As illustrated by the above list of the Independent Pronouns, Amharic has different terms of reference with regard to people spoken to (second person) and people spoken of (third person). Thus /antə/ (addressing a man) and /anci/ (addressing a woman) show a certain degree of familiarity. /ırsıwo/ is used as a polite or deferential form of 'you' (addressing both men and women), and /ınnantə/ addressing many persons without distinction of sex. /ırsaccəw/ is a polite or deferential form of 'he’ or ‘she’. Note that verb forms used with the 'polite' pronouns have the third person plural personal endings.
Note 3.2 Pronoun: Suffix Pronouns.
| 1. | yısTıllıñ | let him give for me. |
| 2. | yısTon | let him give us. |
| 3. | sıme jón nəw. | My name is John. |
There are two kinds of suffixed pronouns:
1) Verb Suffix (or Object) Pronouns, (Sertences 1 and 2) i.e. pronominal suffixes attached to verb stems or other forms of the verb. The translation of a Verb Suffix Pronoun depends upon the structure of English. For example the suffix /-əñ/ after consonants (/-ñ/ after vowels), can mean 'me' (direct object) or 'to me' (indirect object); /-accəw/ 'them' (direct object) or 'to them' (indirect object), etc.
2) Noun Suffix Pronouns (Sentence 3) i.e. pronominal suffixes attached to nouns, corresponding to English ‘possessive pronouns': ‘my', 'your', etc. These are discussed in Note 4.1.
Note 3.2.1 The Verb Suffix Pronouns are:
| After Consonants |
After Vowels |
Meaning | |
| Singular | -əñ | -ñ | me, to me |
| -ıh | -h | you, to you (masc.) | |
| -ıš | -š | you, to you (fem.) | |
| -ıwo/-ıwot | -wo/-wot | you, to you (polite) | |
| -əw |
-w -t (after /u/ and /o/) |
him, to him/it, to it | |
| -at | -at | her, to her |
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