te ase (Understand)

Understand: Te Ase

Level 3

Te ase means understand: Mete ase (I understand), Mente ase (I do not understand).

How It Works

1. Everyday forms

  • Mete ase. (I understand.)
  • Mente ase. (I do not understand.)
  • Wote ase? (Do you understand?)
  • Woate ase? (Have you understood?)

2. The object goes in the middle
Mente wo ase (I do not understand you), Mete Twi ase kakra (I understand Twi a little).

3. Other tenses
Te changes and ase stays: Metee ase (I understood), Wobɛte ase (You will understand).

4. Why te ase?
Te means hear, and ase is the base or bottom of something. To understand is to hear down to the base. Without ase, te just means hear: Mente wo means I cannot hear you. It is a split verb like gye ... di.

5. Spelling
Many Asante writers spell the second part aseɛ: Mente aseɛ. It is the same word.

Examples (6)

  1. Mete ase.

    I understand.

    Word by Word: I-hear base

  2. Mente ase.

    I do not understand.

    Word by Word: I-not-hear base

    Only te takes the negative nasal.

  3. Wote ase?

    Do you understand?

    The question melody alone makes it a question: the last vowel is held longer, and the voice does not rise as in English. You can also add anaa: Wote ase anaa?

  4. Mente wo ase.

    I do not understand you.

    Word by Word: I-not-hear you base

    The object wo goes between te and ase.

  5. Mete Twi ase kakra.

    I understand Twi a little.

    Word by Word: I-hear Twi base a-little

  6. Woate ase?

    Have you understood?

    Word by Word: you-have-heard base

    The perfect a- goes on te.

Common Mistakes

  • Putting the object after ase.

    Mente ase wo.
    Mente wo ase.

    Te ase splits around its object. The person or thing you understand goes between te and ase.

  • Leaving out ase when you mean understand.

    Mente wo.
    Mente wo ase.

    Te alone means hear, so Mente wo means I cannot hear you. To say I do not understand you, add ase.

Words in This Pattern

te ase