The Direct Object - Part 1
In the previous section we looked at the accusative suffix -እን, which is used on nouns which are the object of a verb. Now we can look at the direct object. In this part, we will be looking at 'it' and 'them'.
From now on, there won't be any transliterations for sentences.
In Amharic, there are particles used to show who/what the object of a verb is. These will be shown in-depth later on, but an example is ያየኛል 'He sees me', where ኧኝ shows 'me'. The way of expressing 'it' works the same way. For example, 'I want' is እፈልጋለሁ, and 'I want it' is እፈልገዋለሁ. Here the ኧው means 'it'.
Here are the particles used:
In the present-future tense, the particle is placed after the short imperfective, and then the final ending of the present-future tense of the verb is added afterwards. For example, the short imperfective of መውደድ for አንቺ is ትወጂ. Then, since this ends in the vowel -i, the particle for it is -ው. This is then ትወጂው. Then, the ending for the present-future tense for for አንቺ is -አለሽ (the short form is always used: the ending is never -ኢያለሽ, even if the root ends in a non-palatalised letter). So, altogether we have ትወጂዋለሽ 'You like it' (f). This may seem tricky at first, but once you learn the rules, it will become simpler.
Here is the verb መፈለግ in the present tense with both the masculine and feminine object particles:
እኔ: እፈልገዋለሁ/እፈልጋታለሁ I want it (m)/I want it (f)
አንተ: ትፈልገዋለህ/ትፈልጋታለህ You want it (m)/You want it (f) (m)
አንቺ: ትፈልጊዋለሽ/ትፈልጊያታለሽ* You want it (m)/You want it (f) (f)
እርስዎ: ይፈልጉታል/ይፈልጉዋታል** You want it (m)/You want it (f) (frm)
እሱ: ይፈልገዋል/ይፈልጋታል He wants it (m)/He wants it (f)
እሷ: ትፈልገዋለች/ትፈልጋታለች She wants it (m)/She wants it (f)
እሳቸው: ይፈልጉታል/ይፈልጉዋታል** He/She wants it (m)/He/She wants it (f) (frm)
እኛ: እንፈልገዋለን/እንፈልጋታለን We want it (m)/We want it (f)
እናንተ: ትፈልጉታላችሁ/ትፈልጉዋትላችሁ** You want it (m)/You want it (f) (pl)
እነሱ: ይፈልጉታል/ይፈልጉዋታል** They want it (m)/They want it (f)
*When the root ends in a palatalised letter, the -ኢያት is often shortened to -አት. For example, 'You like her' (f) is ትወጂያታለሽ or ትወጃታለሽ. The second form is more common in spoken Amharic than the first.
**As is the case whenever the sounds u & wa come together, these forms of the verbs can either be written using the 2nd order consonant + ዋ, or using the consonant + ʷa. So 'You want it' (pl) could either be ትፈልጉዋታላችሁ or ትፈልጓታላችሁ.
You may also have noticed that the እርስዎ, እሳቸው, and እነሱ form doesn't take the usual ending of -አሉ after an object particle, but rather just -አል.
In the negative aspect, the particle is also added on after the short imperfective, and then the final -ም is added on at the end. Here are the forms for እኔ, አንተ, and አንቺ as an example:
እኔ: አልፈልገውም/አልፈልጋትም
አንተ: አትፈልገውም/አትፈልጋትም
አንቺ: አትፈልጊውም/አትፈልጊያትም
The particles for 'it' for masculine and feminine nouns are also used for 'him' and 'her' as objects of the sentence. For example:
አባቴ እዚህ ይሠራል። እርስዎ ያውቁታል? 'My dad works here. Do you know him?'
እናቷ አስተማሪሽ ነበረች። ታስታውሻታለሽ? 'Her mother was your teacher. Do you remember her?'
In the past tense, the particle is added on at the end of the verb. You will notice that in the table above, there is a column for -š and -äčč. This is because in the past tense, the forms for አንቺ and እሷ take a slightly different ending for the masculine direct object of -እው, not
-ኧው like all other consonants. Here is the verb መፈለግ in the past tense with the masculine and feminine object particles:
እኔ: ፈለግኩት/ፈለግኩዋት (ፈለግኳት)
አንተ: ፈለግከው/ፈለግካት
አንቺ: ፈልግሽው/ፈለግሻት
እርስዎ: ፈለጉት/ፈለጉዋት (ፈለጓት)
እሱ: ፈለገው/ፈለጋት
እሷ: ፈለገችው/ፈለገቻት
እሳቸው: ፈለጉት/ፈለጉዋት (ፈልጓት)
እኛ: ፈለግነው/ፈለግናት
እናንተ: ፈለጋችሁት/ፈለጋችሁዋት (ፈለጋችኋት)
እንሱ: ፈለጉት/ፈለጉዋት (ፈለጓት)
And for a negative sentence, you use the usual format of አል- Verb -ም. For example, ፈለገቻት 'She wanted it' becomes አልፈለገቻትም 'She didn't want it'.
For 'them', a different particle is used:
Notice that there is no distinction between genders anymore, because in the plural, Amharic doesn't make a distinction between masculine and feminine in the plural. Similarly to the particles for 'it', this particle also applies to 'them' when referring to people. For example:
ሁለት ወንድሞች አሉኝ። ታውቃቸዋለህ? 'I have two brothers. Do you know them?'
And similarly, this particle goes on the end of the verb in the past tense:
አንዳንድ ሰዎች ወጡ። አየሻቸው? 'Some people left. Did you see them?'
The verbs ማለት, መንገር, and መስጠት use these particles slightly differently. Whereas for most verbs the particle shows the object, the thing that 'receives' the action of the verb, for these three verbs, it shows who it's told or given to. For example:
አየሁት 'I saw him' - He is seen
ነገርኩት 'I told him' - He is told (something)
Because they're indirect verbs, it's important to remember the preposition ለ- 'For' when including the object:
ለማን ሰጠህ? 'Who did you give it to?'
This is as opposed to the regular accusative ending -ን:
ማንን አየህ? 'Who did you see?'
Here's some practice of what's been covered in this lesson. Translate the English to Amharic, and the Amharic to English.
Yohannes has two pets, but he doesn't like them. (Pets = የቤት እንስሳት)
I didn't like it.
Do you know her? (pl)
ይህን አላስታውስም። አልተማርኩትም።
አቶ ሙሉጌታ ጎበኟቸው ወይ? (አቶ = Mr)
አናስተካክለውም። (ማስተካከል = To correct)