A Person as Object: -pe

Level 2

A person who receives the action often takes -pe: Ameʼẽta kóva che sýpe “I will give this to my mother”.

How It Works

The ending -pe shows which person is on the receiving end. It does two jobs. It marks the person acted on: Mario ohayhu ijaryisýpe “Mario loves his great-grandmother”. It also marks the person who receives something: Ameʼẽta kóva che sýpe “I will give this to my mother”.

Use -pe after an oral word and -me after a nasal word: che sýpe, but mitãme “to the child”. Animals are sometimes marked too, such as jaguakuérape “dogs”. Things usually take no ending.

With a pronoun, the receiver uses chéve, ndéve or ichupe instead.

The ending joins the noun, and the possessor stays a separate word before it: che sýpe “to my mother”, nde rúpe “to your father”.

Examples (5)

  1. Ameʼẽta kóva che sýpe.

    I will give this to my mother.

    Che sýpe is “to my mother”. She receives the gift, so sy takes -pe.

  2. Mario ohayhu ijaryisýpe.

    Mario loves his great-grandmother.

    A person who is loved takes -pe.

  3. Che ru ohayhu che sýpe.

    My father loves my mother.

    Che sýpe is the one who is loved.

  4. Maitei nde sýpe avei.

    Say hello to your mother too.

    -pe marks the person who gets the greeting.

  5. Ohaʼarõ tapiaite imembykuérape.

    She always waited for her children.

    Haʼarõ “wait for” takes a person as object, so the children take -pe.

Common Mistakes

  • Using -pe after a nasal word.

    Ahayhu mitãpe.
    Ahayhu mitãme.

    Mitã is a nasal word, so -pe becomes -me.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

A Person as Object: -peLevel 2

Learn This First

A noun that receives the action takes -pe like the pronoun forms do.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

-pe