Feelings With mbaʼe-

Level 5

Mbaʼe- plus a root names the feeling. Mbaʼe means “thing”, so the word is a “thing of…”.

How It Works

The word mbaʼe means “thing”. As a prefix, mbaʼe- makes a noun that stands for the idea of the root after it. It is used mostly for feelings and sensations.

  • mbaʼembyasy “sadness”.
  • mbaʼepota “desire”.
  • mbaʼepochy “anger”.

With a possessor, the person word stands apart: che mbaʼepota “my desire”, che mbaʼepochy “my anger”.

Guarani has other ways to name a feeling. “Sadness” can also be ñembyasy or temimbyasy. The meanings are close, so learners mostly learn each word as it comes.

The verb prefix mbaʼe-, which stands for an unnamed thing as the object, is a different prefix with the same letters. It has its own lesson with poro-. The nouns in this lesson come from feelings.

Examples (4)

  1. Mbaʼembyasy.

    Sadness.

    Mbaʼembyasy is the noun for the feeling of sadness.

  2. Che mbaʼepota.

    My desire.

    Che stays apart before the noun. Mbaʼepota is mbaʼe- plus pota “want”.

  3. Che mbaʼepochy.

    My anger.

    Mbaʼepochy is the anger itself.

  4. Che mbaʼembyasy ituichaiterei.

    My sadness is very great.

    Ituichaiterei means “it is very big”, so the feeling is great.

How It Connects

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

Feelings With mbaʼe-Level 5

Learn This First

The prefix mbaʼe- also makes the feeling words, so learners need mbaʼe- first.