Language/Amharic/Grammar/Negation

Amharic Grammar - Negation

Hi Amharic learners! 😊

In this lesson, we will focus on how to negate sentences in Amharic grammar. As you move forward in your learning, it's important to remember that negation should not be taken lightly. It can impact your communication significantly, and so, it is essential to get it right. So, let's begin!

Don't hesitate to look into these other pages after completing this lesson: “to be” and “to have”, Direct and Indirect Object Affixes, Negative Present Future Tense & Comparatives and Superlatives.

Negating Verbs

To negate a verb, add the particle "አይ" (ayi) before the verb root. For instance, let's take the verb "አረፈ" (arifä) which means "to succeed." To negate it, you would add the particle "አይ" (ayi), which results in "አይ አረፈ" (ayi arifä), meaning "to fail."

It's essential to understand that the particle "አይ" (ayi) is equivalent to the English "not." Thus, it's most commonly used to express negation.

Here are some examples:

Amharic	Pronunciation	English
አስታውስት እንዳይሆን አይሰማም	astawist ǝndäyihon ayisematäm	It's not clear whether she will attend
በዚህ ያሉ ንጹሕ ጉዳይዎች ቀን አይጠቀም	bézih yälu nǝsǝhh guädäyowoch kǝn ayiteqäm	The message will not be sent today to all the recipients.
ቀጥታ አልቀረም እንዴት እንደሚያወጣኝ?	qǝttta alqärm ǝndǝth ayindǝmyawatägnǝ?	Will you not congratulate me?

Negating Nouns

To negate a noun, add the particle "ምንም" (mǝnm) before it. "ምንም" (mǝnm) means "nothing" or "no." Thus, you can use it to emphasize negation.

For instance, let's take the sentence "እኔ እሄዳለሁ" (ǝné ǝhädadälhu), which means "I will come." To negate this, add "ምንም" (mǝnm) before the pronoun "እኔ" (ǝné), and you get "ምንም እኔ አይሄዳለሁ" (mǝnm ǝné ayihädadälhu), meaning "I will not come."

Here are some examples:

Amharic	Pronunciation	English
ከተመሠረተ በኃይል ምንም አካባቢ የለውም	ketemässeräte béhayilǝ mǝnm akäbabibi yälem	There is no suitable material in the market.
ጠ/ሚኒስቴር ታደሰ ባለቤት ሕጉ መገኘት እንደምንችል ምንም የለውም	te/ménistär tadäsä balebet hugu mäga'énät ǝndämǝnǝchäl mǝnm yälem	The Prime Minister speech had nothing that made the public satisfied.
እስካሁን ምንም የለንም ማለት የለውም	easthun mǝnm yälǝnm yämälät yälem	There is nothing wrong until now.

Negating Adjectives and Adverbs

To negate an adjective or an adverb, add the particle "አይ" (ayi) before the word. For example, take the adjective "ብዙ" (bǝzu), which means "many" or "numerous." To negate it, you would add the particle "አይ" (ayi), which results in "አይብዙ" (ayi bǝzu), meaning "few" or "not many."

Here are some examples:

Amharic	Pronunciation	English
ልጆች ምንም የለውም ብዙ የለንም	lǝjoch mǝnm yälem bǝzu yälǝnm	We do not have many children.
አንዴ ምንም የለውም ላልሆነ የሚታዩ ምንም ቀን አይደሉም	ande mǝnm yälem lalǝhonǝ yǝmitäyu mǝnm kǝn ayidällum	There are no days that are not suitable for a visit.
ብዙውን ምልክት ስላደርጋሉ እንጂ አይነታውን መተላለፈ አይችሉም	bǝzuwǝn mǝlkǝt saladärǝgalu ǝnǝgǝ alǝntawǝnm mätällafǝ ayichilum	They can not only act according to their interest rather than the public opinion, as well as they can not play a fair game.

Practice with Dialogue

Here's a dialogue to help you practice negation with some of the words and phrases we learned today:

• Person 1: ሰላም! እንዴት ነው ድል የሚኖር?
• Person 2: ሰላም! ትልቅ ነው ድል፣ ምንም አይ የሚኖር ማለት አይደለም.
• Person 1: ውድ ተኛሁህ!

Translation:

• Person 1: Hello! How are you feeling?
• Person 2: Hello! I'm feeling a bit low, nothing serious though.
• Person 1: Okay, take care!

Additional Notes

It's essential to practice often, and you can do so by using the Polyglot Club website. Find native speakers and ask them any questions.

Furthermore, you can use the Grammar section on the Amharic page to enhance your grammatical knowledge.

Keep in mind that practice makes perfect. Hence, try to use negation in your everyday conversation with native speakers, and you'll notice an improvement in no time!

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➡ If you have any questions, please ask them in the comments section below.
➡ Feel free to edit this wiki page if you think it can be improved. 😎

Sources

• (PDF) Negation in Amharic and Ezha: A comparative perspective
• Amharic Grammar | LEARN101.ORG

Other Lessons

• “to be” and “to have”
• Complex Sentence
• How to Use Have
• The Past and Present Continuous Tenses
• Pronouns
• 2 sequential actions in the present
• Conjugation of mäwdäd (to like) present tense
• Time Clauses
• Questions
• Give your Opinion