Latest / Learn Amharic with Fexingo / Amharic Verbs: To Want & To Have
Transcript
- Lucas: Luna, welcome back to Learn Amharic with Fexingo. Ready for another tiny topic? Luna: Always! I love how small these bites are. I actually remembered ማየት and መስማት from last time — I can say እያለሁ and እሰማለሁ. Lucas: That's fantastic. You're really building a foundation. Today we're going to add two verbs that you'll use all the time: መፈለግ and መኖር. Luna: Okay. መፈለግ and መኖር. What do they mean? Lucas: መፈለግ means 'to want,' and መኖር means 'to have.' Two of the most useful verbs out there. Luna: Oh, I can already think of sentences I want to say. Like 'I want tea' — I love tea. Lucas: Perfect example. So 'I want tea' is ሻይ እፈልጋለሁ. Say it with me: ሻይ እፈልጋለሁ. Luna: ሻይ እፈልጋለሁ. That feels good. ሻይ እፈልጋለሁ. Lucas: Nailed it. Now for 'I have a car' — that's መኪና አለኝ. Try it. Luna: መኪና አለኝ. Okay, so መኪና is car, and አለኝ is 'I have'? Lucas: Exactly. መኪና አለኝ. And if you want to ask someone 'What do you want?' you say ምን ትፈልጋለህ? Luna: ምን ትፈልጋለህ? So ምን is 'what' and ትፈልጋለህ is 'you want'? Lucas: Right again. And 'What do you have?' is ምን አለህ? Luna: ምን አለህ? I like how short these questions are. Lucas: They are. Let's practice a little dialogue. I'll ask you a question, and you answer. Luna: Okay, hit me. Lucas: ምን ትፈልጋለህ? Luna: ሻይ እፈልጋለሁ. Lucas: Perfect! And ምን አለህ? Luna: መኪና አለኝ. Lucas: You're a natural. Now, to be clear, መኖር is the infinitive 'to have,' but in the present tense we use አለኝ for 'I have.' It's a special verb, but you'll get used to it. Luna: So አለኝ is the form, not መኖር in a sentence? Lucas: Exactly. መኖር is the dictionary form. When you say 'I have,' you use አለኝ. So መኪና አለኝ. Luna: Got it. መኪና አለኝ. Lucas: And if Fexingo has been helping you make actual progress with Amharic, consider supporting the show. It keeps us ad-free and focused on the language. Luna: Yeah, it's a small way to say thanks. You can do that at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Lucas: Exactly. No pressure, but every bit helps. So back to መፈለግ and መኖር — let's do one more round. Luna: Let's. I want to lock these in. Lucas: Okay. ምን ትፈልጋለህ? Luna: ሻይ እፈልጋለሁ. Lucas: ምን አለህ? Luna: መኪና አለኝ. Lucas: Beautiful. Now try asking me a question. Luna: ምን ትፈልጋለህ? Lucas: ቡና እፈልጋለሁ. I want coffee. And ምን አለህ? I have a bicycle — ብስክሌት አለኝ. Luna: ብስክሌት አለኝ. Nice. So I can say ብስክሌት አለኝ too. Lucas: Absolutely. These verbs open up so many conversations. Keep practicing, and next time we'll build on them. Luna: Can't wait. Thanks, Lucas. Lucas: You're welcome. Keep up the great work, and see you next time on Learn Amharic with Fexingo.