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Amharic Days of the Week for Kids: Names, Pronunciation and Fun Routines

2026-10-14 · Fidel Friends

The Amharic days of the week are a perfect "next step" after greetings and numbers. Children hear the days constantly ("on Saturday we'll visit Grandma", "Sunday is church day"), so every week gives you seven natural chances to practise. Here are the names, how to say them, and some easy ways to make them part of family life.

The Amharic days of the week

You may see slightly different spellings in English letters, such as "segno" or "senyo". That's normal: there's no single standard way to write Amharic sounds in the Latin alphabet. The fidel spelling is what stays the same.

A memory trick: Monday hides inside Tuesday

Look closely at the first two days: ሰኞ (Monday) and ማክሰኞ (Tuesday). Tuesday is "mak" plus Monday! Kids love discovering this. Ask your child to find the ሰኞ inside ማክሰኞ on a printed card.

A couple of other things parents sometimes notice:

• ሐሙስ (Thursday) starts with ሐ, one of the "sound twins" that sounds like ሀ. Read more about twins in how many letters are in the Amharic alphabet.
• ዓርብ (Friday) starts with ዓ, from the ዐ family, another twin of አ.
• You may also see Friday spelled አርብ. Both spellings are in use; you'll find variation like this in a few common words.

Which day does the week start on?

In many Ethiopian calendars and school settings, the week is listed starting with ሰኞ (Monday), but you'll also see calendars that start on እሑድ (Sunday). For kids, pick one order and stick with it. We start with Monday in our table and songs, because that's how many children's charts do it.

Daily routines that teach the days

Like numbers, the days of the week are learned through repetition in real life rather than memorised from a list. Here are some routines that take less than a minute:

1. The morning question

At breakfast, ask "ዛሬ ምን ቀን ነው?" (zaré min ken new?, "What day is it today?"). Answer together: "ዛሬ ሰኞ ነው!" (zaré segno new, "Today is Monday!"). After a few weeks, your child will start answering on their own.

2. A fridge calendar

Write the seven Amharic day names on a strip of paper and stick it on the fridge. Move a magnet or clip to the current day each morning. Let your child be in charge of moving it.

3. Name the special day

Link each day to something your family does: swimming on ረቡዕ, pizza night on ዓርብ, church or a family visit on እሑድ. Kids remember days by what happens on them.

4. Sing the week

Sing the seven days in order to any simple tune your child already knows, clapping on each day. Then try singing them backwards for a silly challenge. Singing is exactly how Fikir teaches the seven sounds of each fidel family, and it works just as well for the seven days.

5. Bedtime countdown

At bedtime, talk about tomorrow: "ነገ (nege, tomorrow) is ቅዳሜ, no school!" This also teaches a useful word, ነገ, alongside ዛሬ (today).

Games for slightly older kids

• Day cards shuffle: Write each day on a card, mix them up, and ask your child to put them in order.
• What's missing? Lay out all seven cards, hide one while your child closes their eyes, and let them guess which day disappeared.
• Letter hunt: Ask your child to find the first letter of each day on the free fidel chart. It's a great bridge between vocabulary and reading.

Days, months and the Ethiopian calendar

Once the days are familiar, the next adventure is the months. Ethiopia has its own calendar with 13 months, which kids find fascinating. Read the Ethiopian calendar's 13 months, explained for kids, and try counting in Amharic to number the days of the week together.

Watch along with Fikir

Sing the days with Fikir in the Fidel Friends Days of the Week series. You can also explore our series or start the alphabet with the ሀ family.