i- / ij- / iñ- / hi-

His or Her: I-, Ij-, Iñ- and Hi-

Level 2

I-, ij-, iñ- and hi- all mean “his, her or their”, and the sound after them decides which one.

How It Works

Prefix	Used before	Example
i-	a consonant	ipo “his hand”, imbarakaja “his cat”
ij-	an oral vowel that is not stressed	ijao “his clothes”
iñ-	a nasal vowel	iñakã “his head”
hi-	a stressed vowel, which then gets a puso	hiʼáva “his hair”

Unlike che, nde and ore, this prefix joins the noun. It also works for more than one owner: ipo can mean “his hand” or “their hands”.

The same prefixes appear on describing words and on some verbs: ijyvate “he is tall”, iñakãhatã “he is stubborn”.

Nouns that change their first letter use h- in place of these prefixes: hesa “his eye”, hóga “his house”.

Panambi ipepo.
The butterfly has wings.
I- joins pepo, which starts with a consonant.
Omboty ijuru.
He closes his mouth.
I- joins juru, and it means “his”.
Haʼe ijyvate iñakãhatã.
He is tall and stubborn.
Ij- comes before the vowel y, and iñ- before the nasal word akãhatã.
Itúva ha isy oguereko peteĩ jaguaʼi.
His father and his mother have a little dog.
I- joins túva and sy, which start with consonants.
Hiʼáva iporã.
Her hair is beautiful.
Hi- comes before the stressed vowel in áva, and a puso appears.

Using i- before a vowel.
Iao iporã.
Ijao iporã.
Ao begins with a vowel, so the prefix is ij-.

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

i- / ij- / iñ- / hi-Level 2His or Her: I-, Ij-, Iñ- and Hi-

His or her changes with the next sound, so learners need the t-, r- and h- roots and nasal harmony.

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