-rasa

Super: -rasa

Level 5

-rasa adds “extremely”: Iporãrasa “Super”.

How It Works

Guarani builds “very” in steps, and each step says more than the one before.

EndingMeaningExample
-iteveryiporãite “very good”
-itereivery muchiporãiterei “very well”
-rasaextremelyiporãrasa “super”

People use these as answers to Mbaʼéichapa “How are you?”: Iporã “Fine”, Iporãiterei “Very well” and Iporãrasa “Super”.

-rasa works on verbs too: okyhyjerasa “he was extremely afraid”. After a noun it goes on the describing word: tape vairasa “an extremely bad road”.

Unlike -ite, which becomes -ete after i, u or y, -rasa has one shape: the Academy lists kariaʼyrasa, karairasa and mitãrasa, after y, i and ã. The book says it is often seen as a higher grade than -iterei.

The Academy grammar names one more step, -itereirasa (-etereirasa after i, u or y), which joins -iterei and -rasa.

Examples (3)

  1. Iporãrasa.

    Super.

    Iporã “fine” plus -rasa. People say it as an answer to Mbaʼéichapa “How are you?”.

  2. Okyhyjerasa.

    He was extremely afraid.

    Kyhyje “be afraid” plus -rasa says that the fear was extreme.

  3. Tape vairasa niko péva.

    That is an awfully bad road.

    Vai “bad” plus -rasa. Niko adds “truly”.

How It Connects

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

-rasaLevel 5Super: -rasa

Learn This First

The ending -rasa is the top step of the very ladder.

Words in This Pattern

-ite-iterei