Bedeutung
Describing current weather.
Kultureller Hintergrund
Rain is often referred to as 'Barakat' (blessing). In rural areas, the first rain of the season is celebrated with prayers and songs. The city's blue taxis become very hard to find during the rain. People often wait in shops or cafes until the rain stops, leading to spontaneous social gatherings. There are specific saints associated with rain, and during droughts, special 'Tselote Zinab' (Rain Prayers) are held in churches. Rainy days are the preferred time for 'Kolo' (roasted barley) and hot 'Shai' (tea) or 'Buna' (coffee). The cold weather makes warm, spicy foods like 'Misir Wot' more popular.
The 'iye-' trick
Whenever you want to say something is happening right now, start the verb with 'iye-' and end the sentence with 'new'.
Don't forget the 'new'
Without 'new', the sentence is incomplete and sounds like you are saying 'Raining...' without the 'is'.
Bedeutung
Describing current weather.
The 'iye-' trick
Whenever you want to say something is happening right now, start the verb with 'iye-' and end the sentence with 'new'.
Don't forget the 'new'
Without 'new', the sentence is incomplete and sounds like you are saying 'Raining...' without the 'is'.
Sound like a native
Use 'ዝናብ እየጣለ ነው' (Zinab iyetale new) to sound more like a local in Addis Ababa.
Rain is good!
If you complain too much about the rain, people might remind you that it's a blessing for the farmers.
Teste dich selbst
Fill in the missing word to say 'It is raining'.
ዝናብ እየዘነበ ___።
'ነው' is the auxiliary verb 'is' required for the present continuous.
Which sentence means 'It is raining very hard'?
Choose the best option:
'Betam' means 'very' or 'a lot'.
Match the situation to the phrase.
You see someone leaving the house without an umbrella. What do you say?
This is a warning that they will get wet.
Complete the dialogue.
A: ውጭ እንዴት ነው? B: _________።
The question asks 'How is it outside?', so a weather update is the logical answer.
🎉 Ergebnis: /4
Visuelle Lernhilfen
Tense Comparison
Aufgabensammlung
4 Aufgabenዝናብ እየዘነበ ___።
'ነው' is the auxiliary verb 'is' required for the present continuous.
Choose the best option:
'Betam' means 'very' or 'a lot'.
You see someone leaving the house without an umbrella. What do you say?
This is a warning that they will get wet.
A: ውጭ እንዴት ነው? B: _________።
The question asks 'How is it outside?', so a weather update is the logical answer.
🎉 Ergebnis: /4
Häufig gestellte Fragen
10 FragenYes, if the context is clear that you are talking about rain, you can omit the word 'ዝናብ'.
You can say 'ትንሽ ዝናብ እየዘነበ ነው' (Tinish zinab iyezenebe new).
Yes, 'ማዕበል' (ma'ebel) or 'ብርቱ ዝናብ' (birtu zinab - strong rain).
It is called 'ክረምት' (Kiremt), which runs from June to August.
You say 'ዝናብ እወዳለሁ' (Zinab iwedalehu).
Yes, 'new' (is) becomes 'neber' (was).
No, for snow you say 'በረዶ እየዘነበ ነው'.
In Amharic, 'Zinab' is generally treated as masculine, which is why we use 'new' and not 'nech'.
You can say 'ዶፍ እየዘነበ ነው'.
It is 'ጃንጥላ' (Jantila).
Verwandte Redewendungen
ዝናብ ሊዘንብ ነው
similarIt is about to rain.
ዝናብ አባራ
contrastThe rain has stopped.
ካፊያ
specialized formDrizzle.
ዶፍ ዝናብ
specialized formDownpour.
ጃንጥላ
similarUmbrella.
ጭቃ
builds onMud.
