The Gerund (-ing) and "With"

This lesson is split into two sections: the first will cover the gerund (the -ing verbs in English) and the second will cover the difference between the two translations of 'with': በ- bä- and ከ- ጋር kä- gar.

 

The gerund is relatively simple to form in Amharic. It is formed by taking the past tense form of the verb for the person wanted (so if it is 'He is learning' it will be ተማረ), adding the prefix እየ- ïyä- in front, and then placing the word ነው afterwards. So 'He is learning' is እየተማረ ነው ïyätämarä no. Here is the gerund for መማር 'To learn' for all persons:

 

እኔ: እየተማርኩ ነው ïyätämarku no 'I am learning'

አንተ: እየተማርክ ነው ïyätämark no 'You are learning' (m)

አንቺ: እየተማርሽ ነው ïyätämarš no 'You are learning' (f)

እርስዎ: እየተማሩ ነው ïyätämaru no 'You are learning' (frm)

እሱ: እየተማረ ነው ïyätämarä no 'He is learning'

እሷ: እየተማረች ነው ïyätämaräčč no 'She is learning'

እሳቸው: እየተማሩ ነው ïyätämaru no 'He/She is learning' (frm)

እኛ: እየተማርን ነው ïyätämarnï no 'We are learning'

እናንተ: እየተማራችሁ ነው ïyätämaraččuh no 'You are learning' (pl)

እነሱ: እየተማሩ ነው ïyätämaru no 'They are learning'

 

If the past tense form of the verb starts with a-, because of vowel hierarchy, when adding the እየ- it becomes እያ-. So 'I am watching' is እያየሁ ነው ïyayäw no (from ማየት, root አየ).

 

If you want to use the gerund in the past tense, like when saying 'He was learning', you simply change the ነው to ነበር. So 'He was learning' is እየተማረ ነበር.

 

Here's some practice with the gerund. Translate the English sentences to Amharic and the Amharic sentences to English.

 

I am buying food.

She is drinking water.

እነሱ ወደ ቤት እየሄዱ ነው።

ሙዚቃ እየሰማችሁ ነው። (ሙዚቃ muziQa = Music)