ani

Do Not: Ani

Level 2

Ani means “do not” and stands before the verb: ani reho “do not go”.

How It Works

A command that forbids something has two parts. Ani comes first and stands apart. Then comes the verb with the person prefix of the people you are speaking to.

FormMeaning
Ani reho.Do not go. (to one person)
Ani peho.Do not go. (to several people)
Ani rehótei.Do not go. (with the optional ending)

The ending -tei does not take the stress, so the accent stays on the root: rehótei. Many speakers skip it.

Verbs that take the nde- set of person markers work too: ani nerasẽ “do not cry”, where ne- is nde- before a nasal word. A pronoun and its postposition stay one word: ani repena cherehe “do not worry about me”.

Add -na to ani itself to ask more gently: anína “please do not”, as in anína upéichati “please do not do that”.

Examples (5)

  1. Ani reho.

    Do not go.

    Ani goes before the verb, and reho keeps its normal prefix re-.

  2. Ani rehótei.

    Do not go.

    The ending -tei is optional. It leaves the stress on ho, so the accent stays.

  3. Ani nerasẽ!

    Do not cry!

    Ani also works with verbs that take the nde- set, like nerasẽ “you cry”. Ne- is nde- before a nasal word.

  4. Ani repena cherehe!

    Do not worry about me!

    Cherehe is one word: che “me” plus rehe “about”.

  5. Ani peho.

    Do not go, all of you.

    Pe- is for several people. Ani stays the same.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the plain no to give an order.

    Nderehói.
    Ani reho.

    Nderehói only says “you do not go”. To forbid something, use ani.

How It Connects

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

aniLevel 2Do Not: Ani

Learn This First

Ani is the negative for commands, so learners need commands and the other negative.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

ani