Languages · አማርኛ
Video Chat with Amharic Speakers
To practice Amharic with native speakers on Omlet, choose Ethiopia with the country filter and press Start for a free 1-on-1 video chat. There's no account to create, and talking face to face is a great way to hear Amharic's distinctive consonants and rhythm.
Amharic (አማርኛ, amarigna) is a Semitic language, related to Arabic and Hebrew, and it has long served as the working language of Ethiopia's federal government. Ethiopia is home to many languages, including Afaan Oromo, Tigrinya and Somali, and Amharic is widely used as a shared language across the country and by Ethiopian communities abroad.
Amharic is written in the Ge'ez script, called fidel (ፊደል), so every phrase below includes a romanized pronunciation. Omlet's interface is in English and it doesn't match people by language: to practice, filter by country or ask the people you meet.
Where people speak Amharic
Amharic (አማርኛ) is an official language in 1 country or territory. To meet people from one of them, pick it with the country filter.
Useful Amharic phrases for video chat
Short, natural phrases you can use in your first minute on camera. The pronunciation is a simple English-style guide; stressed syllables are in capitals.
| English | Amharic | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| Hello | ሰላም | seh-lahm |
| How are you? (to a man / to a woman) | እንዴት ነህ? / እንዴት ነሽ? | in-det neh / in-det nesh |
| I'm fine, thank you. | ደህና ነኝ፣ አመሰግናለሁ። | deh-na neny, ah-meh-seg-nah-leh-hu |
| What's your name? (to a man / to a woman) | ስምህ ማን ነው? / ስምሽ ማን ነው? | sim-ih mahn noh / sim-ish mahn noh |
| My name is … | ስሜ … ነው። | si-meh … noh |
| Nice to meet you. | በመተዋወቃችን ደስ ብሎኛል። | beh-meh-teh-wah-weh-kah-chin des bi-loh-nyal |
| Where are you from? (to a man / to a woman) | ከየት ነህ? / ከየት ነሽ? | keh-yet neh / keh-yet nesh |
| I'm learning Amharic. | አማርኛ እየተማርኩ ነው። | ah-mar-i-nya i-yeh-teh-mar-ku noh |
| Please speak slowly. (to a man / to a woman) | እባክህ ቀስ ብለህ ተናገር። / እባክሽ ቀስ ብለሽ ተናገሪ። | i-bah-kih kes bi-leh teh-nah-ger / i-bah-kish kes bi-lesh teh-nah-geh-ri |
| How do you say … in Amharic? | … በአማርኛ እንዴት ይባላል? | … beh-ah-mar-i-nya in-det yi-bah-lahl |
| What's your job? (to a man / to a woman) | ሥራህ ምንድን ነው? / ሥራሽ ምንድን ነው? | si-rah min-din noh / si-rash min-din noh |
| I don't understand. | አልገባኝም። | al-geh-bah-nyim |
| Thank you very much! | በጣም አመሰግናለሁ! | beh-tahm ah-meh-seg-nah-leh-hu |
| Goodbye (to a man / to a woman) / Bye! | ደህና ሁን / ደህና ሁኚ / ቻው | deh-na hun / deh-na hu-nyi / chow |
Tips for practicing Amharic on video chat
- Learn ሰላም (selam) first. It means both hello and peace, works with anyone, and is the easiest way to open a chat.
- Listen for gender in "you": many phrases change depending on whether you're talking to a man or a woman, and there's a separate polite form for older people (more below).
- Use እሺ (ishi) for "OK" or "sure". It's one of the most common words in everyday Amharic and an easy way to show you're following.
- Ask your partner to type new words in the text chat. Seeing the fidel character next to the sound is a great way to start learning the script.
- Ethiopia is on UTC+3 all year, so evenings in Addis Ababa fall around midday on the US East Coast and late afternoon in Western Europe. Our guide to the best time to chat across time zones has the details.
Talking to a man, a woman or someone older
In Amharic, the word for "you" depends on who you're talking to: አንተ (ante) for a man, አንቺ (anchi) for a woman, and the polite እርስዎ (irswo) for elders or anyone you want to show extra respect. Verb endings change with it, which is why several phrases in the table come in two forms.
| English | To a man | To a woman | Polite |
|---|---|---|---|
| How are you? | እንዴት ነህ? (indet neh) | እንዴት ነሽ? (indet nesh) | እንዴት ነዎት? (indet newot) |
| Where are you from? | ከየት ነህ? (keyet neh) | ከየት ነሽ? (keyet nesh) | ከየት ነዎት? (keyet newot) |
| Goodbye | ደህና ሁን (dehna hun) | ደህና ሁኚ (dehna hunyi) | ደህና ይሁኑ (dehna yihunu) |
If you're not sure which form to use, the polite one is never rude, and neutral words like ሰላም (selam) and አመሰግናለሁ (ameseginalehu, thank you) work for everyone.
The fidel: how Amharic is written
Amharic uses the Ge'ez script, or fidel. Each character stands for a consonant plus a vowel, and every consonant comes in seven forms, one for each vowel. With more than 200 characters it looks daunting, but the system is regular: once you know a consonant's base shape, small changes like an added stroke or ring tell you the vowel.
| Form | Character | Sounds like |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | ለ | le (a short, relaxed e) |
| 2nd | ሉ | lu |
| 3rd | ሊ | li |
| 4th | ላ | la |
| 5th | ሌ | lay |
| 6th | ል | l or li |
| 7th | ሎ | lo |
Amharic also has ejective consonants such as ጥ, ቅ and ጭ, made with a small pop of air, and doubled consonants that can change a word's meaning but aren't shown in writing. Both are much easier to learn by listening than by reading, which is where live chats help.
The pronunciation guide here uses plain lowercase syllables because Amharic stress is light and fairly even. Focus on clear consonants rather than on which syllable to stress.
Ethiopian time, the calendar and easy topics
If you ask what time it is, you may get an answer in Ethiopian time, which counts the hours from dawn: 7 a.m. is "1 o'clock" and 6 p.m. is "12 o'clock". Ethiopia also has its own calendar, with 13 months and a year number about seven to eight years behind the Gregorian one. New Year (Enkutatash) falls in September.
Good conversation starters include coffee, which has deep roots in Ethiopia and is shared in a traditional coffee ceremony (ቡና, buna); food like injera and shiro; music; distance running; and places like Addis Ababa or the Simien Mountains. Ask your partner what you should try first.
For more on keeping a practice chat balanced, see our language exchange tips or how language exchange on video chat works on Omlet.
Practice Amharic with the country filter
Omlet's interface is in English only, and it doesn't match people by language or translate anything. There are two easy ways to find Amharic speakers:
- Use the country filter. Press Country, pick a country where Amharic is spoken (for example Ethiopia), then press Start.
- Ask whoever you meet. On Worldwide matching, a quick "Do you speak Amharic?" costs nothing to try.
The country filter's first day is free (you add a card to start, and can cancel in Settings before the charge). After that it's $3 one time for that device and browser, with no subscription. It can make matching slower when fewer people from that country are online; if a match takes a while, try another country or switch back to Worldwide.
Say you're practicing Amharic in your first sentence and ask your partner to slow down or correct you. It's a normal request.