Latest / Learn Amharic with Fexingo / Amharic Time Expressions - ትናንት & ዛሬ
Transcript
- Lucas: Hey Luna, welcome back to Learn Amharic with Fexingo. I'm Lucas, and your co-host for the ride is the one and only Luna. Luna: Hey Lucas, so good to be back. And listeners, you're in for a treat. Today we're diving into time words that you'll use every single day. Lucas: That's right. We've covered days of the week, asking what time it is, and even hours and minutes. Now let's zoom out a little and talk about yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Luna: Yesterday, today, tomorrow. Those are like the building blocks of telling stories. I still mix them up sometimes, so I need this. Lucas: Perfect. So let's start with yesterday. In Amharic, yesterday is ትናንት. Say it with me: ትናንት. Luna: ትናንት. ትናንት. That's got a nice rhythm to it. Lucas: Exactly. And today is ዛሬ. Repeat after me: ዛሬ. Luna: ዛሬ. ዛሬ. Okay, that one feels quicker, lighter. Lucas: And tomorrow is ነገ. Try it: ነገ. Luna: ነገ. ነገ. Hmm, ነገ. That's clear too. Lucas: Good. So we have three new words: ትናንት, ዛሬ, and ነገ. Let's put them in sentences so they stick. Luna: Yes, let's. I learn best when I can imagine a scene. Lucas: Okay. Imagine yesterday it rained. In Amharic, you'd say: ትናንት ዝናብ ነበር. Listen again: ትናንት ዝናብ ነበር. Luna: ትናንት ዝናብ ነበር. ትናንት ዝናብ ነበር. So ትናንት means yesterday, and ዝናብ is rain, right? Lucas: Right. And ነበር means was, so it literally means 'yesterday rain was'. Luna: That makes sense. And if today is sunny, how do I say that? ዛሬ ፀሐይ ነው? Lucas: Exactly. ዛሬ ፀሐይ ነው. Today is sunny. Say it with me: ዛሬ ፀሐይ ነው. Luna: ዛሬ ፀሐይ ነው. ዛሬ ፀሐይ ነው. That one flows nicely. Lucas: It does. And for tomorrow, you might ask, what will tomorrow be like? That's ነገ ምን ይመስላል? Let's break it down: ነገ is tomorrow, ምን is what, and ይመስላል means it looks like. Luna: ነገ ምን ይመስላል? ነገ ምን ይመስላል? That's a mouthful, but I like it. It's like asking for a little preview. Lucas: And a great way to start a conversation. So let's practice all three sentences together. First, ትናንት ዝናብ ነበር. Luna: ትናንት ዝናብ ነበር. Lucas: Then, ዛሬ ፀሐይ ነው. Luna: ዛሬ ፀሐይ ነው. Lucas: And finally, ነገ ምን ይመስላል? Luna: ነገ ምን ይመስላል? Perfect, I've got them. Lucas: Now, you know, these lessons only get made because people like you support the show. If Fexingo has been helping you make progress with Amharic, a couple of dollars a month at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo genuinely keeps these going. It's what lets us keep things simple and free for everyone. Luna: Yeah, and every little bit helps. We're so grateful for the community. Now, back to those time words — let's try a mini conversation. Lucas: Good idea. So imagine you bump into a friend. You could say, ትናንት ዝናብ ነበር? Luna: So I'm asking, did it rain yesterday? And they might say, አዎ፣ ትናንት ዝናብ ነበር. Lucas: Yes, that's it. And then you could say, ዛሬ ፀሐይ ነው, which is a nice follow-up about today. Luna: And if I'm curious about tomorrow, I'd ask, ነገ ምን ይመስላል? Lucas: Perfect. You're building real sentences now. Let's do a quick review. What's yesterday? Luna: ትናንት. Lucas: And today? Luna: ዛሬ. Lucas: And tomorrow? Luna: ነገ. Lucas: See, you've got it. And just to tie it back to our weather lessons, you can now say things like, yesterday it rained, today it's sunny, and ask about tomorrow. Luna: That's so useful. I can already imagine telling my friends about the weather using Amharic. Lucas: And that's what it's all about. Now, before we wrap up, let's hear those three phrases one more time. First, ትናንት ዝናብ ነበር. Luna: ትናንት ዝናብ ነበር. Lucas: ዛሬ ፀሐይ ነው. Luna: ዛሬ ፀሐይ ነው. Lucas: ነገ ምን ይመስላል? Luna: ነገ ምን ይመስላል? Lucas: Excellent. That's it for today. Practice these, and they'll become second nature. Thanks for learning with us. See you next time. Luna: Bye everyone, take care.