Tenses review: the time words
የግስ ጊዜያት ክለሳ፦ የጊዜ ቃላት
Choose the right tense quickly by spotting the time words in the sentence.
Printable worksheetHow it works
In the exam, many grammar questions give a sentence with a gap and four verb forms. The time words in the sentence usually tell you which tense is correct.
በፈተናው ብዙ የሰዋስው ጥያቄዎች ባዶ ቦታ ያለው ዓረፍተ ነገርና አራት የግስ ቅርጾችን ይሰጣሉ። በዓረፍተ ነገሩ ውስጥ ያሉት የጊዜ ቃላት ብዙ ጊዜ የትኛው ጊዜ ትክክል እንደሆነ ይነግሩዎታል።
Time words and tenses · የጊዜ ቃላትና የግስ ጊዜያት
every day, usually, often → present simple: She usually walks to school.
የአሁን ቀላል ጊዜ፦ ልማዶችና ሁልጊዜ እውነት የሆኑ ነገሮች።
now, at the moment, Look! → present continuous: Look! It is raining.
የአሁን ቀጣይ ጊዜ፦ አሁን እየሆነ ያለ ነገር።
yesterday, ago, last year, in 2015 → past simple: We moved to Adama two years ago.
ኃላፊ ቀላል ጊዜ፦ ያለፈና ያበቃ ጊዜ።
since, for, already, yet, ever, just → present perfect: I have lived here since 2020.
የአሁን ፍጹም ጊዜ (have/has + V3)፦ ካለፈው ጀምሮ እስከ አሁን።
while, when (an action in progress) → past continuous: I was cooking when the lights went out.
ኃላፊ ቀጣይ ጊዜ፦ ሌላ ነገር ሲፈጠር እየተካሄደ የነበረ ድርጊት።
by the time, before (two past actions) → past perfect: By the time we arrived, the bus had left.
ኃላፊ ፍጹም ጊዜ (had + V3)፦ ከሌላ ያለፈ ድርጊት በፊት የሆነው።
tomorrow, next week, by next year → future: By next year, she will have finished university.
የወደፊት ጊዜ፦ will + V1፣ ወይም ለ"by" will have + V3።
Amharic often uses one past form where English needs two. Ask: did one past action happen before another? Then use had + past participle for the earlier one.
አማርኛ እንግሊዝኛ ሁለት ቅርጽ በሚጠቀምበት ብዙ ጊዜ አንድ ኃላፊ ቅርጽ ይጠቀማል። ራስዎን ይጠይቁ፦ አንዱ ያለፈ ድርጊት ከሌላው በፊት ተፈጽሟል? ከሆነ ለቀደመው had + V3 ይጠቀሙ።
Examples
Listen, then tap the microphone to record yourself and compare. Your voice stays on your phone.
My father usually reads the newspaper after dinner.
አባቴ ብዙ ጊዜ ከእራት በኋላ ጋዜጣ ያነባል።
Be quiet, please. The students are writing an exam.
እባካችሁ ዝም በሉ። ተማሪዎቹ ፈተና እየጻፉ ነው።
We visited Gondar three years ago.
ከሦስት ዓመት በፊት ጎንደርን ጎበኘን።
She has worked at the bank since 2019.
ከ2019 ጀምሮ በባንኩ ውስጥ ትሠራለች።
I was studying when my friend called.
ጓደኛዬ ሲደውል እያጠናሁ ነበር።
By the time the doctor arrived, the patient had already left.
ሐኪሙ በደረሰበት ጊዜ ታካሚው ቀድሞ ሄዶ ነበር።
Have you ever been to Bahir Dar?
ባሕር ዳር ሄደው ያውቃሉ?
By next June, they will have built the new library.
እስከሚቀጥለው ሰኔ አዲሱን ቤተ መጻሕፍት ገንብተው ይጨርሳሉ።