Latest / Learn Amharic with Fexingo / Asking Prices in Amharic – ስንት ነው?
Transcript
- Lucas: Hey Luna, ready for another episode of Learn Amharic with Fexingo? Luna: Absolutely! I've been practicing my time-telling from last time. I can say ሦስት ሰዓት ተኩል ነው like a pro. Lucas: That's great! Today, let's go shopping. We'll learn how to ask for prices. Luna: Oh, I definitely need that. Every time I see something cool at the market, I just point and hope for the best. Lucas: Well, no more pointing. The key phrase is ስንት ነው? It means 'How much is it?'. Luna: ስንት ነው?... ስንት ነው? That's nice and short. I like it. Lucas: Exactly. Say it again, slowly. Luna: ስንት ነው?. Lucas: Perfect. Now imagine you're at a market and you see a scarf. You ask ስንት ነው? and the seller says አሥር ብር ነው – that's 'It's ten birr'. Luna: አሥር ብር ነው. So if something is five birr, it would be አምስት ብር ነው? Lucas: Exactly! You're catching on. Let's practice: if I say ስንት ነው? you say አሥር ብር ነው. Luna: ስንት ነው?... አሥር ብር ነው. Okay, I think I've got it. Lucas: Now, what if you think the price is too high? You can say ውድ ነው – 'It's expensive'. Luna: ውድ ነው. That sounds like a useful complaint. And if it's cheap? Lucas: ርካሽ ነው – 'It's cheap'. Luna: ርካሽ ነው. So if I see a hat for five birr, I could say ርካሽ ነው. Lucas: Exactly. Or if it's ten birr and you think it's a good deal, you could say ብዙ አይደለም – 'It's not much'. Luna: ብዙ አይደለም. That's a nice way to say it's reasonable. Let me try: አሥር ብር ነው? ብዙ አይደለም. Lucas: Perfect! You're a natural. Let's do a quick scene. I'm the seller, you're the buyer. Luna: Okay, I'm ready. ስንት ነው? Lucas: አሥር ብር ነው. Luna: ውድ ነው?... አይ, ብዙ አይደለም. እሺ. Lucas: You just said 'Is it expensive? No, it's not much. Okay.' That was flawless. Luna: Really? I felt a little wobbly on ውድ ነው? but I got it out. Lucas: You did great. Now, let's add another layer. What if you want to buy two items? You can say ሁለት ስንት ነው? – 'How much for two?'. Luna: ሁለት ስንት ነው? That's handy. So if I want two scarves, I ask ሁለት ስንት ነው?. Lucas: Exactly. And the seller might say አሥራ አምስት ብር ነው – 'It's fifteen birr'. Luna: አሥራ አምስት ብር ነው. So that's a discount! Two for fifteen instead of twenty. Lucas: Yes. And you can respond with ርካሽ ነው if you think it's cheap. Luna: ርካሽ ነው. I think I'm getting the hang of this. Lucas: Let's do one more practice round. I'll ask you ስንት ነው? and you answer with a price. Luna: Okay. ስንት ነው?... uhh... አምስት ብር ነው. Lucas: Great. Now I say ውድ ነው? and you say no, it's cheap. Luna: አይ, ርካሽ ነው. Lucas: Perfect. And if you want to say it's not much, you say ብዙ አይደለም. Luna: ብዙ አይደለም. I'm feeling more confident now. Lucas: That's the spirit. You know, if Fexingo has been helping you make actual progress with this language, and today was worth a coffee to you, that's the link – buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Luna: Yeah, it's a small way to keep the show going and ad-free. We really appreciate it. Lucas: Alright, back to practice. Let's review all five phrases. Repeat after me: ስንት ነው? Luna: ስንት ነው? Lucas: አሥር ብር ነው. Luna: አሥር ብር ነው. Lucas: ውድ ነው. Luna: ውድ ነው. Lucas: ርካሽ ነው. Luna: ርካሽ ነው. Lucas: ብዙ አይደለም. Luna: ብዙ አይደለም. Lucas: Excellent! Now you're ready to shop in Amharic. Remember, practice these phrases and you'll be a pro in no time. Luna: Thanks, Lucas! I'm going to try these out at the market this weekend. See you next time! Lucas: See you then! Keep practicing with Fexingo.