Updated October 2026.
Amharic is Ethiopia’s working language and the one you will hear most in Addis Ababa. Nobody expects a visitor to speak it, which is exactly why a few words go such a long way: a simple selam or ameseginalehu earns a smile everywhere, from the airport to the market. This page gives the phrases travellers use most, written in Amharic script and in an easy English spelling.
Before you start: two things to know
Amharic has its own script. It is written in fidel, the Ge’ez script, where each character stands for a consonant plus a vowel. You do not need to read it to use the phrases below, but recognising a few signs is fun. More in religion and language.
Many phrases change for a man, a woman or a polite form. Where it matters, the list gives the version for speaking to a man (m), a woman (f), and the respectful form (polite) for older people and anyone you have just met. If in doubt, use the polite form.
Greetings
| English | Amharic | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| Hello | ሰላም | selam |
| How are you? | እንደምን ነህ? / ነሽ? / ኖት? | endemin neh? (m) / nesh? (f) / not? (polite) |
| I’m fine, thank God | ደህና ነኝ፣ እግዚአብሔር ይመስገን | dehna negn, egziabher yimesgen |
| Good morning | እንደምን አደርክ? / አደርሽ? | endemin aderk? (m) / aderesh? (f) |
| Good night | ደህና እደር / እደሪ | dehna eder (m) / ederi (f) |
| Goodbye | ደህና ሁን / ሁኚ | dehna hun (m) / dehna hugni (f) |
| Bye (informal) | ቻው | chaw |
| What is your name? | ስምህ ማን ነው? / ስምሽ ማን ነው? | simih man new? (m) / simish man new? (f) |
| My name is … | ስሜ … ነው | sime … new |
Greetings in Ethiopia are long and warm; how they work, from handshakes to shoulder bumps, is explained in greetings and hospitality.
Everyday words
| English | Amharic | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| Thank you | አመሰግናለሁ | ameseginalehu |
| Please | እባክህ / እባክሽ / እባክዎ | ebakih (m) / ebakish (f) / ebakwo (polite) |
| Yes | አዎ | awo |
| No | አይ | ay |
| Sorry / excuse me | ይቅርታ | yiqirta |
| No problem | ችግር የለም | chigir yellem |
| I don’t understand | አልገባኝም | algebagnim |
| Do you speak English? | እንግሊዝኛ ትችላለህ? / ትችያለሽ? | englizegna tichilaleh? (m) / tichiyalesh? (f) |
| Slowly, please | ቀስ ብለህ | qes bileh (m) |
Shopping and money
| English | Amharic | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| How much is it? | ስንት ነው? | sint new? |
| It’s expensive | ውድ ነው | wid new |
| Reduce it a little | ትንሽ ቀንስ | tinish qenis (m) |
| Birr | ብር | birr |
| Enough / that’s it | በቃ | beqa |
Bargaining tips are in shopping in Ethiopia, and the notes themselves in Ethiopian birr notes.
Food and coffee
| English | Amharic | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| Water | ውሃ | wuha |
| Coffee | ቡና | buna |
| Tea | ሻይ | shai |
| Bread | ዳቦ | dabo |
| Fasting (vegan) food | የጾም ምግብ | yetsom migib |
| Delicious | ይጣፍጣል | yitafetal |
| I’m full | ጠግቤያለሁ | tegbiyalehu |
| Cheers! | ለጤናችን | letenachin |
On fasting days yetsom migib gets you the vegan menu; see Ethiopian dishes to try first.
Getting around
| English | Amharic | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| Where is …? | … የት ነው? | … yet new? |
| Toilet | ሽንት ቤት | shint bet |
| Left / right | ግራ / ቀኝ | gra / qegn |
| Straight on | ቀጥታ | qetita |
| Stop here | እዚህ አቁም | izih aqum (m) |
| Getting off! (in a minibus) | ወራጅ አለ | werraj alle |
| Let’s go | እንሂድ | inhid |
In a shared minibus taxi, calling out werraj alle tells the driver someone wants to get off.
Numbers
| 1 | አንድ and | 6 | ስድስት sidist |
| 2 | ሁለት hulet | 7 | ሰባት sebat |
| 3 | ሶስት sost | 8 | ስምንት simint |
| 4 | አራት arat | 9 | ዘጠኝ zetegn |
| 5 | አምስት amist | 10 | አስር asir |
| 100 | መቶ meto | 1,000 | ሺ shi |
Holiday wishes
- Happy holiday: መልካም በዓል, melkam beal. Use it at Meskel, Genna, Timkat and Fasika.
- Happy New Year: መልካም አዲስ ዓመት, melkam addis amet, for Enkutatash on 11 September. See the Ethiopian calendar.
Other languages you will hear
Ethiopia has more than 80 languages. In Oromia, the largest region, people speak Afaan Oromo: akkam means hello and galatoomi means thank you. In Tigray, Tigrinya shares the Ge’ez script; selam is hello there too. A greeting in someone’s own language is always appreciated.
To read the signs as well as say the words, see the Ethiopian alphabet.
