Connect with millions across East Africa. This complete cheat sheet provides 50 essential phrases in English, Afaan Oromo, and Amharic, designed for travelers, students, and the diaspora.
Whether you are navigating the bustling streets of Addis Ababa (Finfinnee) or exploring the beautiful highlands of Oromia , these 50 trilingual phrases are your key to authentic local connection. By including both the native scripts (Latin Qubee and Ge'ez Fidäl) along with phonetic pronunciation guides , we ensure you can both read and speak with confidence.
1. Greetings & Pleasantries English Afaan Oromo Amharic Pronunciation Audio Hello Akkam / Nagaa ሰላም (Selam) Ak-kam / Se-lam Good morning Akkam bulte? እንደምን አደርክ (Endemin aderk) Ak-kam bul-te / En-de-min a-derk Good afternoon Akkam oolte? እንደምን ዋልክ (Endemin walk) Ak-kam ol-te / En-de-min wal-k Good evening Akkam waarite? እንደምን አመሸህ (Endemin amesheh) Ak-kam wa-ri-te / En-de-min a-me-sheh Good night Nagaan buli ደህና እደር (Dehna eder) Na-gan bu-li / Deh-na e-der How are you? Akkam jirtu? እንዴት ነህ? (Endet neh?) Ak-kam jir-tu / En-det neh I am fine Nagaa dha / Fayyaa ደህና ነኝ (Dehna negn) Na-ga dha / Deh-na negn Thank you Galatoomi አመሰግናለሁ (Ameseginalehu) Ga-la-to-mi / A-me-se-gi-na-le-hu You’re welcome Galata argadhu ምንም አይደለም (Minim aydel) Ga-la-ta ar-ga-dhu / Mi-nim ay-del Please Maaloo እባክህ (Ibakih) Ma-lo / E-ba-kih
2. Basic Communication English Afaan Oromo Amharic Pronunciation Audio Yes Eeyyee አዎ (Awo) Ey-ye / A-wo No Lakkii አይደለም (Aydelem) Lak-ki / Ay-de-lem Maybe Tarii ምናልባት (Minalbat) Ta-ri / Mi-nal-bat I don't know Hin beeku አላውቅም (Alawqum) Hin be-ku / A-law-kum I understand Naaf gala ገብቶኛል (Gebtognal) Naf ga-la / Geb-to-gnal I don't understand Naaf hin galle አልገባኝም (Algebagnim) Naf hin gal-le / Al-ge-ba-gnim Excuse me Dhiifama ይቅርታ (Yikirta) Dhif-a-ma / Yi-kir-ta What is your name? Maqaan kee eenyu? ስምህ ማን ነው? (Simeh man new?) Ma-kan ke e-nyu / Si-meh man new My name is... Maqaan koo... ስሜ... ነው (Sime... new) Ma-kan ko / Si-me... new Do you speak English? Afaan Ingilizii dubbattaa? እንግሊዝኛ ትችላለህ? (Inglizigna tichilaleh?) A-fan In-gi-li-zi dub-ba-ta?
3. Shopping & Dining English Afaan Oromo Amharic Pronunciation Audio How much is this? Kun gatiin meeqa? ዋጋው ስንት ነው? (Wagaw sint new?) Ku-n ga-tin me-ka? / Wa-ga-w sin-t new? It is expensive Inni qaaliidha ውድ ነው (Wid new) In-ni ka-li-dha / Wid new I want to buy this Kana bituun fedha ይህን መግዛት እፈልጋለሁ (Yihin megzat efelgalehu) Ka-na bi-tun fe-dha / Yi-hin meg-zat e-fel-ga-le-hu Water Bishaan ውሃ (Wuha) Bi-shan / Wu-ha Bread Daabboo ዳቦ (Dabo) Dab-bo / Da-bo Coffee Buna ቡና (Bunna) Bu-na / Bun-na Food Nyaata ምግብ (Migib) Nya-ta / Mi-gib I am hungry Na beela'e ርቦኛል (Ribognal) Na be-la-e / Ri-bo-gnal I am thirsty Na dheebote ጠምቶኛል (Temtognal) Na dhe-bo-te / Tem-to-gnal The bill, please Herrega, maaloo ሂሳብ እባክህ (Hisab ebakih) Her-re-ga ma-lo / Hi-sab e-ba-kih
4. Direction & Travel English Afaan Oromo Amharic Pronunciation Audio Where is...? ... eessa? ... የት ነው? (... yet new?) E-sa? / Yet new? Toilet Mana fincaanii ሽንት ቤት (Shint bet) Ma-na fin-ca-ni / Shin-t bet Hospital Hospitaala ሆስፒታል (Hospital) Hos-pi-ta-la / Hos-pi-tal Hotel Hoteela ሆቴል (Hotel) Ho-te-la / Ho-tel Stop! Dhaabbadhu! ቁም (Kum!) Dhab-ba-dhu / Kum Turn right Mirgatti gori ወደ ቀኝ ታጠፍ (Wede kegn tatef) Mir-gat-ti go-ri / We-de kegn ta-tef Turn left Bitatti gori ወደ ግራ ታጠፍ (Wede gira tatef) Bi-tat-ti go-ri / We-de gi-ra ta-tef Go straight Qajeelloo deemi ቀጥታ ሂድ (Ketita hid) Ka-jel-lo de-mi / Ke-it-ta hid Where are you from? Eessaa dhufte? ከየት መጣህ? (Keyet mettah?) E-sa dhuf-te? / Ke-yet met-tah? Goodbye Nagaatti ቻው / ደህና ሁን (Ciao / Dehna hun) Na-gat-ti / Chaw
5. Emergencies & Social English Afaan Oromo Amharic Pronunciation Audio Help me! Na gargaaraa! እርዱኝ! (Erdugn!) Na gar-ga-ra / Er-du-gn I am sick Na dhukkuba ታምሜያለሁ (Tammeyalehu) Na dhuk-ku-ba / Ta-me-ya-le-hu Call the police! Poolisii waami! ፖሊስ ጥሩ! (Polis tiru!) Po-li-si wa-mi / Po-lis ti-ru I love you (m) Sin jaaladha አፈቅርሃለሁ (Afekrihalehu) Sin ja-la-dha / A-fek-ri-ha-le-hu I love you (f) Sin jaaladha አፈቅርሻለሁ (Afekrishalehu) Sin ja-la-dha / A-fek-ri-sha-le-hu Peace Nagaa ሰላም (Selam) Na-ga / Se-lam Congratulations! Baga gammadan! እንኩዋን ደስ አለህ (Enkuan des aleh) Ba-ga gam-ma-dan / En-kuan des a-leh Happy Birthday Baga dhaloota kee... መልካም ልደት (Melkam lidet) Ba-ga dha-lo-ta / Mel-kam li-det Get well soon Sii yaa fayyisu ምህረቱን ያምጣልህ (Mihretun yamtalih) Si ya fay-yi-su / Mih-re-tun yam-ta-lih Everything is okay Hunduu toleera ሁሉንም ሰላም ነው (Hulunim selam new) Hun-du to-le-ra / Hu-lu-nim se-lam new
Why Use a Trilingual Guide? By learning both Afaan Oromo and Amharic , you open doors to millions of conversations across East Africa. While Amharic is the federal working language of Ethiopia, Oromo is the most spoken mother tongue in the region. Using a tool like our Multi-Language AI Translator ensures you are never lost in translation, whether for business, research, or personal heritage.