This guide adapts rules and examples from Microsoft’s Localization Style Guide for Amharic (originally written for software/UI localization). The underlying linguistic rules apply universally — to legal contracts, medical documents, marketing copy, and any Amharic translation work. Restructured and reformatted as a general Amharic translator reference by ChatsControl.

Amharic Translation Style Guide — Voice, Word Choice & Common Pitfalls (Legal, Medical, Marketing, IT)¶

TL;DR¶

• Amharic uses the Ethiopic (Ge’ez) script with 344 characters and its own punctuation set (ፚ ። ፛ ፜ ፝) — never substitute Latin punctuation in target text.
• Verb always comes at the end of the sentence; do not copy English subject-verb-object order, which produces ambiguous Amharic.
• Informal tone (second-person singular masculine in imperatives) is the default register across software, marketing, and consumer-facing materials; formal plural creates institutional distance.
• Ethiopian calendar and 12-hour daytime/nighttime clock differ from Western conventions — handle dates/times explicitly in legal documents, medical schedules, and event materials.
• Avoid direct English-to-Amharic word mapping (the dominant error) and watch preposition usage (ኼዯ for ‘to’, ኤ for ‘from’) which English-influenced translators often drop.

Country, region, and script conventions¶

Amharic is the official language of Ethiopia and is written in the Ethiopic (Ge’ez/Fidel) script. The script is caseless — there is no distinction between uppercase and lowercase letters. The full character set used for Amharic contains 344 characters, drawn from the larger Ethiopic Unicode block (U+1200 through U+137C and beyond).

Why this matters: Document layout and font selection in legal translation (court filings, certified documents) must use Ethiopic-capable typefaces or text renders as boxes. Medical translation of prescriptions, dosage instructions, and hospital signage requires the same — substituting Latin transliteration is unsafe because patients may not read transliteration fluently. IT/software translation must declare Ethiopic ranges in font fallback chains; missing this causes tofu glyphs in apps. Marketing translation that mixes English brand names with Amharic body text needs careful font pairing for visual coherence.

Numeric systems¶

Today, Arabic numerals (the common Latin-script digits 0-9) are the general practice for dates, prices, addresses, and quantitative values. The Ethiopic character set has its own distinct numerals (፩, ፪, ፫, ፬, ፭, ፮, ፯, ፰, ፱, ፲, ፳, ፴), but they lack a zero and therefore do not form a true decimal system. They are not uncommon in traditional dates and ceremonial documents.

Recommendation across spheres: use Arabic numerals as default. Use Ethiopic numerals only when the source or client explicitly demands them (some sworn legal documents, traditional ecclesiastical content, certain government forms).

Dates and calendar¶

Ethiopia uses the Ethiopian calendar, which differs from the Gregorian. Both systems coexist in legal, medical, and administrative documents — disambiguation is mandatory.

Field	Convention
Calendar/Era	Ethiopian/A.D. (both used)
First day of the week	ኡሁዴ (Sunday)
First week of the year	Week of September 11 or 12
Default short date format	dd/MM/yyyy
Example short date	17/03/2011
Default long date format	dd MMMM yyyy
Example long date	17 ሗጋ቙ት 2011
Date separator	/
Leading zero in day field	Yes (both short and long)
Leading zero in month field	Yes (short format)
Year digits	4

Disambiguation markers:

• EEEE — day of the week
• G — year context: Gregorian is marked ኡ.ኜ.ኜ, Ethiopian is marked ዆/ሜ
• YYYY — Ethiopic numerals when used (e.g., ፪፩፳፲፧)
• Date-time pattern: {1} {0} where {0} = time, {1} = date

Why this matters: Legal translation of contracts with effective dates, statutes of limitations, or filing deadlines must specify calendar explicitly — a 1999 ዆.ሜ. date is approximately 2006/2007 Gregorian, and confusion produces invalid filings. Medical translation of patient records, dosing schedules, and vaccination cards depends on unambiguous dates — wrong calendar interpretation can mean wrong medication dosing intervals. Marketing campaigns that reference Ethiopian holidays (Enkutatash, Genna, Timkat) must use the Ethiopian calendar; campaigns with global launch dates need both systems for cross-reference. IT systems localized for Ethiopia must support both calendars at the storage and display layer.

Time¶

Field	Convention
24-hour format	No (standard usage is 12-hour daytime/nighttime cycle)
Standard time format	HH:mm:ss
Standard time format example	03:24:12
Time separator	:
Hours leading zero	Yes
AM designator	ጟ኿ት (Windows compatibility)
PM designator	ኤሯ዆ት (Windows compatibility)

Ethiopians count hours of the day starting not from midnight but from daybreak. The first hour of the day starts at 6 a.m. and one in the morning corresponds to 7 a.m. The day is divided into 12 hours of daytime and 12 hours of nighttime. A 24-hour format is used only in the military and is based on the internationally accepted manner. Because of this, a.m. and p.m. do not map cleanly onto the Ethiopian context — people speak of daytime hours (ቀኑ) and nighttime hours (ላሉት) instead.

Period names (day divisions)¶

Begin time	Period name
01:00	ኼዴቄት
04:00	ኌጋት
06:00	ጟ኿ት
09:00	ሧፉዴ
12:00	ኡእሇሿኑ
13:00	ኤሯ዆ት቗኉ሊ
16:00	ኼዯሚታ
18:00	ሴዯግዏ
20:00	ሜሼት
24:00	ኡእሇላሉት

Why this matters: Medical translation of appointment letters, medication schedules (“take at 9 a.m.”), and shift handovers must convert correctly — saying “9 in the morning” using Ethiopian counting means a different real-world hour than English speakers expect. Legal translation of contracts with effective times, hearing schedules, and deadline cutoffs needs unambiguous time framing. IT translation of calendar apps, alarm clocks, and scheduling features must support both reckoning systems. Marketing translation of opening hours and event times benefits from including both systems if the audience is mixed.

Days of the week¶

English	Amharic	Abbreviation
Monday	ሯኚ	ሯኚ
Tuesday	ሚኩሯኚ	ሚኩሯ
Wednesday	ሧቘወ	ሧቘወ
Thursday	ሏመሴ	ሏመሴ
Friday	዆ሬቜ	዆ሬቜ
Saturday	ቄዲማ	ቄዲማ
Sunday	ኡሐዴ	ኡሐዴ

First day of the week: Sunday (ኡሐዴ).

Numbers and currency¶

The decimal separator in Amharic is the period (.), the same as US English. Do not use a space for this purpose, because a space is used to separate the numeral from the abbreviation.

The thousands separator in Amharic is the comma (,), matching English. For paper sizes derived from US norms, the decimal separator and the “in” abbreviation for inches are kept verbatim because the sizes themselves are US standards.

English	Amharic
1,526	1,526
$ 1,526.75	$ 1,526.75
5.25 cm	5.25 ሲ.ማ.
5 x 7.2 inches	5 x 7.2 ኞኑች
Letter Landscape 11 x 8.5 in	Letter የኼሬዴ ቄሬጼ 11 x 8.5 in

Why this matters: Legal translation of financial contracts, court awards, and asset valuations must render currency and amounts exactly — a misplaced decimal in a sentence creates a different obligation. Medical translation of dosage instructions (5.25 mg vs 525 mg) is a known patient-safety failure mode. Marketing translation of price lists, technical specifications, and product dimensions must preserve numeric exactness. IT translation of locale-aware number formatting requires correct CLDR data — Amharic follows en-US-style thousands/decimal punctuation, not European conventions.

Sorting¶

Alphabetical order in Amharic listings (the standard Fidel order) is not necessarily the sorting order used in software products. Localization projects normally specify a sort sequence in collation tables.

Why this matters: Legal document indices, medical patient registers, and marketing customer databases depend on stable sort order for findability. IT translation of search results, contact lists, and dropdown selectors must apply collation consistently — mixed sort orders within one product feel broken to users.

Geopolitical concerns¶

Translators working on materials that reference territorial, political, or religious topics should consult the client’s geopolitical guidance. Ethiopia’s regional politics, Eritrean independence, and the Tigray conflict are sensitive topics — direct translation of foreign-source framing may be unacceptable. Religious references (Ethiopian Orthodox, Islam, P’ent’ay) require contextual care.

Why this matters: Legal translation of arbitration awards or constitutional texts must not impose foreign political framings. Marketing translation that uses imagery or text touching contested regions risks brand damage. News/media translation must follow the publisher’s editorial policy. Medical translation of public-health campaigns must respect religious dietary or treatment sensitivities.

Grammar, syntax, and orthographic conventions¶

Adjectives¶

Adjectives can be primary, derived from nouns and verbs, or formed via nominal patterns. Amharic has few primary adjectives (ኜዱሴ “new”, ኜርጌ “old”, ቙ጪ “yellow”). Most adjectives derive from other word classes.

• Nominal pattern examples: ኤቚዴ “heavy”, ሧቁቄ “fine, subtle”, ኜዱሴ “new”
• Denominalizing suffixes: ሃይሇኗ “powerful” (from hayl “power”), ኡ዁ኌተኗ “true, genuine”

Adjective-noun complex: the adjective precedes the noun, with the verb last. Example: ኜዱሴ ፓርግሪሜ “a new program”; ኜዱሴ ፓርግሪሜ ሯሪ (literally: a new program he-built) “he built a new program”.

Possessive adjectives: English uses possessives frequently. Amharic encodes possession with the prefix yä (የ). Example: የሂሲቜ “account” (literally: “of accounting”). Relative perfectum or imperfectum verbs can act as adjectives via yä prefix: የተሺሺሇ “improved, upgraded” (literally: “what has been improved”), የቅየ “old” (literally: “what remained, ancient”), የሙኤተሌ “following” (literally: “that what is following”), የሙታይ ኌ዁ “visible” (literally: “what is seen”).

Why this matters: Legal contract drafting uses heavy possessive constructions in English (“the Buyer’s obligations”, “the Seller’s representations”) — naive translation produces awkward Amharic; idiomatic translation uses yä prefixes. Medical documentation (“the patient’s medication”, “the physician’s notes”) follows the same pattern. IT UI labels (“user’s preferences”, “account’s settings”) should render with yä-based possession.

Articles¶

Amharic expresses the definite article through a suffixed element. For singular nouns, a masculine/feminine distinction applies; for plural, no such distinction is made.

Pattern	Example
Masculine singular	ቛት → ቛቱ; ፆሧሴ → ፆሧሰ
Feminine singular	ሌጅ → ሌጅቷ
Masculine plural	ኑጉሤ → ኑጉሥች
Feminine plural	ኑግሤት → ኑግሤቶች

Unlocalized feature names¶

Microsoft product names and non-translated feature names are used in English without definite or indefinite articles in source text. In Amharic translation:

English example	Amharic example
Enable .NET Framework setup	(+) .NET Framework ቄኑቜሬ ኜኑቂ — not “(-) ድት ነት ፋራሜዂሬኩ ቄኑቜሬ ኜኑቂ”
Start Visual Studio	(+) Visual Studio ጀሜሬ
powered by Windows Live	(+) ቗ Windows Live ሃይሌ ያገኔ

Localized feature names¶

When a translated feature name appears with a Microsoft brand name immediately following, use the “የ” sign between them with no space:

English	Amharic
Windows Live folder share	(+) የWindows Live ፈሌሜ ሗሴሩያ
Hide the Task Manager when it is minimized.	(+) የተግቚሬ ኜሴተዲዲሩ዁ ኡኑዱያኑሴ ሱዯሧግ ዯቜሿ዁ፚ

Why this matters: Legal translation of license agreements and EULAs must keep product names verbatim and untranslated for trademark protection; translators frequently err by adding articles. Medical software translation keeps drug brand names verbatim for safety; surrounding Amharic articles must be handled correctly. Marketing translation preserves product brand integrity. IT translation must respect the unlocalized-name convention to avoid breaking string matching with help and support content.

Capitalization¶

The Ethiopic script is caseless — there is no uppercase or lowercase distinction. Capitalization concepts from English do not apply.

Why this matters: Legal translation that uses ALL-CAPS for emphasis or defined terms in English contracts has no Amharic equivalent — typography or bold should be considered as alternative emphasis. Brand style guides that mandate uppercase logos must work around script constraints. Software UI that uses sentence-case vs title-case conventions in English must define new rules for Amharic UI strings.

Compounds¶

Compounds should be understandable and clear to the user. Overly long or complex compounds should be avoided; unintuitive compounds are an intelligibility and usability issue.

English	Amharic
Internet Accounts	(+) የ቗ይኌሗሧቜ ሗሇያዂች
Logon script processing	(+) የሗግ቙ያ ሴኩሩፓት ሂዯት
Workgroup Administrator	(+) የሴሪ ቘዴኑ ኜሴተዲዲሩ
Internet News Server Name	(+) የ቗ይኌሗሧቜ ዎ኏ ኜገሌጋይ ሴሜ

Why this matters: Long noun-chains are a known source of unreadable translation across legal, medical, and IT spheres. The principle “shorter beats longer for the same meaning” applies universally.

Gender¶

Amharic nouns can be masculine or feminine. Several mechanisms express gender:

• Suffix -ት for femininity (no longer fully productive; limited to certain patterns). Nouns and adjectives ending in -ኜኾ take -ት for the feminine: ኞትዮጴያኾ “Ethiopian (m.)” vs ኞትዮጴያኾት “Ethiopian (f.)”, ሯሚያኾ “heavenly (m.)” vs ሯሚያኾት “heavenly (f.)”.
• Specifiers ኼኑዴ (m.) and ሳት (f.) for people and animals: ኼኑዴ ሌጅ “boy”, ሳት ሌጅ “girl”.

Gender-neutrality rules¶

To avoid discrimination, three rules apply:

1. Use masculine for user-to-computer commands (the command voice). Example: ሯሬዏ “save”, ሗሌሴ “reply”.
2. Use plural/polite form for computer-to-user messages and any case where the system speaks to the user. Example: ፉይለ ኡኑዱሯሧዏ ይፆሌጋለ፜ ኜሁኑ ኤ቗የኌሗሧቘ ጋሬ ተገ኏ኙተ኿ሌ “the file needs to be saved; you are now connected to the Internet”.
3. Use plural/polite gender for all strings with unclear context. Example: የዴሬ ጢ቙ያ ኜዴሪሺ዁ ኼዯ Microsoft ይሊኧሌ፜ ሯኌደ ኡጅግ ትሌቄ ኌ዁ “the URL will be sent to Microsoft; the document is too large”.

Avoid phrases that mention two genders separately. Use general terms like ሯ዁ “person”, ተጟቂሙዂች “users”, ሯዂች “persons”. Avoid “he or she” — ኡሰ ኼይሜ ኡሶ — and gender-slash constructions like የሰ/የሶ. Make plural rewrites where the source refers to a single person of unknown gender. Exceptions (license terms, table headers) may use the slash form ኡሰ/ሶ.

Why this matters: Legal translation with personal pronouns (witness statements, contracts) must follow client gender conventions. Medical translation of patient instructions must address both genders without exclusion — drug instructions written only in masculine commands will alienate female patients. Marketing copy with gender bias loses half the audience. IT/software UI that defaults to masculine for system-to-user messages sounds curt; plural-polite forms feel respectful.

Genitive¶

Not applicable as a separate inflectional category in Amharic (possession is expressed through the yä-prefix construction described under Adjectives).

Modifiers¶

Not applicable as a separate category beyond the adjective rules described above.

Nouns¶

Amharic nouns can be primary or derived. ኜሬትዉት “editing” is primary; ኜሬታዅ “editor” is derived.

Inflection: not applicable as a separate category.

Plural formation: the suffix -ኢች expresses plurality. Phonological alternations depend on the final segment of the noun:

• Nouns ending in a consonant take plain -ኢች: ቛት “house” → ቛቶች “houses”.
• Nouns ending in a back vowel (-a, -o, -u) take -ዂች: ዁ሺ “dog” → ዁ሺዂች “dogs”; ኤ቗ር “drum” → ኤ቗ርዂች “drums”.
• Nouns ending in a front vowel take ዂች or -ዮች: ጷሏፈ “scholar” → ጷሏፈዂች or ጷሏፈዮች “scholars”.
• Alternative for vowel-final nouns: delete the vowel and use plain ኢች: ዁ሽች “dogs”.

Why this matters: Plural-form mistakes are a common pattern in medical translation (“tablets”, “dosages”, “side effects” must agree in number with the verb), legal translation (“parties”, “obligations”, “amendments” similarly), and IT translation of UI labels referring to multiple items.

Prepositions¶

Pay attention to correct preposition use. Influenced by English, many translators omit them or change word order.

US English	Amharic
migrate to	(+) ኜፋሌሴ ኼዯ…
migrate from	(+) ኜፋሌሴ ኤ
import to	(+) ኜሴሗጢ ኼዯ…
import from	(+) ኜሴሗጢ ኤ
export to	(+) ሊኩ ኼዯ…
export from	(+) ኜሴሌኩ ኤ…
update to	(+) ኜዊሜኑ ኼዯ…
upgrade to	(+) ኜሺሼሌ ኼዯ…
change to	(+) ሇ዁ጤ ኼዯ…
click on	(+) ተጪኑ…ኑ
connect to	(+) ተገ኏ኙኤ… ጋሬ
welcome to …	(+) ኡኑክኑ ዯህ኏ ሗጠ ኼዯ…

Frequently occurring locative prepositional phrases:

US English	Amharic
in the toolbar	(+) ቗ሯሩ ኜምላ ሊይ
on the tab	(+) ቗ትሬ ሊይ
on the menu	(+) ቗ሜ኏ላ ሊይ
on the net	(+) ቗ሗሧቘ ሊይ
on the Internet	(+) ቗቗ይኌሗሧቜ ሊይ
on the Web	(+) ቗ዴሬ ሊይ
on a web site	(+) ቗ዴሬ ጢ቙ያ ሊይ
on a web page	(+) ቗ዴሬ ገጼ ሊይ

Why this matters: Preposition errors are the most common translator-induced bug in Amharic. Legal translation “from the date of execution” vs “to the date of expiration” — wrong preposition flips the meaning. Medical translation “transfer to the ICU” vs “transfer from the ICU” — wrong preposition is a patient-safety issue. IT translation “import to spreadsheet” vs “import from spreadsheet” — wrong preposition produces wrong user action.

Pronouns¶

Personal pronouns include English I → Amharic ኡነ; English she → Amharic ኡሶ. Pronouns mark person, number, and (sometimes) gender, but Amharic typically embeds person/gender/number in verb conjugation rather than relying on independent pronouns.

Punctuation¶

Use Amharic’s native punctuation. Do not import English marks where Amharic equivalents exist. Do not use two points vertically (ፙ) as a word separator — use a single space.

Symbol	Code	Description
ፚ	U+1362	Ethiopic full stop
፛	U+1363	Ethiopic comma
፜	U+1364	Ethiopic semicolon
፝	U+1365	Ethiopic colon
?	U+003F	Question mark (English mark adopted)

Comma¶

English uses comma for thousands; Microsoft normally uses a period instead in some locales to avoid wrapping. In Amharic, the comma is used for thousands.

English	Amharic
1,526	(+) 1,526
$ 1,526.75	(+) $ 1,526.75

Colon¶

Colon is used the same way as English — primarily before a list of items.

English	Amharic
To enable this file type, do the following:	(+) ይህኑኑ ፉይሌ ኜይኌት ሇሚኑቂት የሙኤተሇ዁ኑ ኜዴሬግ፜
Scale bubble size to:	(+) የ዆ሧፉሗጟኑ ኜሴተኧኩሌ ሗዏኌ዁ ቗፜

Dashes and hyphens¶

Not applicable as a separate category.

Ellipses (suspension points)¶

Amharic uses ellipses the same way as English.

English	Amharic
Software, hardware, disk…	(+) ስፋትዀሬ፛ ሃሬዴዀሬ፛ ዱሴኩ…

Period¶

US English uses period as decimal separator. Many other languages use comma. Amharic uses period. Do not use space for this purpose — space separates numeral from abbreviation.

English	Amharic
5.25 cm	(+) 5.25 ሲ.ማ.
5 x 7.2 inches	(+) 5 x 7.2 ኞኑች
Letter Landscape 11 x 8.5 in	(+) Letter የኼሬዴ ቄሬጼ 11 x 8.5 in

Periods in lists and tables¶

• If bulleted items are complete sentences, each ends with a period.
• If bulleted items continue an introductory clause, do not use a period.
• For items in a list (chapters, sections, products, system requirements) that are neither sentences nor continuations, no period.
• If your Amharic translation is longer than the US text or split into several sentences, use common sense and insert a period if it improves style.
• Never put a period after just one word.
• Same convention applies to instruction lists, captions, and callouts.

Quotation marks¶

Quotation marks indicate direct speech. In US source strings, software references may appear in English quotes. In Amharic, «…» are preferred and frequently used.

English	Amharic
“This can be done.”	(+) «ይህ ኡኑዯሜኑሜ ይቻሊሌፚ»

Parentheses¶

No space between parentheses and the text inside, same as English.

Amharic example
(+) (1974)

Why this matters: Punctuation mistakes are visible at a glance and signal unprofessional translation. Legal translation with foreign punctuation marks (English commas where Amharic commas belong) may be rejected by certified-translation reviewers. Medical translation with mis-placed decimals (period vs comma confusion) is a patient-safety failure. Marketing translation with mismatched quotation marks looks sloppy on a billboard.

Singular and plural¶

Amharic has singular and plural forms. No masculine/feminine distinction in plural formation.

Singular	Plural
ፓርግሪሜ	ፓርግሪምች
ዱሴኩ	ዱሴኪች
ፉይሌ	ፉይልች
ቄኑቜሬ	ቄኑቜርች

Split infinitive¶

Not applicable to Amharic.

Subjunctive¶

Not applicable to Amharic.

Symbols and non-breaking spaces¶

Not applicable as a separate category — observed via abbreviation rules.

Syntax¶

Syntax and register differ between Amharic and English in the following ways:

1. Subject-object-verb order. Example: “I saw the program.” → (+) ፓርግሪመኑ ኜየሁት (literally: the program-I saw).
2. Cleft constructions for emphasis. Example: “I use Microsoft.” → (+) የሜጟሿሗ዁ Miscrosoft ኌ዁ፚ (literally: what-I-use Microsoft is).

Prefer the first construction (straightforward SOV) to avoid ambiguity during translation of MS materials.

Why this matters: SOV order is non-negotiable in Amharic — preserving SVO produces ungrammatical output. Legal translation must restructure every clause. Medical instructions must place the verb at the end (“Take this medication” → “ይህኑ መዴሃኒት ይዉሰዱ”). IT UI strings with action verbs typically end with the verb in Amharic regardless of English ordering.

Verbs¶

The Amharic verb can consist of 2, 3, 4, or more consonants. The basic meaning is carried by the consonants (“radicals”); vowels express shades of meaning. A verb with two radicals is “bi-radical”, three is “tri-radical”, etc.

• ሯሚ — bi-radical
• ሯ቗ሧ — tri-radical
• ሗሯኤሧ — quadri-radical

Be consistent in how you translate verbs in error messages. If it is grammatical to omit the predicate “be” in your language, you can omit it in error messages, but be consistent across all error messages. Be concise without changing the meaning.

English	Amharic	Explanation
The document is too large. / Document too large.	(+) ሯኌደ ኡጅግ ትሌቄ ኌ዁ፚ	Be consistent in verb “to be” usage.
Access was denied. / Access denied.	(+) ሗዲሧሺ ፆቂዴ ተኩሌኩሎሌፚ	In complete sentences, use verbs and same tense as source.
The file ‘%s’ is an unknown graphics format.	(+) ፉይሌ ‘%s’ የሚይታኼቄ የግሪፈኩሴ ቄሬጷት ኌ዁ፚ	Rephrase “is” with “have” if needed.
The application may attempt to convert the graphic.	(+) ትግ቗ሪ዁ ግሪፈእኑ ሉሇኼጤ዁ ይምኩሬ ይሆ኏ሌፚ	“may + Verb” can become Verb + possibly.
A problem occurred while trying to connect to the network share ‘%1!s!’.	(+) ‘%1!s!’የጋሪ ኜ዁ታሧ ሗሧቜ ጋሬ ሇሗገ኏ኔት መኤሪ ቗ሙዯሧግ቗ት ጊዎ ችግሬ ኜጋጤሞሌፚ	Shorten and rephrase if needed.
The following error occurred: ‘%1!s!’ (error #%2!lx!)	(+) የሙኤተሇ዁ ችግሬ ኜጋጤሞሌ ‘%1!s!’ (ሴሔተት #%2!lx!)	Shorten this construction where possible.
An unknown error has occurred. / No error occurred.	(+) ያሌታኼሿ ችግሬ ኜጋጤሞሌፚ/ ሜኑሜ ችግሬ ኜሊጋጟሗሜፚ	Shorten where possible.

Continuous operations are usually expressed in English with a gerund. Translate to Amharic accordingly:

English	Amharic
Sending a file	(+) ፉይሌ ቗ሗሊኩ ሊይ
Using Styles	(+) ቄጥች ኜጟቂሿሜ

Word order¶

The verb must always come at the end in Amharic.

Examples:

• (+) የተሗሧጟ዁ኑ ቄኑቜሬ ቄዲ኏ ቗ቄኑጤቜ ሯላዲ ኜሴሿሜጟ዁ፚ
• (+) የተሗሧጟ዁ኑ ቄኑቜሬ ሯሬዏፚ

Why this matters: Word-final verbs are the single most distinctive Amharic syntactic feature. Native readers feel mid-sentence verbs immediately as “translated text”. Applies across legal, medical, marketing, IT — every register.

Style and tone considerations¶

Audience¶

Always recognize the audience’s sensitivity to male and female stereotypes. Instead of stressing gender differences or reinforcing stereotypical distinctions, use neutral language. The neutral approach applies to localized scenarios, comparisons, examples, illustrations, and metaphors.

Create a balance when assigning roles and functions to men and women (active vs passive, leading vs secondary, technical vs non-technical professions). Scenarios, pictures, metaphors, and comparisons should be based on areas and attributes common to both genders.

Use general terms that include both genders — “person”, “users”, “persons” → ሯ዁, ተጟቂሙዂች, ሯዂች — instead of phrases that mention the two genders separately.

Avoid sentences that refer to a single person whose gender is unknown. Often this can be avoided by rewriting the sentence with a plural subject. When reference to a single person cannot be avoided, do not use “he or she” or “S/he” — ኡሰ ኼይሜ ኡሶ or የሰ/የሶ.

Avoid slashes to combine both genders, with limited exceptions (license terms, headers, column/row titles in tables).

Linguistic methods for gender neutrality:

Method	Example	Context
Use a neutral noun	(+) ሯ዁, ሗሩ, ቘዴኑ ሗሩ, አኩሴፎሬት, ሯሪተኗ, ተጟቂሙ	Concept descriptions, explanations
Combine genders with slash	(+) ኡሰ/ሶ, ኡሶ/ሰ	Only in exceptional cases such as license terms or in tables

Why this matters: Gender bias in medical patient materials has documented adverse outcomes — instructions written only in masculine voice produce lower female compliance. Marketing translation with gendered stereotypes loses market share. Legal translation must follow document-type conventions strictly. IT translation in a gender-inclusive product brand is a core brand-safety task.

Style¶

In procedural text — telling the user to perform certain actions in a specific number of steps — the order of interface terms in the translation is usually top-to-bottom: menu, command, dialog box, dialog box controls. This order reflects the sequence in which the action must be performed and should be maintained unless technical reasons prevent it.

This convention is less important in normal body text, which is usually written in a more personal tone and less formal style, so the translator has more creative latitude.

English	Amharic
On the View menu, click Filter	(+) ቗ወይታ ሜ኏ላ዁ ሊይ ሚጢሩያ የሙሇ዁ኑ ይጪኍ
On the Tools menu, click Internet Options, and click the Security tab	(+) ቗ሗሲሩያ ሜ኏ላ዁ ሊይ የ቗ይኌሗሧቜ ኜሚሪጭች የሙሇ዁ኑ ይጪኍ኏ የሗዴህኑ ትሬኑ ይጪኍ

Tone¶

The informal tone is used in Amharic localization. In this tone one addresses a familiar person or a person of equal status. No disrespect can be inferred from the tone.

The formal tone (verb conjugated in the plural) would be contrary to the spirit of ICT (the computer world) and would impose an unnecessary communication burden.

The passive voice should be avoided; it suggests a stubborn refusal to be polite without laying oneself open to rudeness.

The word ኡቚኩህ, used to translate the English “please”, is inaccurately employed — the Amharic word signifies pleading with someone rather strongly and conveys exasperation. The note of politeness is in fact carried through a linguistically significant tone variation.

Why this matters: Tone register is the most commonly mishandled aspect across spheres. Medical patient instructions in formal-plural tone feel cold and reduce compliance. Marketing copy in formal register kills brand warmth. Legal contracts retain formal register because that is the genre’s expectation. Software UI in formal register feels bureaucratic — informal singular masculine commands are friendly and direct.

Voice¶

The addressee is a masculine singular person. The conjugated form of the Amharic verb with its pronominal suffix obeys three rules of concord: person, gender, and number of the subject. Normally the independent pronoun is not used unless a special effect is pursued. “You” is therefore not translated as such — the signifying element incorporated in the verb is used instead.

English	Amharic
You are now connected to the Internet.	(+) [*ኡሬስ] ኜሁኑ ኤ቗ይኌሗሧቜ ጋሬ ተገ኏ኙተ኿ሌፚ

See also the Gender section for more information about gender-neutrality.

Why this matters: Adding an explicit “you” pronoun in Amharic is a hallmark of translated-from-English text. The verb already carries person and number. Dropping the pronoun produces idiomatic Amharic.

Localization guidelines¶

Abbreviations¶

Common Amharic expressions and their acceptable abbreviations:

Amharic	Acceptable abbreviation
዆ሗተ ሜሔሧት	(+) ዆.ሜ.
የተቚ቗ረት ሗኑግሴታት ዴሬጅት	(+) ተ.ሗ.ዴ.
ኜሚሪ ሌሚት ሚኅ቗ሬ	(+) ኜ.ሌ.ሚ.
ኞትዮጴያ ቴላቡዏኑ	(+) ኞቲቡ

Additional guidelines:

• Use a non-breaking space (CTRL+SHIFT+SPACEBAR) in abbreviations.
• If non-breaking spaces cannot be used (Help files), write abbreviations without a space to avoid one letter wrapping to the next line.
• The forward stroke is commonly used as an abbreviation marker. Example: ገቜሧሔይኼት → ገ/ሔይኼት.

Do not abbreviate words like Megahertz (MHz → ማጋሄሬዏ) or Hertz (Hz → ሄሬዏ).

Why this matters: Abbreviations in legal templates (Inc., LLC, et al.) and medical documentation (mg, IU, q.i.d.) have established Amharic conventions. IT translation with line-break-induced abbreviation splits looks broken.

Accessibility¶

Microsoft provides people with disabilities with more accessible products and services. Accessibility options and programs make the computer usable by people with cognitive, hearing, physical, or visual disabilities. Hardware and software components engage a flexible, customizable user interface, alternative input/output methods, and greater exposure of screen elements. Some accessible products and services may not be available in Amharic-speaking markets.

Why this matters: Accessible medical translation (large print, alt text for patient handouts) is a legal requirement in many jurisdictions. Legal translation with accessibility considerations matters for court documents and public-facing forms. IT translation must preserve accessibility attributes (aria-labels, alt text) in all UI elements.

Acronyms¶

Acronyms are words made up of initial letters of major parts of a compound term. Examples: WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get), OLE (Object Linking and Embedding), RAM (Random Access Memory).

Many acronyms are standardized and remain untranslated. They are only followed by their full English spelling if the acronym needs explanation for speakers of another language. Where the acronym is common, the full form will only confuse users.

Commonly understood acronyms that should not be localized or spelled out:

• ANSI (American National Standards Institute)
• ISO (International Standards Organization)
• ISDN
• DOS
• DSL
• CD
• DVD

Localized acronyms¶

Not applicable so far. There are no localized acronyms in Amharic.

Unlocalized acronyms¶

Some acronyms are adapted to Amharic as used in English without localization. Examples: ሪሜ, ሱዱ, ዱቡዱ.

Why this matters: Legal translation must keep regulatory acronyms (SEC, FDA, EU) untranslated. Medical translation keeps standard medical acronyms (CT, MRI, EKG). Marketing translation preserves brand initialisms (HP, IBM, BMW). IT translation keeps technical acronyms in their English form.

Applications, products, and features¶

Application and product names are often trademarked and rarely translated. Occasionally, feature names are trademarked too (e.g., IntelliSense™). Before translating any application, product, or feature name, verify that it is in fact translatable and not protected in any way.

Frequent errors¶

The frequent errors observed in software translation in Amharic are:

• Mistranslation of words. Example: “Windows Live ፈሌሜሯሩ” used when (+) ፈሌሜ ሗሴሩያ is the correct form.
• Direct application of English when an Amharic equivalent exists. Example: “Account” rendered as ኜኧ዁ኑት when (+) ሗሇያ is the correct word.
• Inconsistency. Example: Email rendered as ኞ-ማይል (correct), not ኞማሌ or ኞማይሌ.

Why this matters: These three error types are universal across translation domains. Legal translation with inconsistent term renderings creates dispute risk. Medical translation with direct-English-word usage when Amharic terms exist alienates patients. Marketing translation with mistranslation damages brand voice.

Glossaries¶

Translations of terms and UI elements of Microsoft products are available at the Microsoft Language Portal (http://www.microsoft.com/Language/en-US/Default.aspx).

Fictitious information¶

Fictitious content is legally sensitive material and cannot be handled as a pure terminology or localization issue. Vendors and localizers are not allowed to create their own fictitious names. Use the source names or the list of legally approved names. Contact the product team for further information on fictitious companies, names, addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers. For technical products, check with the product team whether localized fictitious content is required (e.g., Visual Studio).

Why this matters: Legal translation of templates (contract examples, deposition templates) uses fictional parties — substituting real names is a liability. Medical translation of training materials uses placeholder patient data. Marketing translation of sample copy must use approved fictitious brands.

Recurring patterns¶

Not applicable to Amharic as a separate category.

Standardized translations¶

There are several standardized translations referenced throughout the guide. The most relevant topics:

• The importance of standardization
• Standard phrases in error messages
• Standard phrases in documentation
• Copyright notice

Unlocalized items¶

Trademarked names and the name Microsoft Corporation should not be localized. The list of Microsoft trademarks is at http://www.microsoft.com/trademarks/t-mark/names.htm.

Keyboard key names are kept verbatim in Amharic:

US English	Amharic
ALT, ALT GR	ALT, ALT GR
BACKSPACE	BACKSPACE
BREAK	BREAK
CAPS LOCK	CAPS LOCK
CLEAR	CLEAR
COMMAND (Macintosh)	COMMAND (Macintosh)
CTRL	CTRL
DEL, DELETE (Macintosh)	DEL, DELETE (Macintosh)
END, ENTER, ESC	END, ENTER, ESC
F1-F12	F1-F12
HOME, INS	HOME, INS
NUMPAD ENTER, NUM LOCK	NUMPAD ENTER, NUM LOCK
NUMPAD +, -, *, /, 0-9	NUMPAD +, -, *, /, 0-9
OPTION (Macintosh)	OPTION (Macintosh)
PAGE DOWN, PAGE UP	PAGE DOWN, PAGE UP
PAUSE, PRINT SCREEN	PAUSE, PRINT SCREEN
RETURN (Macintosh)	RETURN (Macintosh)
SCROLL LOCK, SHIFT	SCROLL LOCK, SHIFT
SPACEBAR, SYS RQ, TAB	SPACEBAR, SYS RQ, TAB

Using the word Microsoft¶

In English, MS as an abbreviation for Microsoft is prohibited. Same convention in Amharic.

English	Amharic
Website addresses will be sent to Microsoft	(+) የዴሬ ጢ቙ያ ኜዴሪሺ዁ ኼዯ Microsoft ይሊኧሌፚ
Microsoft Corporation	(+) Microsoft Corporation

Software considerations¶

User interface¶

Refers to all menus, menu items, commands, buttons, check boxes — should be consistently translated.

Main menus¶

Main menus appear at the top of the UI: File, Edit, View, Insert, Format, Tools, Table, Window, Help. Typically these should be nouns or verbs (infinitive or imperative). Translations should distinguish between verbal and nominal forms of a word.

English	Amharic	Comment
View	(+) ኜሲይ	Verb imperative
View	(+) ትይታ	Noun
Edit	(+) ኜሬትወ	Verb imperative
Edit	(+) ኜሬትዉት	Noun
Insert	(+) ኜሴገቚ	Verb imperative
Insert	(+) ሚሴገ቙ያ	Noun
Format	(+) ቄሬጷት	Noun
Format	(+) ቄሧጼ	Verb imperative
Tools	(+) ሗሢሬያ	Noun
Table	(+) ሯኑጟሧዥ	Noun
Window	(+) ሗሴኪት	Noun
Help	(+) ወገው	Noun

Menu items and commands¶

Typically should be verbs in the imperative mood, second person, singular, masculine.

English	Amharic	Comment
Save As…	(+) ኜሴሿሜጤ ኡኑዯ…	Conjugated verb
Print…	(+) ኜትሜ…	Conjugated verb
Select All	(+) ኱ለኑ ሜሧጤ	Conjugated verb

Recommendation: use “(+) ኜሴሿሜጤ ኡኑዯ…” consistently across all projects for uniformity.

Static text¶

The basic structure of a request is command-type — verb in the imperative.

English	Amharic
Print more than one copy	(+) ኧኑዴ ቗ሊይ ቄጂ ኜትሜ
Select all	(+) ኱ለኑ ሜሧጤ

Dialog boxes¶

When translating dialog box interfaces, use consistent terminology and language style across all dialog boxes and applications. Some applications currently not localized may be localized later — solutions adopted now will be re-used. Particularly important for identical dialog boxes across multiple applications (e.g., the Options dialog under Tools in Office).

Dialog box titles¶

Should be consistent with the menu items or commands that call them. Typically menus are verbs in the imperative mood, so dialog titles should be verbs in the imperative mood.

UI Category	English	Amharic
Menu Item	Split cells	(+) ህ኿ሴ ኩፆሌ
Dialog Title	Split cells	(+) ህ኿ሴ ኩፆሌ

Group box titles¶

Typically a noun or conjugated verb.

English	Amharic
Include with document	(+) ኤሯኌደ ጧሜሧ዁
Printing Options	(+) የኅትሗት ኜሚሪጭች

Check boxes¶

Typically a noun or conjugated verb.

English	Amharic
Enable reminder	(+) ኜሴታ኿ሼ ኜኑቂ
Don’t show me this dialog again.	(+) ይኵኑ ሗገ኏ኗ ዲግሜ ኜታሲየኙ
Always ask me first	(+) ኱ላሜ ኜሴሿዴሗኵ ጟይሿኙ

Buttons¶

Typically a noun or conjugated verb.

English	Amharic
Add	(+) ኜኩሌ
Cancel	(+) ሟሬዏ
Continue	(+) ሿጤሌ

Dialog box tabs¶

Typically a noun or conjugated verb.

English	Amharic
Print	(+) ኡትሜ
Changes	(+) ሇ዁ጥች
Format	(+) ቄሬጷት

Lists, boxes, and tables¶

Use parallel language for UI elements parallel in function. Make items similar in form and use the same part of speech. Where the English has a verb, all translations end with a verb in the imperative. Amharic is always more comfortable with verbs than other word classes. The subject of the introductory phrase is also the subject of the main verb.

Instruction text in dialog boxes¶

When a user is expected to take action on a page or in a section, use the imperative verb.

English	Amharic
Change settings for the files Outlook uses to store e-mail messages and documents.	(+) የፉይልቹኑ ቄኑጅት ሿይሬ Outlook የኞ-ማይሌ ሗሌኡኩት኏ ሯኌዴ ያሴሿሗጤ቗ታሌፚ

Messages¶

Routine translation obligations to produce legible text similar to the source.

Status messages¶

A status bar message is an informational message about the active document or a selected command, or any active or selected interface item. Messages appear in the status bar at the bottom of the window when the user has chosen a menu, command, or other item, or has started a function. Status bar messages refer to actions being performed or already complete.

English status bar	English name	Amharic name	Category	Amharic status bar message
Contains editing commands	Edit	(+) ኜሬትወ	Menu	(+) የኜሬትዉት ትወውዐችኑ ይዟሌ
Copies the selected items to a new location	Copy to Folder…	(+) ቄዲ ኼዯ ኜቂፈ…	Menu	(+) የተሗሧጠትኑ ኑጤልች ኼዯ ኜዱሴ ሤፋሪ ይሿዲቸ኿ሌ
Creates a new document	New	(+) ኜዱሴ	Command	(+) ኜዱሴ ሯኌዴ ፋጟሬ
Make object visible?	(n/a)	(+) ኌገረ ኡኑዱታይ ይሁኑ?	(n/a)	(+) ኌገረ ኡኑዱታይ ይሁኑ?
Word is converting the document. Press Esc to stop.	(n/a)	(+) Word ሯኌደኑ ኡየሿየሧ዁ ኌ዁ፚ ሇሚቅሜ Esc የሙሇ዁ኑ ይጪኍፚ	(n/a)	same
Datasheet View	(n/a)	(+) የ዁ሂቜ ለህ ወይታ	(n/a)	same
Done	(n/a)	(+) ተጟ኏ቈሌ	(n/a)	same

The importance of standardization¶

US source strings often phrase the same meaning differently. Avoid this in the localized Amharic version. Use one standard translation.

English term variations	Correct Amharic translation
Press F1 to get Help / If you want Help press F1 / To get Help press F1	(+) ኡሬዲታ ሇሚግኔት ኤፆሇጉ F1 ይጪኍ
Not enough memory / Insufficient memory / There is not enough memory	(+) ቗ቁ ሚህዯሧ ት዁ሴታ የሇሜ
Save changes to %1? / Do you want to save changes to %1?	(+) ቗%1 ሊይ የተዯሧጉትኑ ሇ዁ጥችኑ ሚሴሿሗጤ ይፆሌጋለ?

Error messages¶

Error messages are sent by the system or a program, informing the user that there is an error that must be corrected to keep the program running. Use consistent terminology and language style across localized error messages; do not translate as they appear in the US product.

Standard phrases for error messages:

English	Amharic	Example
Cannot … / Could not … / Failed to … / Failure of …	(+) …ኜሌተቻሇሜፚ	(+) ፉይለኑ ሚግኔት ኜሌተቻሇሜፚ
Cannot find … / Could not find … / Unable to find … / Unable to locate …	(+) … ሚግኔት ኜሌተቻሇሜፚ	(+) ፉይለኑ ሚግኔት ኜሌተቻሇሜፚ
Not enough memory / Insufficient memory / There is not enough memory / There is not enough memory available	(+) ቗ቁ የሆኌ ሚኅዯሧ ት዁ሴታ የሇሜፚ	same
… is not available / … is unavailable	(+) … የሙገኙ ኜይዯሇሜፚ	(+) ፓርግሪመ የሙገኙ ኜይዯሇሜፚ

Error messages containing placeholders¶

When localizing error messages with placeholders, find out what will replace the placeholder so the sentence is grammatically correct after substitution.

Placeholder	Meaning
%d, %ld, %u, %lu	number (e.g., 3 or 512)
%c	letter (e.g., “f” or “s”)
%s	string (e.g., “Click here to continue.”)

Examples:

Placeholder text	Resulting message
“Checking Web %1!d! of %2!d!”	“Checking Web of “
“INI file “%1!-.200s!” section”	“INI file “” section”

In English source strings, placeholders are in the position where they would naturally occur in English. Since English numerals typically precede the noun, the numeral placeholders typically precede the noun. If the numeral follows the noun it modifies in Amharic, move the placeholder after the noun.

English	Amharic
in %d days	(+) ቗ %d ሿ኏ት
%d minutes	(+) ቗%d ዯቁቂዂች

Why this matters: Placeholders that are translated as visible literal characters break runtime substitution — a top-3 localization bug. Medical translation with placeholders for drug names (“Take %s twice daily”) must produce grammatically correct text after %s replacement. Legal translation with party-name placeholders likewise.

Keys¶

The keyboard is the primary input device for text input in Microsoft Windows. For accessibility and efficiency, most actions can be performed using the keyboard. While working with Microsoft software, users use keys, key combinations, and key sequences.

In English, references to key names (arrow keys, function keys, numeric keys) appear in normal text, not in small caps.

Access keys (hot keys)¶

Note: access key functionality is not supported in the Amharic version of LIP 3.0 Windows 7 and Office 14. This section can generally be ignored.

Option	Allowed	Notes
Slim characters (I, l, t, r, f) as hotkey	n/a	n/a
Downstroke characters (g, j, y, p, q) as hotkey	n/a	n/a
Extended characters as hotkeys	Yes	n/a
Additional letter in brackets after item name as hotkey	Yes	n/a
Number in brackets after item name as hotkey	Yes	n/a
Punctuation in brackets after item name as hotkey	Yes	n/a
Duplicate hotkeys allowed when no other character available	n/a	n/a
No hotkey assigned when no more characters available (minor options)	n/a	n/a

Arrow keys¶

Move input focus among controls within a group. Right arrow moves to next control in tab order, left arrow to previous. Home, End, Up, and Down have their expected behavior within a group. Users cannot navigate out of a control group using arrow keys.

Numeric keypad¶

Recommended to avoid distinguishing numeric keypad keys from other keys unless required by a specific application. If which keys to press is not obvious, provide necessary explanations.

Shortcut keys¶

Shortcut keys are keystrokes or combinations used to perform defined functions. Shortcut keys replace menu commands and sometimes appear next to the command they represent. Unlike access keys, shortcut keys work even when not visible on screen.

Standard shortcut keys¶

General Windows:

Command	Shortcut	Amharic command
Help window	F1	የወገው ሗሴኪት
Context-sensitive Help	Shift+F1	ሁነታ-቗ሿሊለ የሙኌኧ዁ ሁነታ
Display pop-up menu	Shift+F10	ቜቄ ቚይ ሜ኏ላኑ ኜሲይ
Cancel	Esc	ተኼ዁
Activate/deactivate menu bar mode	F10	የሜ኏ላ ኜምላ ሁነታኑ ኜኑቂ/ኜታኑቂ
Switch to next primary application	Alt+Tab	ኼዯሙሿጤሇ዁ ኜኑዯኗ ሗተግ቗ሩያ ሇ዁ጤ
Display next window	Alt+Esc	የሙሿጤሇ዁ኑ ሗሴኪት ኜሲይ
Display pop-up menu for the window	Alt+Spacebar	ሇሗሴኪቱ ቜቄ ቚይ ሜ኏ላኑ ኜሲይ
Display pop-up menu for the active child window	Alt+-	ኑቀ ሇሆኌ዁ የሌጅ ሗሴኪት ቜቄ ቚይ ሜ኏ላኑ ኜሲይ
Display property sheet for current selection	Alt+Enter	ኜሁኑ ሇተሗሧጟ዁ የኑቜሧት ለህ ኜሲይ
Close active application window	Alt+F4	ኑቀ የሆኌ዁ኑ ሗተግ቗ሩያ ሗሴኪት ዏጋ
Switch to next window within (modeless-compliant) application	Alt+F6	ኼዯሙሿጤሇ዁ ሗሴኪት ቗(ሁነታ የሇሼ-ኜቛቱታ) ሗተግ቗ሩያ ሇ዁ጤ
Capture active window image to Clipboard	Alt+Prnt Scrn	ኑቀ዁ኑ የሗሴኪት ሜሴሌ ቄኑጤቜ ሜሴልች ቝሬዴ ሊይ ያዏ
Capture desktop image to Clipboard	Prnt Scrn	ዳሴኩቶፏኑ ቗ቄኑጤቜ ሜሴልች ቝሬዴ ሊይ ኜትሜ
Access Start button in taskbar	Ctrl+Esc	቗ሤሪ ኜምላ ሊይ ጀሜሬ ኜዏሪሬኑ ኜግኙ
Display next child window	Ctrl+F6	የሙሿጤሇ዁ኑ የሌጅ ሗሴኪት ኜሲይ
Display next tabbed pane	Ctrl+Tab	የሙሿጤሇ዁ኑ የተዊጋጀ ሗቂኑ ኜሲይ
Launch Task Manager and system initialization	Ctrl+Shift+Esc	የሤሪ ኜሴተዲዲሩ኏ የሴሌት ሚሴጀሗሩያ ኜሴጀሜሬ

File menu:

Command	Shortcut	Amharic command
File New	Ctrl+N	ኜዱሴ ፉይሌ
File Open	Ctrl+O	ፉይሌ ኩፆት
File Close	Ctrl+F4	ፉይሌ ዏጋ
File Save	Ctrl+S	ፉይሌ ኜሴሿሜጤ
File Save as	F12	ፉይሌ ኜሴሿሜጤ ኡኑዯ
File Print Preview	Ctrl+F2	ፉይሌ ኤሔትሗት ቗ፈት ወይታ
File Print	Ctrl+P	ፉይሌ ኜትሜ
File Exit	Alt+F4	ኤፉይሌ ዁ጢ

Edit menu:

Command	Shortcut	Amharic command
Edit Undo	Ctrl+Z	ኼዯ኉ሊ ሗሌሴ ኜሬትወ
Edit Repeat	Ctrl+Y	ዴገሜኑ ኜሬትወ
Edit Cut	Ctrl+X	ቀሧጤኑ ኜሬትወ
Edit Copy	Ctrl+C	ቄዲኑ ኜሬትወ
Edit Paste	Ctrl+V	ሇጤፋኑ ኜሬትወ
Edit Delete	Ctrl+Backspace	ሯሬዏኑ ኜሬትወ
Edit Select All	Ctrl+A	ሁለኑሜ ሜሬጤ ኜሬትወ
Edit Find	Ctrl+F	ኜግኙኑ ኜሬትወ
Edit Replace	Ctrl+H	ተኧኑ ኜሬትወ
Edit Go To	Ctrl+B	ኼዯ… ሂዴኑ ኜሬትወ

Help menu:

Command	Shortcut	Amharic command
Help	F1	አፋ1

Font Format:

Command	Shortcut	Amharic command
Italic	Ctrl+I	ኜግዴሜ ጼሁፋ
Bold	Ctrl+G	ዴሬቜ ጼሁፋ
Underlined/Word underline	Ctrl+U	ኤቂለ ሴሬ ኜሴሜሬ቗ት
Large caps	Ctrl+Shift+A	ሯፉፈ ሆሄያት
Small caps	Ctrl+Shift+K	ት኏ኑሼ ሆሄያት

Paragraph Format:

Command	Shortcut	Amharic command
Centered	Ctrl+E	ሗሃሌ ሊይ የተሿሗጟ
Left aligned	Ctrl+L	቗ግሪ ቗እሌ የተሯሇፆ
Right aligned	Ctrl+R	቗ሿኙ ቗እሌ የተሯሇፆ
Justified	Ctrl+J	የተሧጋገጟ

Why this matters: Keyboard shortcut documentation in medical software (EHR, lab systems) and legal practice management software must match localized UI exactly. IT training materials must localize shortcut descriptions while keeping Latin-key labels for cross-reference.

Document translation considerations¶

Document localization may require considerations different from software localization.

Titles¶

In English, chapter titles often begin with “How to…”, “Working with…”, or “Using…”. In Amharic Microsoft documentation, the same style is used.

English	Amharic
How to use Outlook	(+) Outlookኑ ኡኑዳት ሗጟሿሜ ይቻሊሌ
How to create a table	(+) ሯኑጟሧዥ ኡኑዳት ሗፋጟሬ ይቻሊሌ

Headings for topics in Troubleshooting Help are often constructed after the pattern “I have done so and so, but this or that does not happen”. Keep the same grammatical structure in Amharic.

Copyright¶

Copyright protection is granted to any original work of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression from which it can be perceived, reproduced, or communicated.

Translation of copyright text should be consistent within the localized product and across Amharic versions of Microsoft products. Important rules:

• No changes in copyright text are allowed until the English text differs. Different Amharic translation should be treated as a minor style error unless meaning is the same (if meaning changes, it is an accuracy error).
• Logo word position: all logo occurrences should be at the end of Amharic trademark enumeration regardless of where the <name> logo part is placed in English. The logo in Amharic must be associated only with the immediately following product/technology name (not with subsequent names).

English

Amharic

© 2011 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. The example companies, organizations, products, people, and events depicted herein are fictitious. No association with any real company, organization, product, person, or event is intended or should be inferred. Microsoft, the Office logo, Outlook, PowerPoint, SharePoint, Windows, the Windows logo, and Windows Server are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

(+) © 2011 Microsoft Corporation. ሁለሜ ሗቜቱ የተጟ቗ሿ ኌ዁ፚ ኡዌህ ሊይ የተገሇጸት የእቚኑያ፛ የዴሬጅት፛ የሜሬት፛ የሯዂች፛ ኡ኏ የዏግጅቶች ሴምች ሁለ ፆጟሪ ኏ቸ዁ፚ ኤሚ኏ቸ዁ሜ ቗዁ኑ ኧሇ እቚኑያ፛ ዴሬጅት፛ ሜሬት፛ ሯ዁ ኼይሜ ዏግጅት ጋሬ ሜኑሜ ዆ይኌት ሆኑ ተቜል የተዯሧገ የሚውሗዴ/ የሚገ኏ኔት ሤሪ የሇሜፚ Microsoft፛ የOffice ልጎ፛ Outlook፛ PowerPoint፛ SharePoint፛ Windows፛Windows Server፛ የWindows ልጎ የMicrosoft Corporation ቗ዩ኏ይትዴ ሴቴትሴ ኡ኏/ ኼይሜ ቗ላልች ሃገርችየተሗዊገቘ የኑግዴ ሜሌኩቶች ኼይሜ የኑግዴ ሜሌኩቶች ኏ቸ዁ፚ

Why this matters: Copyright notices are legal text. Legal translation of EULAs, software licenses, and IP boilerplate must preserve trademark integrity and not introduce ambiguity. Trademark localization rules are a known compliance area for international product launches.

Describing actions with UI items¶

The English verb “click” is translated as ጟቄ ያዴሬጉ.

Example: (+) ኜሬትወ የሙሇ዁ኑ ጟቄ ያዴሬጉ.

Standard phrases in documentation¶

English	Amharic
What do you want to do?	(+) ሜኑ ሚዴሧግ ይፆሌጋለ? or (+) ሚዴሧግ የሙፆሌጉት:
To … Press / Do this	(+) … (ሇሚዴሧግ)፛ ይጪኍ/ ይህኑ ያዴሬጉ
See also	(+) ቗ተጧሚሩ ይሗሌኤቱ
For more information click [>>]	(+) ሇ቗ሇጟ ሗሧጃ [>>]ኑ ይጪኍ
For more information please refer to…	(+) ሇ቗ሇጟ ሗሧጃ …ኑ ይሗሌኤቱፚ

Why this matters: Standardized “see also” / “for more information” phrasing is consistent within a product and across legal references (“see Section X”), medical references (“see also Appendix B”), and IT documentation (“see also: troubleshooting guide”). Inconsistent rendering of these connective phrases is a common defect.

Reference materials¶

Normative references¶

These must be adhered to. Any deviation automatically fails a string. When more than one solution is allowed, look for the recommended one in other parts of the guide.

1. ኦዲኌ ኼሌዴ ኩፋላ 1948 ዆.ሜ., ሗጼሏፆ ሴ኿ሴ዁ ኼሗዏገ቗ ቂሊት ሏዱሴ, ኜሬቲሴቲኩ ሚ/ቛት, ኜዱሴ ኜ቗ቚ.
2. ዯሴታ ተ/ኼሌዴ 1962 ዆.ሜ., ኜዱሴ የኜሚሬኗ ሗዏገ቗ ቂሊት, ኜሬቲሴቲኩ ሚ/ቛት, ኜዱሴ ኜ቗ቚ.
3. የኞትዮጴያ ቈኑቈዂች ጤ኏ት኏ ሜሬሜሬ ሚኡኤሌ 2001 ዆.ሜ., ኜሚሬኗ ሗዏገ቗ ቂሊት, ኜዱሴ ኜ቗ቚ ዩ኎቟ሬሱቲ ሚ/ቛት, ኜዱሴ ኜ቗ቚ.

Informative references¶

Supplementary information, background, comparison.

1. ትኑሲአ ሚሲተሙያ ዴሬጅት 1987 ዆.ሜ., ሴ኿ሴኼ ግኡዏ, ኑግዴ ሚ/ቛት, ኜዱሴ ኜ቗ቚ.
2. ኤሢቴ ቜሬሃኑ ተሯሚ 1951 ዆.ሜ., የኜሚሬኗ ሗዏገ቗ ቂሊት, ኜዱሴ ኜ቗ቚ.
3. ሗሌኜኤቜሬሃኑ ኜዴሚሰጀሜ቗ራ 1983 ዆.ሜ., ሗጼሏፆቄነ (ዏኩሧሉቂ዁ኑት), ትኑሢአ ዊጉቚአ ሚ/ቛት, ኜዱሴ ኜ቗ቚ.
4. http://www.abyssiniagateway.net/fidel/unicode/new/recommendation.html
5. http://www.abyssiniagateway.net/fidel/unicode/new/references.html#Dehne

FAQ¶

What register should I use for Amharic translation?¶

Informal — second-person singular masculine for commands and addressing the user. This matches how Amharic speakers actually communicate in conversational and consumer contexts. Formal plural conjugation creates distance and feels inappropriate in software UI, marketing copy, and patient-facing health materials. Legal contracts and government documents retain more formality.

How should I handle Ethiopic vs Arabic numerals?¶

Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3) are standard for dates, prices, and quantitative values in most modern contexts. Ethiopic numerals (፩, ፪, ፫) appear in some traditional documents and certain date formats but lack a zero, so they are not a true decimal system. Default to Arabic numerals in IT, medical, and marketing translation; use Ethiopic numerals only when source or client explicitly requires them.

Which Amharic punctuation marks replace English equivalents?¶

ፚ (U+1362, full stop), ፛ (U+1363, comma), ፜ (U+1364, semicolon), ፝ (U+1365, colon), and ? for question marks. Do not use the double-dot ፙ as a word separator — use a single space. Quotation marks «…» are preferred over English-style quotes.

How do Amharic verbs differ structurally from English?¶

The verb always comes at the end. “I saw the program” becomes ፓርግሪመኑ ኜየሁት (literally: program-the I-saw). “I use Microsoft” becomes የሜጟሿሗ዁ Miscrosoft ኌ዁ፚ (what-I-use Microsoft is). The verb also encodes person, number, and gender, so independent pronouns are usually dropped — “You are connected” renders without an explicit “you”.

What’s the Ethiopian calendar consideration for date translation?¶

Ethiopia uses its own calendar (Ethiopian/A.D.), with the first week of the year falling around September 11 or 12 and the first day of the week being Sunday (ኡሁዴ). Date format is dd/MM/yyyy. The Latin-script abbreviation ኡ.ኜ.ኜ marks Gregorian dates and ዆/ሜ marks Ethiopian dates — disambiguation matters for legal documents, medical records, and event scheduling.

How should the English word “please” be handled?¶

Do not translate as ኡቚኩህ. That word conveys strong pleading or exasperation rather than polite request, so it lands as inappropriate or rude in software prompts and consumer-facing text. Politeness is encoded through Amharic verb conjugation and tone variation, not a separate word.

How is gender-neutrality handled in Amharic translation?¶

Three rules: use masculine for user-to-computer commands (ሯሬዏ, ሗሌሴ), use plural/polite form for computer-to-user messages and unclear contexts (ኜሁኑ ኤ቗የኌሗሧቘ ጋሬ ተገ኏ኙተ኿ሌ), use general nouns like ሯ዁ (person), ተጟቂሙዂች (users), ሯዂች (persons) rather than gendered phrasing. Avoid ኡሰ ኼይሜ ኡሶ (“he or she”).

Sources¶

• Microsoft Localization Style Guides hub
• Unicode Ethiopic block reference
• Abyssinia Gateway — Ethiopic script resources