Amharic Curriculum

The Amharic Class curriculum has 157 lessons in 30 units. Lessons unlock in order, each building on the last. Create a free account to open a lesson and save your progress.

Unit 1: Foundations

• Amharic Sounds — Learn the unique sounds of Amharic including vowels, consonants, and ejectives
• Letters of the Fidel: Character Families — Learn the four visual families of Fidel consonants — Two-Legged, Three-Legged, Legless, and Uni-Legged
• The Palatalization Rule — Master the 2nd-person-feminine consonant shift that silently underlies Amharic grammar from here on
• Reading Practice: The Fidel Script — Read real Amharic words that combine everything from the sounds unit — ejectives, character families, and palatalization
• Greetings & Farewells — Essential greetings, farewells, and polite expressions for daily use
• Pronouns & "To Be" — Learn personal pronouns and the verb 'to be' in all its forms
• Numbers 1-10 — Learn to count from one to ten in Amharic
• Numbers 11-20 — Expand your counting skills to twenty using the asra pattern
• Numbers 20 to 100 and Beyond — Count from 20 to a million and turn any number into an ordinal or fraction

Unit 2: Identity & Family

• "To Be" — the Copula — The single most load-bearing piece of Amharic grammar, taught explicitly instead of one memorized phrase at a time
• Time-of-Day Greetings — Learn why Amharic greetings are secretly questions, and answer them for any time of day
• Formal vs Informal — Learn when and how to switch between formal and informal speech
• "To Be Called" — A dedicated verb for introducing yourself by name, distinct from the copula
• Possessives, Method 1 — The -e/-ye suffix system for saying 'my', 'your', 'his'...
• Plurals — The -oc/-woc plural suffix and its vowel-contraction rule
• Nationalities & Occupations — The nationality-adjective suffix system, applied to yourself and your job
• Connected Self-Introduction — A capstone combining name, nationality, and occupation into one short introduction
• Possessives, Method 2 — The ya- genitive prefix ('X's Y') and its vowel-assimilation rule
• Demonstratives — 'This' and 'that', gendered and pluralized
• "To Have" / "To Be Present" — The verb alla, its two meanings, and its negative yellem
• Extended Family — Beyond parents and siblings: step-family, cousins, grandchildren, and relationships
• "I Have a Brother" — A practice lesson combining "to have" with family vocabulary and marital status

Unit 3: The Verb System

• The Four Verb Classes — Learn the system behind every Amharic verb infinitive, instead of memorizing them one at a time
• Core Verbs, Part 1: mä- Verbs — Build real vocabulary in the majority verb class
• Core Verbs, Part 2: ma-, tä- & Irregular Verbs — Build real vocabulary in the remaining verb classes
• The Compound Imperfect — Formula — The single most-used tense in Amharic, taught as one formula instead of memorized per verb
• The Compound Imperfect — Negative — How to say a present or future action ISN'T happening
• The ma- Verb Sub-Rule — Why some verbs take ma- instead of mä- — the exception explained
• Chaining Actions — Say two things happened in a row without a separate word for "and"
• The Imperative — Command forms — and why they work differently depending on the verb’s class

Unit 4: Survival Ethiopia

• Money — Birr, santim, and the colloquial names Ethiopians actually use for coins and notes
• The Definite Article — The -u/-w/-wa suffix that marks 'the' in Amharic, and the rule about where it actually attaches
• At the Market: Connecting Your Words — The linking words that turn a string of market phrases into natural-sounding Amharic
• 'To Want' & 'To Need' — The verb mäfäläg, and how the compound imperfect you just learned applies to real conversation
• 'To Like/Love' & Comparatives — The verb mäwïdäd, and how Amharic expresses "X is better" without a dedicated comparative grammar system
• At the Restaurant: The Full Menu — The dishes, spices, and the 'or' you need to choose between them
• Fruits, Vegetables & the Kitchen — The produce and utensils you need for cooking, shopping, and eating
• Dining Etiquette — The cultural customs around Ethiopian meals — sharing a plate, gursha, and fasting traditions

Unit 5: Daily Life & the Calendar

• The Ethiopian Clock — Why "2:45" is really "a quarter to three" in Amharic, and the two prepositions that make it work
• Daily Routine — Narrate your whole day in order, using the sequence words that hold a story together
• The Ethiopian Calendar — The prefix that means 'every' and the one that means 'during' — and Lesson 36's 13 months put to use
• Seasons & Weather — The productive pattern that turns any weather noun into its matching adjective
• Describing Your Home — The one word-order rule that governs every single Amharic adjective

Unit 6: Talking About the Past

• Past Tense — 'To Be' & 'To Become' — Amharic's copula has its own irregular past tense, and a separate verb for describing a past change
• Past Tense — Regular Verbs — The simple-past suffix pattern, applied across every verb class you already know
• Time Clauses with sï- — The prefix that turns any verb into a 'when...' clause, in any tense
• The Simple Gerundive — "Having done X" — chaining two past actions without a word for "and"
• Past & Present Continuous — Saying something is happening right now, or was happening back then
• A Short Biography — Combine everything from this unit to read (and eventually tell) someone's life story
• Basic Object Marking — Introduction — A first look at how Amharic verbs say "it" — the full system comes later

Unit 7: Object Marking & the Body

• The Direct Object Affix Table — The full pronoun-to-affix mapping that completes the "-w/-t" preview from Lesson 142
• Direct Objects in the Imperative — Attaching the affix table to commands — "give it to me," "take her," "show us"
• Direct Objects in Past & Present/Future — The same affix table, attached to the simple past and the compound imperfect
• The Indirect Object System — "For/to whom" — a parallel system to the direct-object affixes, built on lï-
• Comparatives — How Amharic actually says "X is bigger" — a dedicated verb form, not an "-er" suffix
• "It Hurts Me" — The Impersonal Experiencer — A third major impersonal verb pattern, alongside the copula and allä — and how it combines with object-marked body parts
• Body Parts & Symptoms — Naming the body, and describing common symptoms — review vocabulary using the object-marking pattern you just learned
• Illness & the Clinic — Common illnesses and clinic vocabulary for a real "I'm sick, where's a pharmacy" conversation
• Emotions: Verb, Noun, Adjective — Amharic teaches emotion as a productive three-form pattern, not isolated adjectives — reviewing and completing that system

Unit 8: Getting Around

• Relative Location: The besta- Prefix — Say where something is relative to a landmark you already know
• Complaints & Replacements — What to say when your purchase isn't right

Unit 9: Sentence Mastery

• Sentence Types & Word Order — The three sentence structures and four sentence types that everything since Level 4 has been using informally.
• Conjunctions — The 8-conjunction inventory that turns two simple sentences into one compound sentence.
• Prepositions — The pre-nominal vs. post-nominal split — a rule that’s easy to get backwards.
• Complex Sentences — Subordinating prepositions + the gerundive from Lesson 139, combined to build a dependent clause.
• "Don't Do That" — Negative Imperative — The atï- prefix that turns a command into "don't."
• Relative-Past Connectors — A compact set of connectors — after, before, when, whenever, ever since — all built on the past-tense verb form.
• Obligation & Necessity — allä's third job — "must" — plus a dedicated verb for "need."
• Purpose Clauses — "In order to" — lä- attached to the infinitive.
• A Few Safety Essentials — A small, practical set of phrases for genuine emergencies — help, injury, illness.

Unit 10: Advanced Expression

• The Jussive Mood — "Let's go!" and "Shall I help you?" — the jussive form of the verb.
• Present Perfect — "I have gone" — building the perfect tense on top of the gerundive.
• Past Perfect — "I had gone" — one step further back than the present perfect.
• Invitations & Appointments — Extending invitations, naming the occasion, and saying whether it "suits" you.
• Phone Conversations — The set phrases every Amharic phone call runs on.
• Proverbs — A curated set of Amharic proverbs — and how close (or far) their English equivalents land.
• Idioms — Figurative expressions that don't translate word-for-word — the last stop on this course.

Unit 11: Essential Words

• Family Members — Learn the words for family members and close relatives
• Common Nouns: Places & People — Learn essential everyday nouns and understand noun gender
• Common Nouns: Food, Time & Money — Learn nouns for food, drink, time, and everyday concepts
• Common Adjectives — Learn adjectives for size, quality, color, and description
• Days of the Week — Learn all seven days of the week in Amharic

Unit 12: Core Grammar

• Sentence Structure (SOV) — Understand Amharic's Subject-Object-Verb word order
• Gender in Amharic — Understand how grammatical gender affects speech and grammar
• The Verb "To Have" — Learn to express possession using the alle construction
• Definite Articles & Plurals — Learn how to say 'the', 'a', and form plural nouns
• Possessives — Learn to express ownership with possessive pronouns and suffixes
• Question Words — Learn all essential question words and how to form questions

Unit 13: Verbs & Action

• Common Verbs I: Movement & Daily Actions — Learn essential everyday verbs in their infinitive forms
• Past Tense — Learn to conjugate verbs in the past tense using suffix patterns
• Present/Future Tense — Learn the compound imperfect and present progressive forms
• Negative Forms — Learn to negate verbs in past, present, and other constructions
• Common Verbs II: Communication & Action — Expand your verb vocabulary with communication and action verbs
• Imperative & Requests — Learn to give commands, make requests, and say please
• Common Verbs III: Household Actions & Communication — Learn more common Amharic verbs for everyday actions

Unit 14: Conversation

• Introducing Yourself — Learn to introduce yourself, share your name, origin, and interests
• At the Market — Learn essential phrases for shopping and bargaining at the market
• Asking for Directions — Learn to ask where things are and understand directional words
• At a Restaurant — Learn to order food and drinks, compliment the food, and pay the bill
• Daily Conversation Practice — Practice complete dialogues combining everything you've learned

Unit 15: Body Parts

• Body Parts — Learn the names of body parts in Amharic
• Body Parts: Limbs & Joints — Learn more Amharic words about body parts.
• Body Parts: Internal Organs & Face — Learn more Amharic words about body parts.

Unit 16: Animals

• Animals — Learn animal names in Amharic
• Animals: Reptiles, Insects & Predators — Learn more Amharic words about animals.
• Animals: Savanna Wildlife & Birds — Learn more Amharic words about animals.
• Animals: Young Animals & Descriptions — Learn more Amharic words about animals.
• Animals: More Descriptions — Learn more Amharic words about animals.

Unit 17: Colors & Descriptions

• Colors & Descriptions — Learn colors and descriptive words in Amharic
• Colors: More Shades & Describing Things — Learn more Amharic words about colors & descriptions.

Unit 18: Food & Ingredients

• Food & Ingredients — Learn food and ingredient vocabulary in Amharic
• Ethiopian Dishes: Wat, Kitfo & Tibs — Learn more Amharic words about food & ingredients.
• More Vegetables & Fruits — Learn more Amharic words about food & ingredients.
• Spices, Cooking Verbs & Food Prep — Learn more Amharic words about food & ingredients.
• At the Restaurant: Ordering & Dietary Needs — Learn more Amharic words about food & ingredients.

Unit 19: Drinks & Kitchen

• Drinks & Kitchen — Learn drink names and kitchen items in Amharic
• Traditional Ethiopian Drinks & Ordering — Learn more Amharic words about drinks & kitchen.

Unit 20: Clothing & Accessories

• Clothing & Accessories — Learn clothing and accessory vocabulary in Amharic
• Clothing: More Items & Traditional Dress — Learn more Amharic words about clothing & accessories.
• Clothing: Describing & Shopping for Clothes — Learn more Amharic words about clothing & accessories.

Unit 21: House & Home

• House & Home — Learn household vocabulary in Amharic
• House & Home: Living Room & Appliances — Learn more Amharic words about house & home.
• House & Home: Everyday Phrases — Learn more Amharic words about house & home.

Unit 22: Nature & Environment

• Nature & Environment — Learn nature and environment vocabulary in Amharic
• Weather & Climate — Learn more Amharic words about nature & environment.
• Describing the Weather — Learn more Amharic words about nature & environment.

Unit 23: City & Places

• City & Places — Learn to talk about places in the city in Amharic
• City & Places: More Locations — Learn more Amharic words about city & places.
• City & Places: Neighborhoods & Directions — Learn more Amharic words about city & places.
• City & Places: Everyday Phrases — Learn more Amharic words about city & places.

Unit 24: Transportation

• Transportation — Learn transportation vocabulary in Amharic
• Transportation: More Vehicles & Driving — Learn more Amharic words about transportation.
• Transportation: Tickets & Travel Phrases — Learn more Amharic words about transportation.

Unit 25: Professions

• Professions — Learn profession and job vocabulary in Amharic
• Professions: More Occupations — Learn more Amharic words about professions.
• Professions: Talking About Work — Learn more Amharic words about professions.

Unit 26: Health & Medicine

• Health & Medicine — Learn health and medical vocabulary in Amharic
• Health & Medicine: Emergencies & Symptoms — Learn more Amharic words about health & medicine.
• Health & Medicine: At the Doctor — Learn more Amharic words about health & medicine.

Unit 27: Emotions & Daily Expressions

• Emotions & Feelings — Learn to express emotions and feelings in Amharic
• Daily Life Expressions — Learn everyday expressions for daily life in Amharic
• Emotions: More Feelings — Learn more Amharic words about emotions & feelings.
• Emotions: Physical & Mental States — Learn more Amharic words about emotions & feelings.
• Emotions: Expressing Feelings in Sentences — Learn more Amharic words about emotions & feelings.

Unit 28: Time & Shopping

• Time & Dates: Extended Time Words — Learn more Amharic words about time & dates.
• Time & Dates: Calendar & Schedule Words — Learn more Amharic words about time & dates.
• Time & Dates: Daily Time Phrases — Learn more Amharic words about time & dates.
• Shopping: Money & Payment — Learn more Amharic words about shopping.
• Shopping: Bargaining & Sentences — Learn more Amharic words about shopping.

Unit 29: Technology & Education

• Technology: Devices & Internet — Learn more Amharic words about technology.
• Technology: Everyday Tech Phrases — Learn more Amharic words about technology.
• School & Education: Classroom Vocabulary — Learn more Amharic words about school & education.
• School & Education: Talking About School — Learn more Amharic words about school & education.

Unit 30: Sports & Culture

• Sports & Recreation: Games & Athletes — Learn more Amharic words about sports & recreation.
• Sports & Recreation: Talking About Sports — Learn more Amharic words about sports & recreation.
• Culture & Traditions: Ethiopian Holidays — Learn more Amharic words about culture & traditions.
• Culture & Traditions: Celebrating Traditions — Learn more Amharic words about culture & traditions.