositions — the spatial words that tell you where things are. You will learn the preposition /b(e)-/ (“in, at, with”), /best(e)-/ (“in, inside”), and a range of spatial expressions that let you describe locations and give directions.

Basic Sentences (መሠረታዊ ዓረፍተ ነገሮች)

Amharic	English
bə-bet wəsT	inside the house
bə-mekina hedku	I went by car
bə-addis abeba ınoralehu	I live in Addis Ababa
bestə-kıfıl allə	It is inside the room
wəmbəru Terəppeza lıkk new	The chair is near the table
məsahıfu Terəppeza lay new	The book is on the table
mekinaw bet fıt lay new	The car is in front of the house
lıju bər hwala new	The child is behind the door
temariwoč tımhırt bet wəsT naččəw	The students are inside the school
bet-inna tımhırt bet mekakəl	between the house and the school
mekinaw məngəd lay new	The car is on the road

Key Vocabulary

Amharic	English
bə-	in, at, by, with
bestə-	inside of
wəsT	inside
lay	on, on top of
fıt	front
hwala	behind, after
lıkk	near
rıKK	far
tač	under, below
mekakəl	between, middle
gar	with, together
məngəd	road, street
kətəma	city, town
tımhırt bet	school
agar	country
sıfra	place

Grammar Notes

Preposition /b(e)-/

The prefix bə- (before consonants) or be- (before vowels) expresses “in, at, by, with”:

Amharic	English
bə-bet	in a house / at home
bə-mekina	by car
bə-amarıñña	in Amharic
be-ityoPiya	in Ethiopia
bə-ıskrıbto	with a pen

Preposition /best(e)-/

bestə- is a compound preposition meaning “inside of” (bə- + wəsT + ə):

Amharic	English
bestə-bet	inside the house
bestə-kıfıl	inside the room
bestə-mekina	inside the car

Spatial Expressions

Amharic uses postpositions (words that follow the noun) for spatial relations:

Postposition	Meaning	Example
wəsT	inside	bet wəsT (inside the house)
lay	on, upon	Terəppeza lay (on the table)
fıt	in front of	bet fıt (in front of the house)
hwala	behind	bər hwala (behind the door)
tač	under	Terəppeza tač (under the table)
lıkk	near	bet lıkk (near the house)
rıKK	far from	kətəma rıKK (far from the city)
mekakəl	between	bet-inna tımhırt bet mekakəl (between the house and the school)

These postpositions combine with bə- in locative phrases:

Amharic	English
bə-bet wəsT	inside the house
bə-Terəppeza lay	on the table
bə-bər hwala	behind the door

Drills (ልምምዶች)

Drill 1: Where Is It?

Answer using the cued postposition:

Cue	Sentence
məsahıf / Terəppeza lay	məsahıfu Terəppeza lay new
lıj / bər hwala	?
mekina / bet fıt	?
ıskrıbto / Terəppeza tač	?

Drill 2: Use bə-

Fill in the blank:

English	Amharic
in Addis Ababa	bə-addis abeba
by car	?
in Amharic	?
in Ethiopia	?
with a pen	?

Drill 3: Substitution

Change the postposition in mekinaw bet fıt new:

hwala, lıkk, rıKK, tač

Drill 4: Translation

English	Amharic
The book is on the table	məsahıfu Terəppeza lay new
The student is inside the school	?
The car is far from the city	?
The children are between the house and the school	?

Narrative

bete addis abeba wəsT new. betu məngəd lıkk new. betu tilliK new. bet wəsT sost kıfıl allə. andəñña kıfıl wəsT Terəppeza-inna wəmbər allə. məsahıfe Terəppeza lay new. mekinaye bet fıt new. tımhırt bet bete lıkk new. bə-ıgır wədə tımhırt bet ıhedral. bə-addis abeba ınoralehu — beTam Tiru kətəma new.

My house is in Addis Ababa. The house is near the road. The house is big. Inside the house there are three rooms. In the first room there is a table and a chair. My book is on the table. My car is in front of the house. The school is near my house. I walk to school on foot. I live in Addis Ababa — it is a very nice city.