Will Not: -moʼã

Level 2

Nambaʼapomoʼãi “I will not work”.

How It Works

YesNo
Aháta “I will go”Ndahamoʼãi “I will not go”
Ambaʼapóta “I will work”Nambaʼapomoʼãi “I will not work”

The frame is the same as the plain no: nd(a)- before the verb and -i after it. Only -ta turns into -moʼã. When the verb is nasal, the frame is n(a)-, as in nambaʼapomoʼãi.

A fixed word like ikatu “can” takes the same ending, so ndaikatumoʼãi means “it will not be possible”.

Because the sentence is negative, words like mbaʼevéicharamo “in no way” go with it: Mbaʼevéicharamo ndahamoʼãi! “I will not go, absolutely not!”

The same ending -moʼã appears later with the meaning “almost”.

Examples (4)

  1. Koʼẽrõ nambaʼapomoʼãi.

    I will not work tomorrow.

    Na-…-i is the negative frame, and mbaʼapo is nasal. -moʼã takes the place of -ta.

  2. Mbaʼevéicharamo ndahamoʼãi!

    I will not go, absolutely not!

    Ndahamoʼãi is nda- plus ha plus -moʼã plus -i.

  3. Ndaikatumoʼãi gueteri reiko yvágape.

    You will not be able to live in heaven yet.

    Ikatu “can” takes the same ending. Gueteri means “still, yet”.

  4. Koʼẽrõ nderehomoʼãi.

    You will not go tomorrow.

    Nde-re- is the negative frame for “you”.

Common Mistakes

  • Keeping -ta in the negative.

    Ndahatái.
    Ndahamoʼãi.

    A negative sentence about the future uses -moʼã, not -ta.

How It Connects

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

Will Not: -moʼãLevel 2

Learn This First

In a negative sentence -moʼã takes the place of -ta, so learners need both.

Words in This Pattern

nd- -in- -i