Grammar Rule in 30 Seconds
Amharic nouns are either masculine or feminine, and adjectives or verbs must match their gender.
- Masculine nouns are the default; use masculine markers for general statements.
- Feminine nouns often end in -it or refer to females; use feminine markers like -wa.
- Adjectives change their ending to match the noun's gender (e.g., 'tinnish' vs 'tinnishit').
Gender Agreement Patterns
| Category | Masculine | Feminine | Example (M) | Example (F) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Adjective
|
Base
|
-it
|
ደግ (Kind)
|
ደግነት (Kind)
|
|
Verb (Past)
|
-a
|
-ach
|
መጣ (He came)
|
መጣች (She came)
|
|
Pronoun
|
እሱ (He)
|
እሷ (She)
|
እሱ መጣ
|
እሷ መጣች
|
|
Demonstrative
|
ይህ (This)
|
ይህች (This)
|
ይህ ሰው
|
ይህች ሴት
|
|
Possessive
|
-u
|
-wa
|
ቤቱ (His house)
|
ቤቷ (Her house)
|
|
Noun Suffix
|
None
|
-it
|
መምህር (Teacher)
|
መምህርት (Female teacher)
|
Meanings
Amharic uses a binary gender system where nouns are classified as masculine or feminine, impacting adjective and verb agreement.
Natural Gender
Referring to biological sex of humans and animals.
“ልጁ መጣ (The boy came)”
“ልጅቷ መጣች (The girl came)”
Grammatical Gender
Arbitrary gender assigned to inanimate objects.
“ቤቱ ትልቅ ነው (The house is big - M)”
“ጠረጴዛዋ ትልቅ ናት (The table is big - F)”
Reference Table
| Form | Structure | Example |
|---|---|---|
|
Affirmative
|
Noun + Adj + Copula
|
ሰውዬው ደግ ነው
|
|
Negative
|
Noun + Adj + Copula + Neg
|
ሰውዬው ደግ አይደለም
|
|
Question
|
Noun + Adj + Copula + Question
|
ሰውዬው ደግ ነው?
|
|
Feminine Affirmative
|
Noun + Adj-it + Copula-it
|
ሴትዮዋ ደግነት ናት
|
|
Feminine Negative
|
Noun + Adj-it + Copula-it + Neg
|
ሴትዮዋ ደግነት አይደለችም
|
|
Feminine Question
|
Noun + Adj-it + Copula-it + Question
|
ሴትዮዋ ደግነት ናት?
|
|
Short Answer (M)
|
አዎ, ነው
|
አዎ, ደግ ነው
|
|
Short Answer (F)
|
አዎ, ናት
|
አዎ, ደግነት ናት
|
격식 수준 스펙트럼
ሴትዮዋ ደግ ናት። (Describing a person)
ሴትዮዋ ደግ ናት። (Describing a person)
ሴትየዋ ደግ ናት። (Describing a person)
ሴትየዋ ደግ ናት። (Describing a person)
Gender Classification
Masculine
- ሰው Man
- ቤት House
Feminine
- ሴት Woman
- ጠረጴዛ Table
Adjective Agreement
Agreement Decision Tree
Is the noun female?
Common Gendered Nouns
People
- • ሰው
- • ሴት
- • ልጅ
Objects
- • መጽሐፍ
- • ጠረጴዛ
- • መኪና
수준별 예문
ሰውዬው ደግ ነው
The man is kind
ሴትዮዋ ደግ ናት
The woman is kind
ልጁ መጣ
The boy came
ልጅቷ መጣች
The girl came
ቤቱ ትልቅ ነው
The house is big
ጠረጴዛዋ ትልቅ ናት
The table is big
መጽሐፉ ጠፋ
The book is lost
ብዕሯ ጠፋች
The pen is lost
ይህች ልጅ በጣም ጎበዝ ናት
This girl is very smart
ያኛው ወንድ ተማሪ ነው
That one is a male student
መኪናዋ አዲስ ናት
The car is new
ጓደኛዬ መጣች
My friend (female) came
የምትወደው ሴት እሷ ናት
The woman you love is her
አዲሱ መምህር በጣም ደግ ነው
The new teacher (male) is very kind
የተገዛችው ወንበር ተሰበረች
The chair that was bought broke
እሷ በራሷ ትችላለች
She can do it by herself
የአገሪቷ ሁኔታ አሳሳቢ ሆኗል
The country's situation has become concerning
እሷ በሙያዋ የተከበረች ናት
She is respected in her profession
ይህች ድርጅት ትልቅ እቅድ አላት
This organization has a big plan
እሷን ማግኘት ከባድ ነው
It is hard to find her
የሴቶች መብት በሕገ መንግስቱ የተጠበቀ ነው
Women's rights are protected by the constitution
እሷ በሥነ-ጽሑፍ ዘርፍ የላቀች ናት
She is outstanding in the field of literature
የአንዲት እናት እንባ አይደርቅም
A mother's tears do not dry
እሷ በራሷ መንገድ ትጓዛለች
She walks in her own way
혼동하기 쉬운
Learners often add -it to everything.
Mixing up the third-person masculine and feminine.
Assuming all objects are masculine.
자주 하는 실수
ሴትዮዋ ደግ ነው
ሴትዮዋ ደግ ናት
ሰውዬው መጣች
ሰውዬው መጣ
ጠረጴዛው ትልቅ ነው
ጠረጴዛዋ ትልቅ ናት
እሱ መጣች
እሱ መጣ
መጽሐፏ አዲስ ናት
መጽሐፉ አዲስ ነው
ልጅቷ ደግ ነው
ልጅቷ ደግ ናት
እሷ መጣ
እሷ መጣች
ይህች መጽሐፍ ጥሩ ናት
ይህ መጽሐፍ ጥሩ ነው
የእሷ ቤት ትልቅ ነው
የእሷ ቤት ትልቅ ነው (Wait, house is M)
እሷ በራሱ ትችላለች
እሷ በራሷ ትችላለች
የአገሪቷ ሁኔታ አሳሳቢ ሆኗል
የአገሪቷ ሁኔታ አሳሳቢ ሆኗል (Wait, situation is M)
እሷ በሙያዋ የተከበረ ነው
እሷ በሙያዋ የተከበረች ናት
ይህች ድርጅት ትልቅ እቅድ አለው
ይህች ድርጅት ትልቅ እቅድ አላት
문장 패턴
___ (Noun) ___ (Adj) ነው/ናት።
እሷ ___ (Verb)።
ይህች ___ (Noun) በጣም ___ (Adj) ናት።
የ___ (Noun) ሁኔታ ___ (Adj) ነው።
Real World Usage
እሷ በጣም ቆንጆ ናት!
መጣሽ?
እኔ በሙያዬ የተከበርኩ ነኝ።
ሆቴሉ የት ነው?
ምግቡ ትኩስ ነው?
የጥናቱ ውጤት አሳሳቢ ነው።
Default to Masculine
Don't Guess
Listen to Natives
Respectful Gender
Smart Tips
Always learn the noun with its gender.
Pause for a second to check the noun's gender.
Check your adjectives after you finish.
Listen for the -it suffix.
발음
Feminine Suffix
The -it suffix is pronounced clearly as 'eet'.
Verb Suffix
The -ach suffix is pronounced as 'ach'.
Statement
ሴትዮዋ ደግ ናት ↘
Falling intonation for statements.
Question
ሴትዮዋ ደግ ናት? ↗
Rising intonation for questions.
암기하기
기억법
Think of 'it' for feminine: 'She is a girl, add -it!'
시각적 연상
Imagine a man wearing a blue hat (masculine) and a woman wearing a pink hat with a flower (the -it suffix).
Rhyme
If the noun is a lady, add -it to the study!
Story
A man named Abebe (masculine) walks into a room. He sees a table (feminine). He says 'The table is big' using the feminine form because he knows the table is a lady in Amharic grammar.
Word Web
챌린지
Look at 5 objects in your room and try to guess if they are masculine or feminine based on their sound, then check a dictionary.
문화 노트
Gender agreement is strictly observed in formal settings.
Some colloquial speech may drop gender markers in very fast, informal settings.
Gender is often used to show respect or distance.
Amharic gender stems from Proto-Semitic roots.
대화 시작하기
እሷ ማን ናት?
ይህ መጽሐፍ አዲስ ነው?
ሴትዮዋ ለምን መጣች?
የአገሪቷ ሁኔታ ምን ይመስላል?
일기 주제
자주 하는 실수
Test Yourself
ሴትዮዋ ___ (መጣ).
ጠረጴዛዋ ___ ናት።
Find and fix the mistake:
እሱ በጣም ደግ ናት።
ሰውዬው መጣ።
Amharic has a neuter gender.
A: እሷ ማን ናት? B: ___
መኪናዋ / አዲስ / ናት
Match each item on the left with its pair on the right:
Score: /8
연습 문제
8 exercisesሴትዮዋ ___ (መጣ).
ጠረጴዛዋ ___ ናት።
Find and fix the mistake:
እሱ በጣም ደግ ናት።
ሰውዬው መጣ።
Amharic has a neuter gender.
A: እሷ ማን ናት? B: ___
መኪናዋ / አዲስ / ናት
ሰው, ጠረጴዛ, መጽሐፍ, ሴት
Score: /8
자주 묻는 질문 (8)
It is a feature of Semitic languages. It's just how the language is structured.
Look for the -it suffix or check if it refers to a female.
You will be understood, but it will sound incorrect.
Yes, some nouns have irregular gender.
Yes, plural forms have their own agreement rules.
It takes practice, but it's very consistent.
Yes, it's best to learn the gender when you learn the noun.
Natives will understand you, but you should try to correct it.
Scaffolded Practice
1
2
3
4
Mastery Progress
Needs Practice
Improving
Strong
Mastered
In Other Languages
El/La
Spanish uses articles (el/la) while Amharic uses suffixes.
Le/La
French gender is often marked by articles, Amharic by suffixes.
Der/Die/Das
German has a neuter gender; Amharic does not.
None
Japanese lacks gender agreement entirely.
Mudhakkar/Mu'annath
Arabic has a dual number, which Amharic lacks.
None
Chinese lacks gender agreement entirely.
