Editing Amharic (section)

==== Personal pronouns ====
Amharic grammar distinguishes [[grammatical person|person]], [[grammatical number|number]], and often [[grammatical gender|gender]]. This includes [[personal pronoun]]s such as English ''I'', Amharic {{lang|am|እኔ}} {{transliteration|am|ǝne}}; English ''she'', Amharic {{lang|am|እሷ}} {{transliteration|am|ǝsswa}}. As in other Semitic languages, the same distinctions appear in three other places in their grammar.

; Subject–verb agreement
All Amharic verbs [[agreement (linguistics)|agree]] with their [[subject (grammar)|subjects]]; that is, the person, number, and (in the second- and third-person singular) gender of the subject of the verb are marked by [[affix|suffixes or prefixes]] on the verb. Because the affixes that signal subject agreement vary greatly with the particular verb [[grammatical tense|tense]]/[[grammatical aspect|aspect]]/[[grammatical mood|mood]], they are normally not considered to be pronouns and are discussed elsewhere in this article under verb [[#Conjugation|conjugation]].
; Object pronoun suffixes
Amharic verbs often have additional morphology that indicates the person, number, and (second- and third-person singular) gender of the object of the verb.
{{fs interlinear|indent=2|lang = am| transl = EAE
|አልማዝን  አየኋት
|almazǝn  ayyähʷ-'''at'''
|Almaz-ACC  {I saw '''her'''}
|'I saw Almaz.'}}

While morphemes such as {{Lang|am-latn|-at}} in this example are sometimes described as signaling [[object (grammar)|object]] agreement, analogous to subject agreement, they are more often thought of as object pronoun [[affix|suffixes]]{{fact|date=November 2024}}<!--I don't see the contradiction. A suffix can express pronominal agreement.--> because, unlike the markers of subject agreement, they do not vary significantly with the tense/aspect/mood of the verb.  For [[verb argument|arguments]] of the verb other than the subject or the object, there are two separate sets of related suffixes, one with a [[benefactive]] meaning (''to'', ''for''), the other with an adversative or locative meaning (''against'', ''to the detriment of'', ''on'', ''at'').
{{fs interlinear|indent=2|lang = am| transl = EAE
|ለአልማዝ  በሩን  ከፈትኩላት
|läʾalmaz  bärrun  käffätku-'''llat'''
|for-Almaz  door-DEF-ACC  {I opened '''for her'''}
|'I opened the door for Almaz.'}}

{{fs interlinear|indent=2|lang = am| transl = EAE
|በአልማዝ  በሩን  ዘጋሁባት
|bäʾalmaz  bärrun  zäggahu-'''bbat'''
|on-Almaz  door-DEF-ACC  {I closed '''on her'''}
|'I closed the door on Almaz (to her detriment).'}}

Morphemes such as {{Lang|am-latn|-llat}} and {{Lang|am-latn|-bbat}} in these examples will be referred to in this article as '''prepositional object pronoun suffixes''' because they correspond to prepositional phrases such as ''for her'' and ''on her'', to distinguish them from the '''direct object pronoun suffixes''' such as {{Lang|am-latn|-at}} 'her'.
;Possessive suffixes
Amharic has a further set of morphemes that are suffixed to nouns, signaling [[possession (linguistics)|possession]]: {{lang|am|ቤት}} {{Lang|am-latn|bet}} {{Gloss|house}}, {{lang|am|ቤቴ}} {{Lang|am-latn|bete}}, {{Gloss|my house}}, {{lang|am|ቤቷ}}; {{Lang|am-latn|betwa}}, {{Gloss|her house}}.

In each of these four aspects of the grammar, independent pronouns, subject–verb agreement, object pronoun suffixes, and possessive suffixes, Amharic distinguishes eight combinations of person, number, and gender. For first person, there is a two-way distinction between singular (''I'') and plural (''we''), whereas for second and third persons, there is a distinction between singular and plural and within the singular a further distinction between masculine and feminine (''you m. sg.'', ''you f. sg.'', ''you pl.'', ''he'', ''she'', ''they'').

Amharic is a [[pro-drop language]]: neutral sentences in which no element is emphasized normally omit independent pronouns: {{lang|am|ኢትዮጵያዊ ነው}} {{transliteration|am|ʾityop̣p̣yawi näw}} 'he's Ethiopian', {{lang|am|ጋበዝኳት}} {{transliteration|am|gabbäzkwat}} 'I invited her'.  The Amharic words that translate ''he'', ''I'', and ''her'' do not appear in these sentences as independent words. However, in such cases, the person, number, and (second- or third-person singular) gender of the subject and object are marked on the verb.  When the subject or object in such sentences is emphasized, an independent pronoun is used: {{lang|am|እሱ ኢትዮጵያዊ ነው}} {{transliteration|am|'''ǝssu''' ʾityop̣p̣yawi näw}} '<nowiki/>'''he'<nowiki/>'''s Ethiopian', {{lang|am|እኔ ጋበዝኳት}} {{transliteration|am|'''ǝne''' gabbäzkwat}} '<nowiki/>'''I''' invited her', {{lang|am|እሷን ጋበዝኳት}} {{transliteration|am|'''ǝsswan''' gabbäzkwat}} 'I invited '''her''''.

The table below shows alternatives for many of the forms. The choice depends on what precedes the form in question, usually whether this is a vowel or a consonant, for example, for the first-person singular possessive suffix, {{lang|am|ሀገሬ}} {{transliteration|am|hagär-e}} 'my country', {{lang|am|ገላዬ}} {{transliteration|am|gäla-ye}} 'my body'.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|+Amharic personal pronouns
! rowspan="3" | English
! rowspan="3" | Independent
! colspan="3" | Object pronoun suffixes
! rowspan="3" | Possessive suffixes
|-
! rowspan="2" | Direct
! colspan="2" | Prepositional
|-
! Benefactive
! Locative/<br />adversative
|-
| I
| {{lang|am|እኔ}}<br />{{Lang|am-latn|ǝne}}
| {{Lang|am-latn|-(ä/ǝ)ñ}}
| {{Lang|am-latn|-(ǝ)llǝñ}}
| {{Lang|am-latn|-(ǝ)bbǝñ}}
| {{Lang|am-latn|-(y)e}}
|-
| you (m. sg.)
| {{lang|am|አንተ}}<br />{{Lang|am-latn|antä}}
| {{Lang|am-latn|-(ǝ)h}}
| {{Lang|am-latn|-(ǝ)llǝh}}
| {{Lang|am-latn|-(ǝ)bbǝh}}
| {{Lang|am-latn|-(ǝ)h}}
|-
| you (f. sg.)
| {{lang|am|አንቺ}}<br />{{Lang|am-latn|anči}}
| {{Lang|am-latn|-(ǝ)š}}
| {{Lang|am-latn|-(ǝ)llǝš}}
| {{Lang|am-latn|-(ǝ)bbǝš}}
| {{Lang|am-latn|-(ǝ)š}}
|-
| you (polite)
| {{lang|am|እርስዎ}}<br />{{Lang|am-latn|ərswo}}
| {{Lang|am-latn|-(ǝ)wo(t)}}
| {{Lang|am-latn|-(ǝ)llǝwo(t)}}
| {{Lang|am-latn|-(ǝ)bbǝwo(t)}}
| {{Lang|am-latn|-wo}}
|-
| he
| {{lang|am|እሱ}}<br />{{Lang|am-latn|ǝssu}}
| {{Lang|am-latn|-(ä)w}}, {{Lang|am-latn|-t}}
| {{Lang|am-latn|-(ǝ)llät}}
| {{Lang|am-latn|-(ǝ)bbät}}
| {{Lang|am-latn|-(w)u}}
|-
| she
| {{lang|am|እሷ}}<br />{{Lang|am-latn|ǝsswa}}
| {{Lang|am-latn|-at}}
| {{Lang|am-latn|-(ǝ)llat}}
| {{Lang|am-latn|-(ǝ)bbat}}
| {{Lang|am-latn|-wa}}
|-
| s/he (polite)
| {{lang|am|እሳቸው}}<br />{{Lang|am-latn|ǝssaččäw}}
| {{Lang|am-latn|-aččäw}}
| {{Lang|am-latn|-(ǝ)llaččäw}}
| {{Lang|am-latn|-(ǝ)bbaččäw}}
| {{Lang|am-latn|-aččäw}}
|-
| we
| {{lang|am|እኛ}}<br />{{Lang|am-latn|ǝñña}}
| {{Lang|am-latn|-(ä/ǝ)n}}
| {{Lang|am-latn|-(ǝ)llǝn}}
| {{Lang|am-latn|-(ǝ)bbǝn}}
| {{Lang|am-latn|-aččǝn}}
|-
| you (pl.)
| {{lang|am|እናንተ}}<br />{{Lang|am-latn|ǝnnantä}}
| {{Lang|am-latn|-aččǝhu}}
| {{Lang|am-latn|-(ǝ)llaččǝhu}}
| {{Lang|am-latn|-(ǝ)bbaččǝhu}}
| {{Lang|am-latn|-aččǝhu}}
|-
| they
| {{lang|am|እነሱ}}<br />{{Lang|am-latn|ǝnnässu}}
| {{Lang|am-latn|-aččäw}}
| {{Lang|am-latn|-(ǝ)llaččäw}}
| {{Lang|am-latn|-(ǝ)bbaččäw}}
| {{Lang|am-latn|-aččäw}}
|}

Within second- and third-person singular, there are two additional polite independent pronouns, for reference to people to whom the speaker wishes to show respect. This usage is an example of the so-called [[T–V distinction]] that is made in many languages. The polite pronouns in Amharic are {{lang|am|እርስዎ}} {{Lang|am-latn|ǝrswo}} 'you (sg. polite)'. and {{lang|am|እሳቸው}} {{Lang|am-latn|ǝssaččäw}}  's/he (polite)'.  Although these forms are singular semantically—they refer to one person—they correspond to third-person plural elsewhere in the grammar, as is common in other T–V systems.  For the possessive pronouns, however, the polite 2nd person has the special suffix {{Lang|am-latn|-wo}} 'your sg. pol.'

For possessive pronouns ('mine', 'yours', etc.), Amharic adds the independent pronouns to the preposition {{transliteration|am|yä-}} 'of': {{lang|am|የኔ}} {{transliteration|am|yäne}} 'mine', {{lang|am|ያንተ}} {{transliteration|am|yantä}} 'yours m. sg.', {{lang|am|ያንቺ}} {{transliteration|am|yanči}} 'yours f. sg.', {{lang|am|የሷ}} {{transliteration|am|yässwa}} 'hers', etc.