10/11/21, 10:30 PM Afaan Oromo/Chapter 08 - Wikibooks, open books for an open world

Afaan Oromo/Chapter 08
< Afaan Oromo

Chapter 8: Adverbs
Continue to Next Chapter
⇐ Back to Previous Chapter Back to Contents
⇒

Adverbs may modify the manner of an action (e.g., “he talks loudly”), indicate the time of action (“I
will go to Addis tomorrow”), give location (“my house is far from here”), or indicate degree (“I like it a
lot”).

This book includes inline links to audio files. If you

have trouble playing the files, see media help.

Bus Station Conversation

To play audio files, click the word, not the speaker icon. All audio files are OGG format, which are
handled differently by different browsers.
See help page for help playing these files.

Play all

Imalaa: Sa'aatiin meeqa? play

Gargaaraa: Sa'aatii lama fi walakaa. play

Imalaa: Sa'aatii meeqatti otobisii gara Jimma deema? play

Gargaaraa: Sa'aatii afuritti deema. play

Imalaa: Amma otobisiichi asi jira? play

Gargaaraa: Lakki. Amma asi hin deemu. Ganama asitti argama. play

Imalaa: Hammam dheerata Jimma ga'uf? play

Gargaaraa: Asirra sa'atti sadii fudhata. play

Imalaa: Kan biraa isaa dura kan deemu jira? play

Gargaaraa: Kan dursu amma hin jiru. Baasiin Jimma sa'atti kudha lama, sa'atti afur, fi sa'atti
saddeetitti. play

https://en.m.wikibooks.org/wiki/Afaan_Oromo/Chapter_08# 1/11
10/11/21, 10:30 PM Afaan Oromo/Chapter 08 - Wikibooks, open books for an open world

Imalaa: Tole. Galatomi. play

Gargaaraa: Homaa miti. play

[For translation see here]

Adverbs of Manner

Adverbs of manner can be formed from a verb, by putting the modifying verb in the simple past, or
from an adjective or noun, by using the locative or instrumental declension.

Using the Simple Past as an Adverb

An adverbial phrase may be constructed using two verbs together, with the adverbial verb coming
first and in the simple past form.

Examples:

“Inni jabeesse hojjate” — “He worked hard” [lit. “He made strong worked”]

“Isheen laaffifte dubbatte” — “She spoke softly” [lit. “She made soft spoke”]

“Ani daafe nan deema” — “I will hurriedly go” [lit. “I hurried will go”]

Using the Instrumental Case as an Adverb

Nouns have several cases they can take, including the subject (nominative) and direct object
(accusative) mentioned in Chapter 5. The instrumental case is one of the many kinds of indirect
object forms a noun can take and demonstratives that the noun is a means, analogous to the
English “with” or “by”. There are three ways to form the instrumental case:

1. For nouns that end in a consonant, -iin is suffixed. For example, bishaan is water, and
bishaaniin is “with/by water”.

2. For nouns that end in a short vowel, the final vowel will be lengthened and either a -n or -tiin
suffixed.

3. For nouns that end in a long vowel, -n, -tiin, or -dhaan may be suffixed. For example,
abshaalummaa is “cleverness”, so that abshaalummaan/abshaalummaatiin/
abshaalummaadhaan means “with cleverness” or “cleverly”.

Using the Locative Case as an Adverb

https://en.m.wikibooks.org/wiki/Afaan_Oromo/Chapter_08# 2/11
10/11/21, 10:30 PM Afaan Oromo/Chapter 08 - Wikibooks, open books for an open world

Another indirect object form a noun can take is the locative case which is used like the English “at”
or “in”. This is formed with the -(i)tti suffix. For example, guutuumaa is “fullness” or “completeness”,
and guutuumaatti is “in full” or “absolutely”.

3 Kinds of “How”

In English, we may ask “how?” to mean 1) “in what state?”, as in “how are you?”, 2) “in what way?”, as
in “how do you bake a cake?”, or 3) “to what extent?”, as in “how far did you run?”.

1. To ask about the state of something, akkam(i) is typically used, as in “akkam jirta?” or
“akkami ganama kana?”. “Akkam” or “akkami” are also common ways to say a simple “hi”.

2. To describe the method of something, akkamitti is most often used. Akkamitti most literally
means “in what way”.

3. To inquire about quantity, meeqa means “how much/many”. For other kinds of extent,
hammam (hagam may be more common in some dialects) can be put in front of adjectives.
For instance “how far?” is “hammam fagoo?”, but “how many kilometers?” is “kiiloomeetirii
meeqa?”.

Time Adverbs

Telling Time

The Ethiopian clock, like the Ethiopian calendar, is different than what we use in America and
Europe, what Ethiopians call ferenji time (FT). The sun rises at 1:00 Ethiopian time (ET, also called
Habasha time), which is equivalent to 7:00am FT. Noon is thus 6:00 ET, and ET can be calculated by
adding or subtracting 6 hours from FT. Instead of AM and PM, there are four periods of the day,
identified in Oromo by ganama (morning), waaree booda (afternoon), galgala (evening), and
halkan (night).

Examples:
Ferenji time  
Ethiopian time Oromo
   
8:00am 2:00 in the morning ganama (keessa) sa'atii lama
8:00 in the afternoon waaree booda (keessa) sa'atii saddeet, or guyya (keessa)
2:00pm
     sa'atii saddeet
9:00pm 3:00 in the evening galgala (keessa) sa'atii sadii
4:00am 10:00 at night halkan (keessa) sa'atii kudhan
https://en.m.wikibooks.org/wiki/Afaan_Oromo/Chapter_08# 3/11
10/11/21, 10:30 PM Afaan Oromo/Chapter 08 - Wikibooks, open books for an open world

For expressing minutes before or after the hour, fi (“and”) is used for after the hour, and hanquu/
hir'uu (“incomplete”) is used for before.

Ethiopian time         Oromo

2:05 sa'atii lama fi (daqiiqaa) shan [lit. “2 o'clock and 5 (minutes)”]
2:10 sa'atii lama fi (daqiiqaa) kudhan
2:15 sa'atii lama fi ruubi [lit. “2 and a 4th”]
2:30 sa'atii lama fi walakkaa [lit. “2 and ½”]
2:35 sa'atii sadii jechu/ta'u (daqiiqaa) digdamii shan hanquu/hir'uu
2:45 sa'ati sadii jechu/ta'u ruubi hanquu/hir'uu
2:55 sa'ati sadii jechu/ta'u (daqiiqaa) shan hanquu/hir'uu

Temporal Modifications of a Verb

To indicate that an action occurs at intervals, the time period can be repeated, as in “guyyaa
guyyaa” to mean “everyday”. The -uu suffix is also sometimes used, so that guyyuu also means
“everyday”

Examples:

weekly, every week — torban torban

monthly, every month — ji'a ji'a

yearly, every year — bara bara or waggaa waggaa

always, everytime — yeroo hunda, hooggayyuu, or yoomuu

The locative suffix -tti is used for specifying an action taking place in or during a certain time.

Examples:

at night — halkanitti

at once — amma ammatti

meanwhile — gidduutti or hangasitii

To signify “in” to mean “after”, as in “in one week” or “after one week”, one may use keessaatti,
booda, or dhufu.

Examples:

“We will start work next week.” — “Nuti torban dhufu hojii jalqabna.”

“I will leave for Adama in 4 days.” — “Ani gara Adaamaa guyyaa afur keessaattin deema.”

“She will return next month.” — “Isheen ji'a booda deebiiti.”

https://en.m.wikibooks.org/wiki/Afaan_Oromo/Chapter_08# 4/11
10/11/21, 10:30 PM Afaan Oromo/Chapter 08 - Wikibooks, open books for an open world

To express duration, as in “for 3 days”, one may use the -f suffix. “Until” can be expressed by hamma
or hanga.

Examples:

until now, yet — hanga ammaatti

“I will be in Adama for 3 days” — “Guyyaa sadiif Adaamaarran jira.”

“Don't start until I return” — “Hamma nan deebi'a hin jalqabin.”

More constructions for time clauses are discussed in Chapter 15.

Place Adverbs

To express “at” or “to”, most often the locative suffix -tti is applied. To express “from”, either irraa or
a -rraa suffix can be used.

Examples:

here — as(i)

to here, in here — asitti

from here — asirra

there — achi
to there, in there — achitti

from there — achirra

“I'd like to invite you to my house.” — “Mana kootti si affeeruun barbaade.”

“In what month do you return from Jima?” — “Ja'i kamitti Jimmarraa deebiita?”

Other locational relations are described using prepositions and postpositions as discussed in
Chapter 10.

Adverbs of Degree

Both baay'ee and hedduu mean “many, much, a lot”. Baay'ee is also used where English would use
“very”. For “small” or “few”, xinnaa, xinnoo, xiqqaa, and xiqqaa are most common, where the -oo
ending is for the feminine (xinnoo is less than xinnaa). Bicuu and maddee also mean “little, few”.

Examples:

baay'ee gaarii dha — “it's very good”

biyyaa Oromoo keessa laga hedduu jira — “There are many rivers in Oromia”

Afaan Oromoo xinnoon beeka — “I know a little Oromo”

https://en.m.wikibooks.org/wiki/Afaan_Oromo/Chapter_08# 5/11
10/11/21, 10:30 PM Afaan Oromo/Chapter 08 - Wikibooks, open books for an open world

For repeated actions si'a or hoggaa can be used like the English “times”. “Twice” is therefore si'a
lama [lit. “two times”], for example.

Hamma, used early for time adverbs, more generally means “as much as”. For example, “lend me as
much as you can” would be “hamma dandeessu naaf liqeessi”.

Vocabulary: Time Words

https://en.m.wikibooks.org/wiki/Afaan_Oromo/Chapter_08# 6/11
10/11/21, 10:30 PM Afaan Oromo/Chapter 08 - Wikibooks, open books for an open world

yeroo time

erga since

irra deebi'i again

duruu, dursee already

guyyaa day

ganama morning

barraaqa, obboroo early morning

saafaa noon

waaree mid-day

waaree booda afternoon

galgala evening

halkan night

ganamatti in the morning

galgalatti in the evening

halkanitti at night

har'a today

kaleessa yesterday

https://en.m.wikibooks.org/wiki/Afaan_Oromo/Chapter_08# 7/11
10/11/21, 10:30 PM Afaan Oromo/Chapter 08 - Wikibooks, open books for an open world

bor, boru tomorrow

edana, har'a galgala tonight

eda last night

iftaan the day after tomorrow

torban week

torban kana this week

torban dhufu next week

torban darbe last week

ji'a, baatii month

waggaa, bara year

barana this year

waggaa/bara darbe last year

waggaa/bara dhufu next year

abadan never

yeroo hundumaa, hooggayyuu, yoomuu always

yeroo tokko tokko sometimes

yeroo baay'ee/hedduu Usually, often

https://en.m.wikibooks.org/wiki/Afaan_Oromo/Chapter_08# 8/11
10/11/21, 10:30 PM Afaan Oromo/Chapter 08 - Wikibooks, open books for an open world

guyyuu, guyyaa-guyyaatti everyday

sekoondii second

daqiiqaa minute

sa'aatii hour

Vocabulary: Degree and Manner Words

https://en.m.wikibooks.org/wiki/Afaan_Oromo/Chapter_08# 9/11
10/11/21, 10:30 PM Afaan Oromo/Chapter 08 - Wikibooks, open books for an open world

suuta slowly

dafee, battaluma fast, quickly

laafaatti softly

jabaatti, cimaatti hard

akkana like this

akkasi like that

wal fakkaataa similar

iddoo isaa instead

gaarii, dansaa, bayeessa well

badaa badly

wajjin with

walitti, walii-wajjin together

malee without, except

-s, akkasumas also

sirriitti, guutuutti exactly

qofaa, kophaa only

tarii perhaps, maybe

https://en.m.wikibooks.org/wiki/Afaan_Oromo/Chapter_08# 10/11
10/11/21, 10:30 PM Afaan Oromo/Chapter 08 - Wikibooks, open books for an open world

kanaaf(u) therefore

baay'ee very

Continue to Next Chapter

⇐ Back to Previous Chapter Back to Contents
⇒

https://en.m.wikibooks.org/wiki/Afaan_Oromo/Chapter_08# 11/11