Amharic, the official language of Ethiopia, is known for its distinctive script and rich linguistic structure. Pronouns in Amharic, like in many languages, are used to substitute for nouns and noun phrases, making communication faster and avoiding repetition. This guide covers personal, possessive, demonstrative, reflexive, and interrogative pronouns in Amharic, complete with examples and transliterations to assist with pronunciation.

Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns in Amharic vary by subject and object forms, reflecting different roles in sentences.

Subject Pronouns:

• እኔ (ənä) – I: “እኔ መጣሁ” (ənä mäţahu) – I came.
• አንተ (antä) / አንቺ (anči) – You (singular masculine/feminine): “አንተ ትሄዳለህ” (antä təhädaläh) / “አንቺ ትሄዳለሽ” (anči təhädaläš) – You will go.
• እሱ (əsu) / እሷ (əsua) – He/She: “እሱ ይጠብቃል” (əsu yəţəbəqal) – He will keep it.
• እኛ (əña) – We: “እኛ እንደሰላም እንመለሳለን” (əña əndässelam ənmäläsalän) – We will return safely.
• እናንተ (ənantä) – You (plural): “እናንተ ትሄዳላችሁ” (ənantä təhädalaččuhu) – You (plural) will go.
• እነሱ (ənäsu) – They: “እነሱ ይመጣሉ” (ənäsu yəmäţalu) – They will come.

Object Pronouns:

Object pronouns often attach to the verb or preposition as suffixes in Amharic.

• እኔን (ənäñ) – Me: “እሱ አየኝ” (əsu ayäñ) – He saw me.
• አንተን / አንቺን (antän / ančin) – You: “እኔ አየሁህ / አየሁሽ” (ənä ayəhuh / ayəhuš) – I saw you (m/f).
• እሱን / እሷን (əsun / əsuan) – Him/Her: “እኔ አየሁዋ / አየሁዋት” (ənä ayəhuwa / ayəhuwat) – I saw him/her.
• እኛን (əñan) – Us: “እሱ አየን” (əsu ayän) – He saw us.
• እናንተን (ənantän) – You (plural): “እኔ አየኋችሁ” (ənä ayäwaččuhu) – I saw you (plural).
• እነሱን (ənäsun) – Them: “እኔ አየኋቸው” (ənä ayäwačäw) – I saw them.

Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns in Amharic show ownership and are often prefixed to the noun.

• የእኔ (yäənä) – My: “የእኔ መጽሐፍ” (yäənä mäţṣäḥəf) – My book.
• የአንተ / የአንቺ (yäantä / yäanči) – Your: “የአንተ ቤት” (yäantä bät) / “የአንቺ ኮከብ” (yäanči kokäb) – Your house / Your star.
• የእሱ / የእሷ (yäəsu / yäəsua) – His/Her: “የእሱ እንጀራ” (yäəsu ənjära) / “የእሷ መኪና” (yäəsua mäkina) – His bread / Her car.
• የእኛ (yäəña) – Our: “የእኛ አገር” (yäəña agär) – Our country.
• የእናንተ (yäənantä) – Your (plural): “የእናንተ ስራ” (yäənantä sira) – Your (plural) work.
• የእነሱ (yäənäsu) – Their: “የእነሱ እድሜ” (yäənäsu ədämä) – Their age.

Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns in Amharic identify specific nouns and vary based on proximity.

• ይህ (yəh) – This (masculine): “ይህ ቤት” (yəh bät) – This house.
• ይቺ (yəčči) – This (feminine): “ይቺ ኩባንያ” (yəčči kuḇanya) – This company.
• እነዚህ (ənäzəh) – These: “እነዚህ ልጆች” (ənäzəh ləjoč) – These children.
• ያ (ya) – That (masculine): “ያ መንገድ” (ya mängäd) – That road.
• ያቺ (yačči) – That (feminine): “ያቺ ሰማያዊ” (yačči sämayawi) – That blue (object).
• እነዚያ (ənäzya) – Those: “እነዚያ ተራሮች” (ənäzya täraroč) – Those mountains.

Reflexive Pronouns

Reflexive pronouns in Amharic indicate the subject performs an action upon itself, often using “ራስ” (ras) for “self.”

• ራሴ (rasä) – Myself: “እኔ ራሴን አስተካክልሁ” (ənä rasän astäkäkəlu) – I corrected myself.
• ራስህ / ራስሽ (rasəh / rasəš) – Yourself: “አንተ ራስህን / አንቺ ራስሽን አስተካክሊ” (antä rasəhən / anči rasəšən astäkäkəli) – You corrected yourself.
• ራሱ / ራሷ (rasu / rasua) – Himself/Herself: “እሱ ራሱን / እሷ ራሷን አስተካክለች” (əsu rasun / əsua rasuan astäkäkäläč) – He/She corrected himself/herself.
• ራሳችን (rasačəñ) – Ourselves: “እኛ ራሳችንን አስተካክለን” (əña rasačəñən astäkäkälen) – We corrected ourselves.
• ራሳችሁ (rasačəhu) – Yourselves: “እናንተ ራሳችሁን አስተካክላችሁ” (ənantä rasačəhun astäkäkälaččuhu) – You (plural) corrected yourselves.
• ራሳቸው (rasačäw) – Themselves: “እነሱ ራሳቸውን አስተካክሉ” (ənäsu rasačäwən astäkäkälu) – They corrected themselves.

Interrogative Pronouns

Interrogative pronouns are used to ask questions about people, places, or things.

• ማን (man) – Who: “ማን መጣ?” (man mäţa?) – Who came?
• ምን (mən) – What: “ምን አደረግህ?” (mən adärägəh?) – What did you do?
• የት (yät) – Where: “የት ነህ?” (yät näh?) – Where are you?

Understanding and using these pronouns correctly is essential for achieving fluency in Amharic. Practice by forming sentences with each type of pronoun and engage in conversations or writing exercises to reinforce your learning.