Language/Paraguayan-guarani/Grammar/Plurals

Paraguayan Guaraní Grammar - Plurals

Hi Paraguayan Guaraní learners! 😊
In this lesson, we will learn about plural forms in Paraguayan Guaraní.

Plural markers

In Paraguayan Guaraní, there are several ways to form plurals. One of the most common ways is to add the suffix -re to the singular form of the noun. For example:

Paraguayan Guaraní	Pronunciation	English
mokõi	mokõi-re	chairs
ka'ã	ka'ã-re	dogs

Another way to form the plural is to use the suffix -gua. This is more common for animate nouns (referring to living beings). For example:

Paraguayan Guaraní	Pronunciation	English
ña'ãnga	ña'ãnga-gua	men
akã	akã-gua	women

Note that there are exceptions to these rules, and some nouns have irregular plural forms.

Counting in Paraguayan Guaraní

To count in Paraguayan Guaraní, we use a base-20 counting system. The numbers from 1 to 20 are:

Paraguayan Guaraní	Pronunciation	English
ñemo	'ɲemo	one
mokõi	'mokoi	two
mbo'ehao	'mboʔeχao	three
irundy	'iɾundɨ	four
yvyra	'ɨvɨɾa	five
aty	'aty	six
guasu	'ɡwasu	seven
rovapy	ɾova'pɨ	eight
peteî	'petei	nine
mburuvicha	'mbuɾuvit͡ʃa	ten
poko'i	'pokoʔi	eleven
marandu	ma'ɾandu	twelve
anga	'aŋɡa	thirteen
mokõi mbo'ehao	'mokoi 'mboʔeχao	fourteen
mokõi irundy	'mokoi 'iɾundɨ	fifteen
mokõi yvyra	'mokoi 'ɨvɨɾa	sixteen
mokõi aty	'mokoi 'aty	seventeen
mokõi guasu	'mokoi 'ɡwasu	eighteen
mokõi rovapy	'mokoi ɾova'pɨ	nineteen
mokõi peteî	'mokoi 'petei	twenty

To count beyond twenty, we use multiples of twenty. For example, 40 is peteî mokõi, which means "two twenties and (add) four".

Dialogue

Here's a dialogue between Ana and Juan, where they talk about plurals:

• Ana: ¿Oîkuri mokõi-pe nde rehegua jepuka hapichakuéra?
• Juan: Che ko'ãga-re nde kuimba'e jepuka. Ha mborayhu-re nde ndoikuaáva rehegua jepuka.
• Ana: Oh, nde rógape oîpeteî-pe nde yvyra-gua potĩ orekóva.
• Juan: Ha oikatu-pe nde ña'ãnga-gua hese rupi.

Translation:

• Ana: How many chairs do we need to buy?
• Juan: We need to buy two chairs. And we also need to buy some tables.
• Ana: Okay, I'll buy five of them.
• Juan: And also get eight men for the party.

Fun facts

- Paraguayan Guaraní is one of the two official languages of Paraguay, along with Spanish. It is also widely spoken in neighboring countries like Argentina and Brazil. - The consonant cluster /mb/ is unique to Paraguayan Guaraní, and is often borrowed into Spanish words used in Paraguay. - Paraguayan Guaraní has a complex system of verb conjugation, which takes into account the person, number, tense, mood, and aspect of the verb.

Practice

To practice what you've learned, try translating the following sentences into Paraguayan Guaraní:

1. We bought three dogs. 2. My father has four chairs in his office. 3. They saw seven birds in the sky.

Sources

• Guaraní language
• Paraguay

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Related Lessons

• How to Use Have
• Pronouns
• How to Use Be
• Adjectives
• Questions
• Negation
• Give your Opinion
• Conditional Mood
• Future Tense