The Perfective and Prepositions

This unit introduces the verb perfective — the past tense form for completed actions. You will learn how subject suffix pronouns attach to perfective verb stems, the prepositions /k(e)-/ “from,” /isk(e)-/ “until,” and /l(e)-/ “for,” the postpositions /wisT/ and /lay/, and the Amharic numeral system with ordinals.

Basic Sentences (መሠረታዊ ዓረፍተ ነገሮች)

Amharic	English
wədə bet hedku	I went home
kə-bet meTTahu	I came from home
ləne yinəgərulliñ	Tell me, please
iskə-kətəma hedən	We went as far as the city
amarıñña təmarku	I learned Amharic
dəbdabbe Safku	I wrote a letter
məsahıf anbəbku	I read a book
ınjəra bəllan	We ate injera
wuha TeTTan	We drank water
Kebede meTTa	Kebede came
Almaz hedəčč	Almaz went
sost məsahıf gəzzahu	I bought three books

Key Vocabulary

Amharic	English
kə-	from
iskə-	until, up to
lə-	for, to
wisT	inside
lay	on, upon
hedə	he went
meTTa	he came
təmarə	he learned
Safə	he wrote
anbəbə	he read
bəlla	he ate
TeTTa	he drank
gəzza	he bought
Komə	he stood
dəbdabbe	letter
ınjəra	injera (bread)
wuha	water

Grammar Notes

The Verb Perfective

The perfective marks completed actions. The base form (3rd person masculine singular) is the citation form. Person is indicated by suffixes:

Person	Suffix	hedə (go)	təmarə (learn)
1sg	-ku	hedku	təmarku
2sg m.	-k	hedk	təmark
2sg f.	-š	hedš	təmarš
3sg m.	-ə	hedə	təmarə
3sg f.	-əčč	hedəčč	təmarəčč
1pl	-n	hedn	təmarn
2pl	-aččıhu	hedaččıhu	təmaraččıhu
3pl	-u	hedu	təmaru

Verb Suffix Pronouns with Perfective

Object pronouns also attach as suffixes. With the perfective, the object suffix follows the subject suffix:

Amharic	English
ayyəhut	I saw him
ayyəhwat	I saw her
nəggərəñ	he told me
nəggərəhut	I told him

Prepositions /k(e)-/, /isk(e)-/, /l(e)-/

Preposition	Meaning	Example
kə-	from	kə-bet (from home)
iskə-	up to, until	iskə-kətəma (up to the city)
lə-	for, to	ləne (for me), ləıssu (for him)

Postpositions /wisT/ and /lay/

Postposition	Meaning	Example
wisT	inside	bet wisT (inside the house)
lay	on, upon	Terəppeza lay (on the table)

Numerals and Ordinals

Number	Cardinal	Ordinal
1	and	andəñña
2	hullətt	hulləttəñña
3	sost	sostəñña
4	aratt	arattəñña
5	ammıst	ammıstəñña
6	sıddıst	sıddıstəñña
7	səbatt	səbattəñña
8	sımmınt	sımmıntəñña
9	zəTəñ	zəTəñəñña
10	assır	assırəñña

Drills (ልምምዶች)

Drill 1: Perfective Conjugation

Conjugate bəlla (eat) for each person:

Person	Answer
1sg	bəllahu
2sg m.	?
3sg m.	?
3sg f.	?
1pl	?
3pl	?

Drill 2: Preposition Practice

Fill in the correct preposition:

English	Amharic
from Addis Ababa	___-addis abeba
for me	___-ıne
up to the school	___-tımhırt bet
from the market	___-gəbəya

Drill 3: Number Practice

Say the following in Amharic:

English	Amharic
three books	sost məsahıf
two cars	?
five students	?
the first house	?
the third room	?

Drill 4: Translation

English	Amharic
I went to school	wədə tımhırt bet hedku
She came from the city	?
We learned Amharic	?
He drank water	?

Narrative

təñña bə-andəñña Kən kə-amerika wədə ityoPiya hedku. bə-awroplan hedku. iskə-addis abeba birku. sost Kən bə-addis abeba Koyyahu. bəzu səwočč ayyahu. amarıñña təmarku. hullətt məsahıf gəzzahu. kə-addis abeba wədə gondar hedku. bə-gondar ammıst Kən Koyyahu. beTam Tiru agar new ityoPiya.

Last year on the first day I went from America to Ethiopia. I went by airplane. I flew to Addis Ababa. I stayed in Addis Ababa for three days. I saw many people. I learned Amharic. I bought two books. I went from Addis Ababa to Gondar. I stayed in Gondar for five days. Ethiopia is a very beautiful country.