Latest / Learn Amharic with Fexingo / Amharic Prepositions: Under & Near
Transcript
- Lucas: Hey Luna, welcome back. Ready for another quick Amharic session? Luna: Definitely. I've been practicing my colors from last time. But I'm ready for something new. Lucas: Great. Today we're going to talk about where things are — two really useful prepositions: 'under' and 'near'. Luna: Oh nice. I've been wanting to describe where my stuff is. Lucas: Exactly. So let's start with 'under'. In Amharic, it's ከታች. Say it with me: ከታች. Luna: ከታች. That's kind of fun. ከታች. Lucas: Perfect. Now let's use it in a sentence. 'The cat is under the table.' In Amharic: ድመቷ ከጠረጴዛው በታች ነች. Luna: Wow, that's a mouthful. ድመቷ ከጠረጴዛው በታች ነች. Lucas: You got it. Let's break it down: ድመቷ means 'the cat', ከጠረጴዛው means 'from the table', በታች means 'under', ነች means 'is'. Luna: So it's literally 'the cat from the table under is'? Interesting order. Lucas: Exactly. Now you try the whole sentence again. Luna: ድመቷ ከጠረጴዛው በታች ነች. That felt good. Lucas: Awesome. Now 'near' is አጠገብ. Say it: አጠገብ. Luna: አጠገብ. Sounds like 'a teh jeb' almost. አጠገብ. Lucas: Close enough. Now a sentence: 'The school is near my house.' In Amharic: ትምህርት ቤቱ ከቤቴ አጠገብ ነው. Luna: ትምህርት ቤቱ ከቤቴ አጠገብ ነው. That's a long one too. Lucas: You'll get it. Let's practice the phrase 'near my house': ከቤቴ አጠገብ. Luna: ከቤቴ አጠገብ. So 'near' comes after the noun in Amharic? Lucas: Exactly. The structure is 'from my house near' — ከቤቴ አጠገብ. Now repeat the full sentence. Luna: ትምህርት ቤቱ ከቤቴ አጠገብ ነው. Nice. Lucas: You're doing great. Let's do one more: 'The dog is near the house.' ውሻው ከቤቱ አጠገብ ነው. Luna: ውሻው ከቤቱ አጠገብ ነው. So just swap the nouns. Lucas: Exactly. Now, you know, if Fexingo has been helping you make real progress with Amharic, listener support is what keeps these episodes ad-free and coming. A couple of dollars a month at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo makes a genuine difference. Just something to think about. Luna: Yeah, it really does help. And we love making these. Lucas: Alright, back to practice. So we have ከታች for 'under' and አጠገብ for 'near'. Can you say 'The cat is under the chair'? Luna: Hmm. ድመቷ ከወንበሩ በታች ነች? Is that right? Lucas: Perfect. You remembered the word for chair from an earlier episode. Luna: ወንበር, yeah. So it's coming back. Lucas: Now how about 'The school is near the church'? Luna: ትምህርት ቤቱ ከቤተ ክርስቲያን አጠገብ ነው? I think that's right. Lucas: Almost. Church is ቤተ ክርስቲያን, so ከቤተ ክርስቲያን አጠገብ. You said it correctly. Luna: Oh good. So it's the same pattern every time. Lucas: Yes. Now let's review both prepositions together. I'll say a phrase in English, you try Amharic. 'The book is under the table.' Luna: መጽሐፉ ከጠረጴዛው በታች ነው. Lucas: Perfect. 'The market is near the hotel.' Luna: ገበያው ከሆቴሉ አጠገብ ነው. Lucas: Excellent. You've got it. Now let's practice the core words one more time. Say 'under'. Luna: ከታች. Lucas: And 'near'. Luna: አጠገብ. Lucas: Great job today, Luna. You learned ከታች and አጠገብ, and you can now describe where things are. Luna: Thanks, Lucas. I feel like I can actually use these. See you next time, listeners. Lucas: Keep practicing, and we'll be back with more. Bye for now.