Verbs That Add h-

Level 2

Haʼu “I eat”, reʼu “you eat”, hoʼu “he eats”, heʼu “eat!”.

How It Works

Four common verbs start with a puso, or with y and then a puso: ʼu “eat”, yʼu “drink water”, ʼyta “swim” and ʼa “fall”. They add an h in three places: for I (ha-), for he or she (ho-) and in the command to one person (h-). The other persons use the regular prefixes.

Personʼuyʼuʼytaʼa
Ihaʼuhayʼuhaʼytahaʼa
youreʼureyʼureʼytareʼa
he, shehoʼuhoyʼuhoʼytahoʼa
we (with you)jaʼujayʼujaʼytajaʼa
we (without you)roʼuroyʼuroʼytaroʼa
you allpeʼupeyʼupeʼytapeʼa
command (one person)heʼuheyʼuheʼytaheʼa

The negative usually goes back to the plain prefixes: ndaʼúi “I do not eat”, ndoʼúi “he does not eat”.

Examples (5)

  1. Haʼu mandiʼo.

    I eat manioc.

    Haʼu is ha- plus ʼu. With these verbs “I” is ha-, not a-.

  2. Roʼu chipa.

    We eat chipa.

    Roʼu is ro- “we without you” plus ʼu. Only I, he or she and the command add h.

  3. Mbaʼerã jayʼu terere ñande Paraguaigua?

    Why do we Paraguayans drink tereré?

    Yʼu is “drink water”, and jayʼu is the “we with you” form.

  4. Haʼe hoʼyta porã.

    He swims well.

    Ho- is the “he or she” form of ʼyta “swim”.

  5. Heʼu mandiʼo.

    Eat the manioc!

    The command to one person adds h-: heʼu.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the plain prefix for I.

    Aʼu mandiʼo.
    Haʼu mandiʼo.

    With these verbs, “I” is ha-, not a-.

  • Putting the h into the negative.

    Ndahaʼúi mandiʼo.
    Ndaʼúi mandiʼo.

    In the negative the plain prefix usually comes back: nda- plus ʼu plus -i.

How It Connects

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Verbs That Add h-Level 2

Learn This First

These verbs begin with the puso and add an h to the active prefixes in some forms.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

ʼuyʼuʼa