kóva / péva / upéva

This One and That One

Level 2

Kóva is “this one”, péva or upéva is “that one”: Kóva peteĩ huʼy “This is an arrow”.

How It Works

Before a nounOn its own
ko huʼy “this arrow”kóva “this one”
pe huʼy, upe huʼy “that arrow”péva, upéva “that one”
koʼã huʼy “these arrows”koʼãva “these”
umi huʼy “those arrows”umíva “those”

These words work as the subject or the object: Kóva peteĩ huʼy “This is an arrow”, Ndorojapói upéva “We did not do that”. Upéva can also mean a whole idea, like “that” in English.

The ending -va is unstressed, so the stress stays on the first part, and that part needs an accent: kóva, péva, umíva. In fast speech people drop the v: kóa, péa, umía.

Examples (5)

  1. Kóva peteĩ huʼy.

    This is an arrow.

    Kóva stands for the thing right here.

  2. Upéva tuicha orepytyvõ.

    That helped us a lot.

    Upéva can mean a whole idea, not only an object.

  3. Ndorojapói upéva.

    We did not do that.

    Upéva is the object of the verb.

  4. Umíva ndereka.

    Those are looking for you.

    Umíva is the plural: umi plus -va.

  5. Aipota reikuaa porã kóva.

    I want you to know this well.

    Kóva comes at the end here and means “this”.

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving out the accent.

    Upeva tuicha orepytyvõ.
    Upéva tuicha orepytyvõ.

    The ending -va is unstressed, so the stress stays on pé and needs the accent.

How It Connects

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

kóva / péva / upévaLevel 2This One and That One

Learn This First

Kóva and péva add -va to ko and pe, so the pointing words come first.

Words in This Pattern

kóvaupévaumívakóa