raʼe

It Turned Out: Raʼe

Level 4

Raʼe means “it turns out”: the speaker has just reached a conclusion from clues or from thinking.

How It Works

Raʼe is a small word that tells the listener how the speaker knows something. The speaker reached the idea just now, by thinking it through or by seeing clues. English often says “it turns out” or “so…”.

Ndevaléngo raʼe “It turns out you were worth it”: the speaker has just seen the truth.
Omano nipo raʼe “It turns out he did die”: the speaker had doubted it.

Raʼe usually follows the verb or the describing word, and it can sit next to other small words such as voi and nipo.

Guarani has other words of this kind. Kuri says the speaker knows it first-hand. Ndaje says someone else told the speaker. Raʼe says the speaker worked it out. In a question, raʼe often shows that the asker has no evidence yet: Mbaʼépa ere raʼe? “What did you say?”

Examples (5)

Ndevaléngo raʼe.
It turns out you were worth it after all.
Raʼe marks a conclusion reached just now. Ndevaléngo is nde- “you”, vale “be worth” and -ngo, an emphasis ending.
Ikatu teʼonguety voi raʼe.
It may have been a cemetery, it turns out.
Ikatu “maybe” and voi add to the guess, and raʼe says the speaker worked it out from clues. Teʼonguety is “cemetery”, a place full of teʼongue “corpses”.
Omano nipo raʼe.
It turns out he did die, though I doubted it.
Nipo shows doubt, and raʼe adds the surprise: the speaker doubted it, yet it happened.
Og̃uahẽ tárdema raʼe.
It turns out it arrived too late.
Tárdema is tárde “late” plus -ma “already”. Raʼe marks what the speaker has just found out.
Mbaʼépa ere raʼe?
What did you say?
In a question, raʼe can show that the asker is missing the facts. Ere is “you say”.

How It Connects

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

raʼeLevel 4It Turned Out: Raʼe

Learn This First

Raʼe says that the speaker worked something out, and ndaje and kuri show the other ways of knowing.

Words in This Pattern