Language/Paraguayan-guarani/Grammar/Negation

Paraguayan Guaraní Grammar - Negation

Hi Paraguayan Guaraní learners! 😊
In this lesson, we will learn about negation in Paraguayan Guaraní. Negation allows us to form negative sentences by expressing the opposite of an affirmative statement. Let's dive in!
Don't forget that to improve your Paraguayan Guaraní Grammar, you can also use the Polyglot Club website. Find native speakers and ask them any questions!

Negation in Paraguayan Guaraní

Negation in Paraguayan Guaraní is achieved by using one of two words:

• Oiko: which means "No"
• Mba'e: which means "Not"

These words are used similarly to their English counterparts, but there are some differences we will explore in this lesson.

Oiko

"Oiko" is a word that is commonly used to express the negative. It is used to negate both verbs and adjectives in Paraguayan Guaraní.

• Example

Paraguayan Guaraní	Pronunciation	English
Oiko rembi'úta	ˈoɪko re̞m.bi.uː.ˈta	No, I don't know

As seen in the example above, "oiko" is used before the verb "rembi'úta," and it expresses the idea of negation. The sentence means "No, I don't know." In this case, "oiko" negates the verb "rembi'úta" and turns the sentence into a negative one.

It's important to note that "oiko" cannot be used with words that have a negative meaning in themselves. For example, it would not make sense to say "oiko pyahu" (no good) since "pyahu" already means "bad" or "not good."

Mba'e

"Mba'e" is another word used for negation in Paraguayan Guaraní. It is commonly used to negate nouns.

• Example

Paraguayan Guaraní	Pronunciation	English
Mba'e pyahu hi'áta	ˈm.ba.e̞ pja.hu ɦi.ˈɑː.ta	It's not a good idea

In the example above, "mba'e" is used before the noun "pyahu," which means "good." The sentence means "It's not a good idea." In this case, "mba'e" negates the noun "pyahu" and turns the sentence into a negative one.

"Mba'e" can also be used with verbs and adjectives, but it is less common than "oiko."

Additional Negation Words

Apart from "oiko" and "mba'e," there are other words in Paraguayan Guaraní that can be used for negation. Here are some examples:

• Nde: which means "not"
• Ndaikuaa: which means "never"
• Ndoguaa: which means "nothing"

Negating a Sentence

To negate a sentence in Paraguayan Guaraní, we can use any of the negation words we learned so far. The following chart shows how each negation word can be used to negate a sentence in different tenses:

Affirmative	Negative (with "oiko")	Negative (with "mba'e")	Negative (with "nde")
Rembi'úta	Oiko rembi'úta	Rembi'úta oî	Rembi'úta nde
Rembi'úpe	Oiko rembi'úpe	Rembi'úpe oî	Rembi'úpe nde
Rembi'úvo	Oiko rembi'úvo	Rembi'úvo oî	Rembi'úvo nde
Rembi'úrã	Oiko rembi'úrã	Rembi'úrã oî	Rembi'úrã nde

As seen in the chart, we can use any of the negation words we learned to form negative sentences in different tenses. The word "oiko" is the most versatile of the three negation words and can be used in most cases.

Dialogue

To help you see how negation is used in context, here's a dialogue between two people:

• Person 1: Oiko rembi'úta ña ko'ãga? (Don't you know how to sing?)
• Person 2: Heta mba'e, aemongueterei. (No, I don't know, I will learn.)

In the dialogue, person 1 uses the negation word "oiko" to ask person 2 if they know how to sing. Person 2 responds using the negation word "mba'e" to express that they do not know how to sing but they will learn.

Conclusion

In this lesson, we learned about negation in Paraguayan Guaraní. We explored the three most common negation words in the language and saw how they are used to form negative sentences. Remember that to improve your Paraguayan Guaraní skills, you can use the Polyglot Club website to find native speakers and ask them any questions. If you want to know more about Paraguayan Guaraní Grammar, don't hesitate to check out our other wiki articles.

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Sources

• Paraguayan Guaraní on Wikipedia
• Guaraní Language on Wikipedia