Latest / Learn Amharic with Fexingo / Amharic: I Understand / I Don't Understand
Transcript
- Lucas: Welcome back to Learn Amharic with Fexingo. I'm Lucas, and this is Luna. Luna: Hey everyone! Lucas, I was practicing our last episode on colors, and I got a bit confused. Lucas: Oh? What happened? Luna: I told my friend ይህ ብርቱካናማ ነው, and he looked at me funny. I think I said it wrong? Lucas: Hmm, maybe he didn't understand you. That happens. And that's actually a perfect lead-in to today's topic. Luna: Oh good, because I need to know how to say 'I don't understand' in Amharic! Lucas: Exactly. So the phrase for 'I understand' is ገባኝ. Say it with me: ገባኝ. Luna: ገባኝ. Lucas: Good. And 'I don't understand' is አልገባኝም. Try that: አልገባኝም. Luna: አልገባኝም. That's a mouthful! አልገባኝም. Lucas: You've got it. So if someone says something and you didn't catch it, you can say አልገባኝም. Luna: So like, if I'm at the market and the seller says a price I don't get, I can just say አልገባኝም? Lucas: Totally. And they might ask you ገባህ? which means 'Do you understand?' — if you're a man. If you're a woman, it's ገባሽ? Luna: So ገባህ? is for a guy, ገባሽ? for a gal. Got it. Lucas: Right. Now, if you want to ask someone to repeat, you can say እባክህ ድገምልኝ — 'Please repeat' to a male. Luna: እባክህ ድገምልኝ. That's a bit long but I like it. Lucas: Let's do a quick scene. Imagine I'm a shopkeeper. I say ዋጋው አስር ብር ነው — 'The price is ten birr.' What do you say if you don't get it? Luna: አልገባኝም. Lucas: Then I say ገባሽ? — do you understand? You say አዎ, ገባኝ — 'Yes, I understand.' Luna: አዎ, ገባኝ. That feels good. Lucas: You're doing great. Now, let's practice once more: repeat after me — ገባኝ. Luna: ገባኝ. Lucas: አልገባኝም. Luna: አልገባኝም. Lucas: And if Fexingo is helping you make real progress with Amharic, you know what keeps this show going? A small group of listeners chips in monthly at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. That support literally funds producing these episodes, and it keeps us ad-free. Luna: Yeah, I've seen the page — it's super simple. No pressure, but if you find this useful, it's a nice way to say thanks. Lucas: Exactly. So back to practice — let's try a longer sentence. Imagine you're listening to me speak Amharic, but I'm too fast. What do you say? Luna: Umm, I could say አልገባኝም, then እባክህ ድገምልኝ? Lucas: Perfect. And if you want me to slow down, you can say ቀስ ብለህ ተናገር — 'speak slowly.' But that's for another day. Luna: We'll save that for next time. For now, I feel confident with ገባኝ and አልገባኝም. Lucas: That's the key. Practice those two, and you'll navigate conversations much better. Until next time, keep learning and don't be shy to say አልገባኝም. Luna: Yeah! See you all next episode on Learn Amharic with Fexingo.