MesobLingo Grammar Guide · TigrinyaTigrinya questions
Asking questions in Tigrinya starts with a handful of question words: what, where, when, who and why. Learn these and you can ask for directions, prices, names and help. Here are the ones you will use most, each with audio.
Tigrinya questions: the basic rule
Question words: These are words that help you ask for information.
English examples
what, which one, when, where, why, how, how many, who
Why it matters
Without these, you cannot ask basic things like what something is, where something is, or why something happened.
Examples
MesobLingo · mesoblingo.comwhat
entay
Hello, what's new?
Selam (hello) entay (what) alo (is there) hadesh (new) negar (thing)
which one (m)
ayenay
Which one? (m)
ayenay (which one - m)?
which one (f)
ayeneyti
Which one? (f)
ayeneyti (which one - f)?
when
meas
When is it?
Meas (when) iyu? (is it?)
where
abey
Where is the hotel?
Abey (where) eyu (is) eti (the) hotel (hotel)?
why
Slemntay
Why are you happy? (m)
Slemntay (why) tehaguska alekka? (are you happy - m)
how
kemey
How are you? (m)
Kemey (how) alaka (are you - m)
how many
kndey
How much is the coffee?
Kndey (how much) eyu (is) ezi (this) bun (coffee)?
who
men
Who is this?
Ezi (this) men (who) eyu? (is)
Now use it. Hear Tigrinya spoken by a native speaker and build the sentence yourself.
Practice this on MesobLingo