Phrasebook

en Big – small   »   ti ዓቢ - ንእሽቶ

68 [sixty-eight]

Big – small

Big – small

68 [ሱሳንሸሞንተን]

68 [susanishemoniteni]

ዓቢ - ንእሽቶ

[‘abī - ni’ishito]

Choose how you want to see the translation:   
English (UK) Tigrinya Play More
big and small ዓብን----ቶይን ዓ__ ን_____ ዓ-ን ን-ሽ-ይ- ---------- ዓብን ንእሽቶይን 0
‘-b--i -i-i-h-toyini ‘_____ n____________ ‘-b-n- n-’-s-i-o-i-i -------------------- ‘abini ni’ishitoyini
The elephant is big. እ- --ማዝ--- እ-። እ_ ሓ___ ዓ_ እ__ እ- ሓ-ማ- ዓ- እ-። -------------- እቲ ሓርማዝ ዓቢ እዩ። 0
i-ī---ar---zi-‘--ī-i--። i__ ḥ_______ ‘___ i___ i-ī h-a-i-a-i ‘-b- i-u- ----------------------- itī ḥarimazi ‘abī iyu።
The mouse is small. እታ -ን-ዋ ንእ-ቶ--እ-። እ_ ኣ___ ን____ እ__ እ- ኣ-ጨ- ን-ሽ-ይ እ-። ----------------- እታ ኣንጨዋ ንእሽቶይ እያ። 0
i-- an--h’--a -i’----t-yi ---። i__ a________ n__________ i___ i-a a-i-h-e-a n-’-s-i-o-i i-a- ------------------------------ ita anich’ewa ni’ishitoyi iya።
dark and bright ድ-ንን-ብ-ህን ድ___ ብ___ ድ-ን- ብ-ህ- --------- ድቡንን ብሩህን 0
d-----n---iru--ni d_______ b_______ d-b-n-n- b-r-h-n- ----------------- dibunini biruhini
The night is dark. ለይቲ ድቡ----ማ---ዩ። ለ__ ድ_______ እ__ ለ-ቲ ድ-ን-ጸ-ማ- እ-። ---------------- ለይቲ ድቡን/ጸልማት እዩ። 0
le-itī---buni/ts’eli--ti i-u። l_____ d________________ i___ l-y-t- d-b-n-/-s-e-i-a-i i-u- ----------------------------- leyitī dibuni/ts’elimati iyu።
The day is bright. መ--ቲ---- እ-። መ___ ብ__ እ__ መ-ል- ብ-ህ እ-። ------------ መዓልቲ ብሩህ እዩ። 0
me--li-ī ---u-- iy-። m_______ b_____ i___ m-‘-l-t- b-r-h- i-u- -------------------- me‘alitī biruhi iyu።
old and young ኣ---- መን-ሰ-ን ኣ____ መ_____ ኣ-ጊ-ን መ-እ-ይ- ------------ ኣረጊትን መንእሰይን 0
are--ti-i-men----e-i-i a________ m___________ a-e-ī-i-i m-n-’-s-y-n- ---------------------- aregītini meni’iseyini
Our grandfather is very old. ኣ-ሓ-ና---ዩ--ረ-ጉ---። ኣ____ ኣ__ ኣ___ እ__ ኣ-ሓ-ና ኣ-ዩ ኣ-ኢ- እ-። ------------------ ኣቦሓጎና ኣዝዩ ኣረኢጉ እዩ። 0
ab-h-a-o-- az-y--ar-’īgu --u። a________ a____ a______ i___ a-o-̣-g-n- a-i-u a-e-ī-u i-u- ----------------------------- aboḥagona aziyu are’īgu iyu።
70 years ago he was still young. ንሱ-ቅ---7- ዓመታ--መን--ይ--- --። ን_ ቅ__ 7_ ዓ___ መ____ እ_ ኔ__ ን- ቅ-ሚ 7- ዓ-ታ- መ-እ-ይ እ- ኔ-። --------------------------- ንሱ ቅድሚ 70 ዓመታት መንእሰይ እዩ ኔሩ። 0
nis- k-idi-- 70----e---- -e-i’is-y---y- n---። n___ k______ 7_ ‘_______ m_________ i__ n____ n-s- k-i-i-ī 7- ‘-m-t-t- m-n-’-s-y- i-u n-r-። --------------------------------------------- nisu k’idimī 70 ‘ametati meni’iseyi iyu nēru።
beautiful and ugly ጽቡ-ን--ፉእን ጽ___ ክ___ ጽ-ቕ- ክ-እ- --------- ጽቡቕን ክፉእን 0
ts-----̱-ini--ifu’i-i t__________ k_______ t-’-b-k-’-n- k-f-’-n- --------------------- ts’ibuḵ’ini kifu’ini
The butterfly is beautiful. እ- -----ዕ -ዝዩ -ቡቕቲ-እ-። እ_ ጽ_____ ኣ__ ጽ___ እ__ እ- ጽ-ብ-ሊ- ኣ-ዩ ጽ-ቕ- እ-። ---------------------- እታ ጽንብላሊዕ ኣዝዩ ጽቡቕቲ እያ። 0
i---ts’in--il-l-‘i---i-u----ibuḵ’itī-i--። i__ t_____________ a____ t__________ i___ i-a t-’-n-b-l-l-‘- a-i-u t-’-b-k-’-t- i-a- ------------------------------------------ ita ts’inibilalī‘i aziyu ts’ibuḵ’itī iya።
The spider is ugly. እ- ሳ-ት-ክፍ-- እ-። እ_ ሳ__ ክ___ እ__ እ- ሳ-ት ክ-እ- እ-። --------------- እታ ሳሬት ክፍእቲ እያ። 0
i-a s-rēt- --f-’-t- i-a። i__ s_____ k_______ i___ i-a s-r-t- k-f-’-t- i-a- ------------------------ ita sarēti kifi’itī iya።
fat and thin ሮጊ-ን---ንን ሮ___ ቀ___ ሮ-ድ- ቀ-ን- --------- ሮጊድን ቀጢንን 0
r-g--i-- k--t--ni-i r_______ k_________ r-g-d-n- k-e-’-n-n- ------------------- rogīdini k’et’īnini
A woman who weighs a hundred kilos is fat. ሓን- --- ኪሎ እ--ዘ- ---ቲ -ጋ--እያ። ሓ__ 1__ ኪ_ እ____ ሰ___ ሮ__ እ__ ሓ-ቲ 1-0 ኪ- እ-ም-ን ሰ-ይ- ሮ-ድ እ-። ----------------------------- ሓንቲ 100 ኪሎ እትምዘን ሰበይቲ ሮጋድ እያ። 0
ḥ----- 10---ī-o i-i-i---i s-be--t- -og--i-i--። ḥ_____ 1__ k___ i________ s_______ r_____ i___ h-a-i-ī 1-0 k-l- i-i-i-e-i s-b-y-t- r-g-d- i-a- ----------------------------------------------- ḥanitī 100 kīlo itimizeni sebeyitī rogadi iya።
A man who weighs fifty kilos is thin. ሓደ------ ዝ--- ሰ----------። ሓ_ 5_ ኪ_ ዝ___ ሰ___ ቀ__ እ__ ሓ- 5- ኪ- ዝ-ዘ- ሰ-ኣ- ቀ-ን እ-። -------------------------- ሓደ 50 ኪሎ ዝምዘን ሰብኣይ ቀጢን እዩ። 0
ḥ-d---0-kīl- --mi-en- s-b--a-- --et’ī-i-i--። ḥ___ 5_ k___ z_______ s_______ k_______ i___ h-a-e 5- k-l- z-m-z-n- s-b-’-y- k-e-’-n- i-u- --------------------------------------------- ḥade 50 kīlo zimizeni sebi’ayi k’et’īni iyu።
expensive and cheap ክ-ርን ---ን ክ___ ሕ___ ክ-ር- ሕ-ር- --------- ክቡርን ሕሱርን 0
k--u-i-i ḥ--u-ini k_______ ḥ_______ k-b-r-n- h-i-u-i-i ------------------ kiburini ḥisurini
The car is expensive. እ- መ-ና--ብ-- --። እ_ መ__ ከ___ እ__ እ- መ-ና ከ-ር- እ-። --------------- እታ መኪና ከብርቲ እያ። 0
i-a ----n- -----itī i-a። i__ m_____ k_______ i___ i-a m-k-n- k-b-r-t- i-a- ------------------------ ita mekīna kebiritī iya።
The newspaper is cheap. እ- -ዜ- -ሱ- --። እ_ ጋ__ ሕ__ እ__ እ- ጋ-ጣ ሕ-ር እ-። -------------- እቲ ጋዜጣ ሕሱር እዩ። 0
itī-ga-ēt’----isu------። i__ g______ ḥ_____ i___ i-ī g-z-t-a h-i-u-i i-u- ------------------------ itī gazēt’a ḥisuri iyu።

Download MP3 (.zip files)

MP3 English (UK) + Tigrinya (1-100) MP3 Tigrinya (1-100)

Code-switching

More and more people are growing up bilingual. They can speak more than one language. Many of these people often switch languages. They decide which language to use depending on the situation. For example, they speak a different language at work than at home. By doing so, they adapt themselves to their environment. But there is also the possibility of switching languages spontaneously. This phenomenon is called code-switching . In code-switching, the language gets switched in the middle of speaking. There could be many reasons why speakers switch languages. Often, they don't find the appropriate word in one language. They can express themselves better in the other language. It can also be that the speaker feels more confident in one of the languages. They use this language for private or personal things. Sometimes a certain word doesn't exist in a language. In this case the speaker must switch languages. Or they switch languages so that they aren't understood. In that case code-switching works like a secret language. Earlier, mixing languages was criticized. It was thought that the speaker couldn't speak either language correctly. Today it is viewed differently. Code-switching is recognized as a special linguistic competence. It can be interesting to observe speakers using code-switching. Often, they don't just switch the language they're speaking. Other communicative elements change as well. Many speak faster, louder or more accentuated in the other language. Or they suddenly use more gestures and facial expressions. In this way, code-switching is always a little bit of culture-switching too…