-eta / -ita

Lots of: -eta and -ita

Level 5

-eta and -ita mean “a great many”: panambieta “a great many butterflies”.

How It Works

These two endings say that there is a big crowd of something. They are one ending in two shapes, and the last vowel of the noun picks the shape.

The noun ends inEndingExamples
i, ĩ, u, ũ, y, ỹ-etapanambieta “a great many butterflies”, kavajueta “a great many horses”
a, ã, e, ẽ, o, õ-itajaguaita “a great many dogs”, kyseita “a great many knives”

With a describing word, the book puts the ending on the describing word. In yvoty pytãita the noun is yvoty “flower”, and -ita sits on pytã “red”.

Both endings take the stress, so the noun does not keep an accent mark: óga “house” becomes ogaita “a great many houses”.

Plain -kuéra only says “more than one”. -eta and -ita say “a lot”, and they also work for things you cannot count: kambyeta “lots of milk”. The separate word heta “many” says nearly the same thing.

Examples (4)

  1. Panambieta.

    A great many butterflies.

    Panambi “butterfly” ends in i, so it takes -eta.

  2. Yvoty pytãita.

    A great many red flowers.

    The ending sits on pytã “red”, which ends in the open vowel ã, so it is -ita.

  3. Kambyeta.

    Lots of milk.

    Milk cannot be counted, and -eta still says there is a lot.

  4. Ko refugio oguereko ogaita.

    This refuge has a great many houses.

    Óga “house” ends in a, so it takes -ita. The ending carries the stress, so the old accent on ó is gone.

Common Mistakes

  • Choosing the wrong ending for the last vowel.

    Yvoty pytãeta.
    Yvoty pytãita.

    Pytã ends in the open vowel ã, so it takes -ita. -eta is for words that end in i, u or y.

How It Connects

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

-eta / -itaLevel 5Lots of: -eta and -ita

Learn This First

The endings -eta and -ita say a great many, which builds on heta.

Words in This Pattern

-eta