Amharic · አማርኛ
Amharic Word Search Puzzles
Vocabulary lists are easy to read and easy to forget. Puzzles make you look at every fidel — which is exactly what builds recognition. Free sample puzzle and word lists below.
Do word searches actually help you learn Amharic?
Yes — for one specific skill: character recognition. To find a word in a fidel grid you have to check it character by character against dozens of similar shapes. That slow, deliberate scanning is precisely what turns effortful decoding into automatic reading. A vocabulary list lets you skim; a puzzle does not. It will not teach you grammar or pronunciation, so it works best alongside an alphabet book or a structured course.
Free sample puzzle
Eight everyday Amharic words are hidden in the grid below — horizontally, vertically and diagonally. Each cell holds one fidel character, so a three-character word occupies three cells.
| ቱ | ሆ | ሰ | ህ | ኩ | ጌ | ማ | ቂ | ቴ | ሜ | ኦ | ሙ |
| ካ | ቄ | ኩ | ዶ | ዛ | ሪ | ሎ | ኬ | ው | ሃ | ካ | ዌ |
| ራ | ብ | ል | ከ | የ | ሉ | ሰ | ኪ | ለ | ዊ | ር | አ |
| ዛ | እ | ት | ዱ | ቅ | ና | ኬ | ላ | ፎ | ኒ | ቤ | ቃ |
| ሳ | ዳ | ሪ | ዝ | ዱ | ሳ | ላ | ካ | ም | ቃ | ኤ | አ |
| ፈ | ቡ | ዪ | ኑ | ቁ | ወ | ሊ | ሙ | ኢ | ቡ | ና | ቴ |
| ረ | ይ | ቡ | ም | ኖ | ቴ | ህ | ዙ | ሊ | ዮ | ኩ | ካ |
| ዳ | ፈ | ዶ | ቅ | ቡ | ዜ | ቢ | ኮ | አ | ኬ | ዴ | ኒ |
| ሉ | ጊ | ሌ | ቀ | ይ | ሶ | እ | ና | ት | ኔ | ዝ | ዙ |
| ሉ | ዳ | ቦ | ለ | ዪ | ዝ | ቄ | ው | ካ | አ | ን | ድ |
| ዛ | ገ | ኑ | ቁ | የ | ተ | ፉ | ዙ | ቢ | ሂ | ሰ | ና |
| ባ | ረ | ዉ | መ | አ | ለ | ሮ | ደ | ቁ | ሚ | ኞ | ያ |
Find these words
- ሰላም selam peace / hello
- ውሃ wəha water
- ቡና buna coffee
- ቀይ qäy red
- እናት ənat mother
- ዳቦ dabbo bread
- ሰኞ säño Monday
- አንድ and one
Tip: scan for the first character of a word across each row before checking the rest. That is far faster than reading every cell.
Essential Amharic vocabulary by theme
A starting set of everyday Amharic words in Ge'ez script with English meanings and transliteration. These are the themes worth learning first — they cover most of what you need for basic conversation.
Greetings & courtesy
| ሰላም | selam | hello / peace |
| እንደምን አደርክ | əndemən aderk | good morning |
| እንደምን አመሸህ | əndemən ameshäh | good evening |
| ደህና ሁን | dehna hun | goodbye |
| አመሰግናለሁ | ameseginalehu | thank you |
| እባክህ | əbakəh | please |
| ይቅርታ | yəqərta | sorry / excuse me |
| አዎ | awo | yes |
Numbers 1–10
| አንድ | and | one |
| ሁለት | hulet | two |
| ሦስት | sost | three |
| አራት | arat | four |
| አምስት | amməst | five |
| ስድስት | sədəst | six |
| ሰባት | säbat | seven |
| አስር | assər | ten |
Colors
| ቀይ | qäy | red |
| ሰማያዊ | sämayawi | blue |
| አረንጓዴ | arängwade | green |
| ቢጫ | bicha | yellow |
| ጥቁር | ṭəqur | black |
| ነጭ | näch | white |
| ቡናማ | bunamma | brown |
| ግራጫ | gəracha | grey |
Family
| እናት | ənat | mother |
| አባት | abbat | father |
| ወንድም | wändəm | brother |
| እህት | əhət | sister |
| ልጅ | ləj | child |
| አያት | ayat | grandparent |
| ሚስት | mist | wife |
| ባል | bal | husband |
Food & drink
| እንጀራ | ənjära | injera |
| ውሃ | wəha | water |
| ቡና | buna | coffee |
| ዳቦ | dabbo | bread |
| ስጋ | səga | meat |
| ወተት | wätät | milk |
| ሽንኩርት | shənkurt | onion |
| በርበሬ | bärbäre | berbere spice |
Days of the week
| ሰኞ | säño | Monday |
| ማክሰኞ | maksäño | Tuesday |
| ረቡዕ | räbuʽ | Wednesday |
| ሐሙስ | hamus | Thursday |
| ዓርብ | ʽarb | Friday |
| ቅዳሜ | qədame | Saturday |
| እሁድ | əhud | Sunday |
Why 2000 words is the number that matters
Roughly 2000 words covers the large majority of everyday Amharic. That is the threshold where you stop translating in your head and start following conversation — reading signs, messages and short texts without constant lookup. Below it, every sentence has a gap; above it, the gaps become rare enough to guess from context.
Getting there needs repetition you will actually do. A puzzle is a break, not a chore, which means you keep practising on days a textbook would stay shut. That is the real argument for it: not that it is the most efficient method per minute, but that it is the one you come back to.
Paperback · 105 pages · ISBN 979-8189582356
2000 Amharic Words Word Search Puzzles
100 themed puzzles, one per page, covering 2000 essential Amharic words in Ge'ez script, by Mesmer Amharic. Every word listed with its English meaning, generous 18×18 grids with large clear characters, and a complete answer key for every puzzle. Themes cover greetings, numbers, colors, family, the body, food and drink, animals, days and months, clothing, school, weather, nature, travel, work, health, emotions, money, sports, music, religion, technology, farming, holidays and dozens more.
View on Amazon →Frequently asked
Do I need to know the alphabet first?
Not fluently. If you can recognise most of the fidel you can start today. If you are still learning them, puzzles are one of the most effective drills available — matching characters in a grid trains your eye faster than reciting a chart. Start with the complete Amharic alphabet chart if you are at zero.
Do I need to speak Amharic?
No. Every word comes with its English meaning, so you are building vocabulary and reading at the same time. This suits heritage learners who understand spoken Amharic but never learned to read it.
What does selam mean?
ሰላም (selam) means "peace" and is the everyday Amharic greeting — the equivalent of hello. The same word carries the same meaning in Tigrinya and Ge'ez, since all three are Semitic languages sharing much core vocabulary.
Is this suitable for children?
Yes, for children who can already recognise most fidel characters — typically age eight and up. Ethiopian families abroad often use puzzles as low-pressure home practice, since it feels like a game rather than a lesson.