If you’re working with a tutor to learn Amharic, especially if you’re in an immersion context, these words can be super helpful. These words become a part of my daily vocabulary when I was doing Amharic lessons where I lived in Ethiopia (with a tutor who didn’t speak English).
| fluency | አንደበት andäbät | Could you repeat that? | ከደገና ድገምልኝ? kädägäna dïgämlïn? |
| mother-tongue | የአፍ መፍቻ ቋንቋ yäaf mäfča k’wank’wa | Put (the words) in order. | ቅድምተከተል። k’dm täkätäl. |
| poem | ግጥም gït’m | formal language | መደበኛ mädäbäña |
| compound word | ጥምር ቃል t’ïmïr k’al | informal language (or a dialect) | አመደበኛ amädäbäña |
| title | ርእስ rïïs | affixes (prefixes and suffixes) | ከቅጥያ käk’t’ïya |
| corrections | እርማት ïrmat | gibberish/nonsense | ዝብርቅርቅ zïbrïk’rïk’ |
| slang | ያራደ ቃል yaradä k’al | to “double” (emphasize) a letter | ማጥብቅ mat’bïk’ |
| abbreviation | ምህፃረ mïhs’arä | inappropriate (“bad”) word | ፀያፍ ቃል s’äyaf k’al |
