Tigrinya · ትግርኛ

Tigrinya 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 Tigrinya?

Yes — for one specific skill: recognising the fidel at speed. To find a word in the 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 pair it with the Tigrinya course.

Free sample puzzle

Eight everyday Tigrinya words are hidden below — horizontally, vertically and diagonally. Each cell holds one fidel character, so a three-character word occupies three cells.

ኣ ዋ ህ ሴ ሙ ራ ህ ዬ ሶ ፉ ካ ዔ
ቦ ድ ሳ ሽ ሊ ዱ ቤ ሕ ቁ ቄ ሔ ራ
ፋ ዲ ፋ ድ ሙ ዑ ቂ ካ ን ሲ ጤ ዖ
ኔ ዊ ያ ጊ ዐ ኤ ድ ቡ ዐ ት ሆ ሚ
ስ ገ ሀ ዶ ሓ ፈ ጠ በ ፎ ኤ ፊ ረ
ሼ ሹ ክ ኩ ኬ ኡ ቦ ም ሹ ሒ ሺ ዜ
ዌ ስ ሊ ጠ ብ ዖ ሶ ሃ ኬ ዶ ጋ ሰ
ው ተ ቦ ሶ ፋ ሓ የ ዖ ዴ ሐ ና ላ
ሎ ታ ኔ ሉ ዚ ተ ሹ ዒ ሓ ሓ ኪ ም
ሲ ሳ ዳ ል ቱ ይ ላ ሰ ደ ጡ ዳ ለ
ቅ ዊ ጫ ሴ ማ ዋ ዜ ም ድ ዳ ኡ ሰ
ጣ ብ ነ ሰ ሂ ዎ ሬ ሆ ቴ ኦ ተ ዚ

Find these words

  • ሰላም selam hello
  • ማይ may water
  • ቡን bun coffee
  • ሓደ hade one
  • ኣቦ abo father
  • ላም lam cow
  • ድሙ dmu cat
  • ብጫ bicha yellow

Tip: scan each row for the first character of a word before checking the rest. Far faster than reading every cell.

Essential Tigrinya vocabulary by theme

A starting set of everyday Tigrinya words in the fidel with English meanings and transliteration — the same vocabulary taught in our Tigrinya course, where every word also has native-speaker audio.

Greetings & politeness

ሰላም selam hello
ከመይ ኣለኻ kemey aleka how are you? (to a man)
ጽቡቕ tsbuq good / fine
ማርሓባ marhaba welcome
የቐንየለይ yeqenyeley thank you
በጃኻ bejaka please (to a man)
እወ ewe yes
ኣይፋልን ayfalen no

Numbers 1–10

ሓደ hade one
ክልተ klte two
ሰለስተ seleste three
ኣርባዕተ arbaete four
ሓሙሽተ hamushte five
ሽዱሽተ shdushte six
ሸውዓተ shewate seven
ዓሰርተ aserte ten

Colors

ቀይሕ qeyih red
ጸሊም tselim black
ጻዕዳ tsaeda white
ቀጠልያ qetelya green
ብጫ bicha yellow
ሰማያዊ semayawi blue

Family

ኣቦ abo father
ኣደ ade mother
ሓው haw brother
ሓፍቲ hafti sister
ስድራ sdra family

Food & drink

ማይ may water
ጸባ tseba milk
ቡን bun coffee
ሻሂ shahi tea
ጽሟቕ tsmwaq juice

Days of the week

ሰኑይ senuy Monday
ሰሉስ selus Tuesday
ረቡዕ rebue Wednesday
ሓሙስ hamus Thursday
ዓርቢ arbi Friday
ቀዳም qedam Saturday
ሰንበት senbet Sunday

Animals

ከልቢ kelbi dog
ድሙ dmu cat
ላም lam cow
ኣድጊ adgi donkey
ደርሆ derho chicken

The body

ርእሲ resi head
ዓይኒ ayni eye
እዝኒ ezni ear
ኣፍንጫ afncha nose
ኣፍ af mouth

Why 2000 words is the number that matters

Roughly 2000 words covers the large majority of everyday Tigrinya. That is the threshold where you stop translating in your head and start following conversation — reading messages, signs 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.

Paperback · 105 pages · ISBN 979-8199546140

2000 Tigrinya Words Word Search Puzzles

ነዘም 2000 ቃላት ትግርኛ ደሊኹም ክትረኽብዎም ትኽእሉ፦ ትግርኛ ፑዘል መጽሓፍ

A 2,000-word search book covering Tigrinya words across 100 categories, written in the fidel with English meanings, by Mesmer Tigrinya. Helpful for building Tigrinya vocabulary — and for entertaining and sharpening the mind.

View on Amazon →

Frequently asked

How many letters are in the Tigrinya alphabet?

Tigrinya uses 32 base consonant families, each in 7 vowel orders — roughly 224 commonly used characters. Amharic shares the script but uses 34 families. See the free interactive Tigrinya alphabet chart to hear every letter.

Do I need to know the fidel first?

Not fluently. If you recognise most characters 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.

How do you say hello in Tigrinya?

ሰላም (selam) means "peace" and is the everyday greeting. To ask how someone is: ከመይ ኣለኻ (kemey aleka) to a man, ከመይ ኣለኺ (kemey aleki) to a woman. Thank you is የቐንየለይ (yeqenyeley).

Is this suitable for children?

Yes, for children who already recognise most fidel characters — typically age eight and up. Eritrean and Tigrayan families abroad often use puzzles as low-pressure home practice, since it feels like a game rather than a lesson.

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