አማርኛ (Amharic) Present/Future Tense

Ready for some great news — in Amharic, the present and future tense are the SAME! As a language-learner, that’s a real treat! For native English speakers, who differentiate between “now” and “later,” it also brings up some interesting philosophical questions about time, but we’ll leave that for another day.

Present/Future Conjugations (Positive)

To form the present/future tense, you add the following prefixes/suffixes onto the verb root. There are some exceptions (and you’ll notice that the conjugations for አንቺ/anči involve a letter changing… this is called palatalization, and will be another post entirely), but overall, this is how verbs are conjugated.

እኔ/ïne/I እ_____አለሁ ï_____alähu example: እሄዳለሁ/ïhedalähu		እኛ/ïña/we እን_____አለን ïn_____alän example: እንሄዳለን/ïnhedalän
አንተ/antä/you ት_____አለህ tï_____aläh example: ትሄዳለህ/tïhedaläh	አንቺ/anči/you ት_____አለሽ tï_____aläš example: ትሄጃለሽ/tïhejalaš	እናንተ/ïnantä/ya’ll ት_____አላችሁ tï_____alačhu example: ትሄዳላችሁ/tïhedalačhu
እሱ/ïsu/he ይ_____አል yï_____al example: ይሄዳል/yïhedal	እሷ/ïswa/she ት_____አለች tï_____aläč example: ትሄዳለች/tïhedaläč	እነሱ/ïnäsu/they ይ_____አሉ yï_____alu example: ይሄዳል/yïhedalu

Exercise: Fill in the blanks in the following table.

ENGLISH	INFINITIVE	ROOT	ÏNE/እኔ: POSITIVE
to replace		ተካ täka
to believe	ማመን mamän
to bother		ረበሸ räbäšä
to win			አሸነፋለሁ ašänäfalähu
to donate		አባርከ abarkä
to fail/fall			እወደቃለሁ ïwädäk’alähu
to support	መድገፍ mädgäf
to introduce	ማስተዋወቅ mastäwawäk’

Exercise: Translate the following sentences in Amharic.

to run	መሮጥ/märot’	I run.	እሮጣለሁ/ïrot’alähu
to eat		Every day, I eat injera.
to sleep		I sleep from four o’clock until twelve o’clock.
to write		After class, I will write lesson plans for tomorrow.
to hate		She hates vegetables.
to work		Peace Corps agriculture volunteers work with farmers.
to study		I will study Amharic.
to send		I send letters to my family in America.
to boil		I boil coffee in my jabana.
to fear		He is afraid of (fears) dogs.
to clean		I clean my house twice a week.
to pay		Peace Corps pays my rent.
to play		We play volleyball at the primary school.
to visit		My neighbours will visit their families for Easter.
to stay		I will stay here for two years.
to close		At night, I always close my window.
to help		After work tomorrow, I will help my friend make keneto.
to ask		I will ask my director next week.
to live		Most of my students live in rented rooms.

Present/Future Conjugations (Negative)

Similarly to the positive version, the negative version is formed with prefixes and suffixes added to the verb root, as shown on the table below. Again, there are exceptions and irregularities, but this is the general pattern (using ሄድ, he went, as the verb root).

እኔ/ïne/I አል_____ም al_____m example: አልሄድም/alhedm		እኛ/ïña/we አን_____ም an_____m example: አንሄድም/anhedm
አንተ/antä/you አት_____ም at_____m example: አትሄድም/athedm	አንቺ/anči/you አት____ም at_____m example: አትሄጅም/athejm	እናንተ/ïnantä/ya’ll አት_____ኡም at_____um example: አትሄድም/athedum
እሱ/ïsu/he አይ_____ም ay_____m example: አይሄድም/ayhedm	እሷ/ïswa/she አት_____ም at_____m example: አትሄድም/athedm	እነሱ/ïnäsu/they አይ_____ኡም ay_____um example: አይሄድም/ayhedum

Exercise: Fill in the blanks in the following table.

ENGLISH	INFINITIVE	ROOT	ÏNE/እኔ: NEGATIVE
to sleep	መተኛት mätäñat
to fail		ወደቀ wädäk’ä
to pay			አልከፈልም alkäfälm
to clean		አጸዳ as’äda
to laugh	መሳቅ mäsak’
to change			አልቀየርም alk’äyärm
to plan		አቀደ ak’ädä
to start			አልጀመርም aljämärm

Exercise: Translate the following sentences into Amharic.

to run	መሮጥ/märot’	I don’t run.	አልሮጥም/alrot’m
to smoke		I don’t smoke cigarettes.
to be late		We won’t be late.
to pass		She will not pass ninth grade.
to listen		The students don’t listen to their teacher.
to marry		He is mean, so she won’t marry him.
to laugh		He is very sad. He doesn’t laugh.
to like		I don’t like long bus rides.
to sing		I don’t sing because my voice is not beautiful.
to give permission		The director won’t give permission for the project.
to break		Can I borrow your phone? I won’t break it.
to come		She isn’t coming.
to want		We don’t want to go to the meeting.
to open		People don’t open their windows on the bus.
to eat		I don’t eat meat.
to fast		I’m not fasting because I’m sick.
to arrive		I won’t arrive before six o’clock.

Bonus Exercises

Exercise: Change the following verbs from positive to negative (keep the same pronoun).

እኔእሮጠላሁ ïne ïrot’alahu	እኔአልሮጥም ïne alrot’m
እሷ ታጠናለች ïswa tat’änaläč
እኛ እንተኛላን ïña ïntäñalan
እኔ አጨሳላሁ ïne ač’äsalahu
እናንተ ተድረጋላችሁ ïnantä tädrägalačhu
እሱ ያሳውዋል ïsu yasawk’al
እኛ እናደናላን ïña ïnadänalan
እኔ አውቃላሁ ïne awk’alahu
አንቺ ታመጫለሽ anči tamäč’aläš
እነሱ ያዳመጣሉ ïnäsu yadamät’alu

Exercise: Change the following verbs from negative to positive (keep the same pronoun).

አንተአትሀድም anta athedm	አንተትሀደለህ anta tïhedäläh
እኔ አልጠጣም ïne alt’ät’am
እሱ አያውቅም ïsu ayawk’m
እሷ አትችልም ïswa atčïlm
እኛ አንሰራም ïña ansäram
እነሱ አያረፈዱም ïnäsu ayaräfädum
እሷ አታሳመረም ïswa atasamäräm
አንቺ አትጋገርም anči atgagärm
አንተ አታፅዳም antä atas’dam
እናንተ አትመጡም ïnantä atmät’um