The Question Marker -piko

Level 1

-piko asks a question, like -pa.

How It Works

Join -piko to the first word or phrase of the sentence. It joins the part being asked about.

QuestionMeaning
Reñeʼẽpiko guaraníme?Do you speak Guarani?
Moõpiko reiko?Where do you live?
Imorotĩpiko?Is it white?

In everyday speech you will often hear -pio, and sometimes -iko, for -piko.

The suffix has no stress of its own. A word whose stress was on the last syllable gets an acute accent once -piko follows, as in mbaʼépiko. A nasal vowel needs no accent.

Some writers write piko as a separate word. The Academy grammar writes it joined, and these lessons do the same.

Examples (5)

  1. Reñeʼẽpiko guaraníme?

    Do you speak Guarani?

    -piko joins reñeʼẽ, the first word.

  2. Moõpiko reiko?

    Where do you live?

    -piko also goes with a question word such as moõ.

  3. Mbaʼépiko jajapóta?

    What are we going to do?

    Mbaʼe takes an accent before -piko.

  4. Jahámapiko?

    Are we going already?

    -piko can follow -ma at the end of a verb.

  5. Imorotĩpiko?

    Is it white?

    A describing word can be the first word.

How It Connects

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

The Question Marker -pikoLevel 1

Learn This First

The ending -piko is the second way to ask a question, so -pa comes first.

Words in This Pattern

piko