Amharic to English examples

እኔ እንግሊዝኛ በፍጥነት መማር እፈልጋለሁ።

→ I want to learn English quickly.

Amharic puts 'I want' at the end — 'efeligalehu'. English puts 'want' right after 'I'. Every Amharic sentence needs structural rearrangement for English.

ለሦስት ዓመታት እንግሊዝኛ እየተማርኩ ነው።

→ I have been studying English for three years.

Amharic uses a progressive construction with a time phrase. English uses the present perfect continuous to express the same ongoing duration.

እባክዎ ቀስ ቀስ ይናገሩ።

→ Please speak more slowly.

Amharic polite requests use the formal second person verb form. 'Ebakih/ebakwo' (please) corresponds to English 'please' as a politeness marker.

ብዙ ብጠና ኖሮ፣ ፈተናዬን ባለፍኩ ነበር።

→ If I had studied more, I would have passed the exam.

Amharic uses 'noro' with past tense for past counterfactual conditions. English uses the past perfect in the if-clause — both express an unrealised past possibility.

እንግሊዝኛ በጣም አስፈላጊ ቋንቋ ነው።

→ English is a very important language.

Amharic uses 'new' (is) at the end of the sentence. English puts 'is' between subject and description. The article 'a' is required in English and has no Amharic equivalent.