rire ... -vaʼerã-moʼã
If I Had: Rire with -vaʼerã-moʼã
Rire in the if-part and -vaʼerãmoʼã in the other part say what would have happened, but did not.
How It Works
Guarani has one frame for “if it had been different”. Both halves of the sentence take a marker.
- In the if-part the verb ends in rire. This rire is unstressed, so the verb keeps its stress: aikuaárire “if I had known”.
- In the other part the verb takes -vaʼerã “must” and then -moʼã: ahavaʼerãmoʼã “I would have gone”.
On its own, -moʼã means “almost”: it says that something nearly happened. -vaʼerã says what had to happen. Together they say that it was going to happen, but it did not.
The if-part can be negative: Ndokýirire, ahavaʼerãmoʼã “If it had not rained, I would have gone”.
Do not mix this up with the stressed rire “after”. That one stands apart and tells when something happened. The unstressed rire is joined to the verb and is only for things that did not happen.
Examples (3)
- Aikuaárire, ahavaʼerãmoʼã.
If I had known, I would have gone.
Aikuaa-rire is the if-part. Ahavaʼerãmoʼã says that going was going to happen, but did not.
- Ndokýirire, ahavaʼerãmoʼã.
If it had not rained, I would have gone.
The if-part is negative: nd-o-ky-i, then rire. The other part is the same.
- Reikuaárire, rehovaʼerãmoʼã.
If you had known, you would have gone.
The same frame with re- “you” on both verbs.
Common Mistakes
Leaving out -moʼã on the second verb.
Aikuaárire, ahavaʼerã.Aikuaárire, ahavaʼerãmoʼã.-vaʼerã alone means “must”. The book says both -vaʼerã and -moʼã must mark the second verb, and without -moʼã the sentence no longer says that going did not happen.
Leaving off the accent before rire.
Aikuaarire, ahavaʼerãmoʼã.Aikuaárire, ahavaʼerãmoʼã.Rire is unstressed, so the verb keeps its stress and the acute stays on á.
How It Connects
Learn This First
This pattern puts rire in the if-part and -vaʼerã with -moʼã in the other part.
- rireAfter: Rire
Know rire “after”, because the if-part of this pattern uses it: Aikuaárire, ahavaʼerãmoʼã “If I had known, I would have gone”.
Level 3 - Must: -vaʼerã
Know -vaʼerã “must”, since the other part of this pattern uses it: ahavaʼerãmoʼã “I would have gone”.
Level 2 - Almost: -moʼã
Know -moʼã “almost”, since it comes after -vaʼerã and says that it did not happen: ahavaʼerãmoʼã “I would have gone”.
Level 4
Related Patterns
Words in This Pattern
Practice rire ... -vaʼerã-moʼã in Bubblegum
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