-mante

Only: -mante

Level 4

-mante means “only” or “just”, and Aguyje mante ndéve is one way to say “Thank you”.

How It Works

The ending -mante means “only” or “just”. It says that the action was all there was. English often uses “just” or “simply”.

  • Ambokapu mante “I just shot”.
  • Upéi katu ohejarei mante hikuái “And then they just abandoned him”.
  • Aguyje mante ndéve “Thank you”, a set phrase for thanks.

Estigarribia writes mante after the verb as a separate word, and the Academy grammar joins it in its paradigms (ajeimante). Inside a longer verb it is joined: ñañemoarandumantevaʼerã “we simply must study”. The stress falls on the stressed ending -vaʼerã, so no accent is written on the verb.

Guarani also has -nte “only”, taught earlier, and the two are close in meaning. The Academy grammar lists -mante as a frequentative ending, for an action that happens often. In the sentences here, the meaning is “only”.

Examples (4)

  1. Ambokapu mante.

    I just shot.

    Mante follows the verb ambokapu “I shoot” and limits it to “just that”: all I did was shoot.

  2. Aguyje mante ndéve.

    Thank you.

    A set phrase for thanks. Aguyje is “thanks”, and ndéve is “to you”.

  3. Upéi katu ohejarei mante hikuái.

    And then they just abandoned him.

    Mante follows ohejarei “they abandoned him” (-rei adds “for nothing”) and adds “just”.

  4. Jahaiporãséramo ko ñeʼẽme ñañemoarandumantevaʼerã.

    If we want to write well in this language, we simply must study it.

    Mante sits inside the verb, before -vaʼerã “must”. Jahaiporãséramo is “if we want to write well”.

How It Connects

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

-manteLevel 4Only: -mante

Learn This First

The ending -mante is the second way to say only, after -nte.

Words in This Pattern

mante-nteaguyje