-ke

Firm Commands with -ke

Level 2

-ke makes a command firmer: embaʼapóke “get to work!”

How It Works

The plain command embaʼapo “work” becomes firmer with -ke. English has no single word for it. “Do it” and “come on” come close.

The ending is unstressed. The stress stays on the root, and the root needs an accent when the stress is not on its last syllable: embaʼapóke, peñatendéke. Compare -mi and -se, which take the stress themselves.

  • After the “we with you” prefix: jaháke “come on, let us go”.
  • After a describing word: ndepyaʼéke “hurry up”, with nde- “you” on pyaʼe “quick”.

The command endings can stack. The order is -mi, then -ke, then -na, so peguapymíkena means “please do sit down, all of you”.

Examples (4)

  1. Embaʼapóke.

    Get to work!

    -ke makes the command firm. The stress stays on pó, so it keeps the accent.

  2. Ndepyaʼéke!

    Hurry up!

    A describing word can take -ke too: nde- “you” plus pyaʼe “quick”.

  3. Jaháke.

    Come on, let us go!

    -ke follows the “we with you” form of ha “go”.

  4. Peñatendéke pendejehe.

    Look out for yourselves!

    Pe- is for several people, and pendejehe means “yourselves”.

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving out the accent on the root.

    Embaʼapoke!
    Embaʼapóke!

    -ke is unstressed, so the accent shows that the stress stays on pó.

How It Connects

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

-keLevel 2Firm Commands with -ke

Learn This First

The ending -ke makes a command firmer, so commands come first.

Words in This Pattern

-ke-mi-na