Must: -vaʼerã

Level 2

Rejuvaʼerã che rógape “You must come to my house”.

How It Works

There are two common ways to say “must”. Tekotevẽ is a fixed word before the verb, and -vaʼerã is an ending that sits on the verb after the person prefix.

FormMeaning
-vaʼerãthe full ending
-vaerã, -varãspoken shortenings
-ʼarãthe shortest form, as in heʼuʼarã “you have to eat it!”

The ending is stressed, so a root loses its accent: rejuvaʼerã, apuʼãvaʼerã.

A Guarani verb does not have to show the past, so -vaʼerã can also look back. Ojapovaʼerã peteĩ purahéi means “she had to compose a song”. Context and time words tell you which one is meant.

Examples (4)

  1. Rejuvaʼerã che rógape.

    You must come to my house.

    Re- shows who must come. The accent is not on ju.

  2. Rohaʼarõvaʼerã.

    We must wait.

    Ro- is “we without you”. The root keeps its tilde.

  3. Ojapovaʼerã peteĩ purahéi.

    She had to compose a song.

    -vaʼerã can also look back at a past duty.

  4. Añetépiko apuʼãvaʼerã?

    Do I really have to get up?

    A question with -piko and -vaʼerã.

Common Mistakes

  • Keeping the accent on the root.

    Rejúvaʼerã che rógape.
    Rejuvaʼerã che rógape.

    -vaʼerã takes the stress, so the root loses its accent.

How It Connects

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

Must: -vaʼerãLevel 2

Learn This First

The ending -vaʼerã looks ahead like -ta and is the second way to say must.

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Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

vaʼerãtekotevẽ