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Lesson 10: Indirect Object

How to Use This Lesson

This lesson is divided into five sections. Please move through them in this order: Warm-Up, Grammar, Vocabulary, Practice, Flashcards.

Do not try to memorize! Just read through the content attentively. The warm-ups and flashcards will bring the vocabulary back later!

How much do you remember from the first lesson?

Check the boxes for words you think you know. Then click Show Answers to reveal the meanings.

Indirect Object

We know how to say who does something (a), what action they do (i), and what they do it to (e). So we could, for example, say:

a nim i boemo e mo
 ↓        ↓       ↓     
 I     cook   the food

But some actions can also involve someone who receives or benefits from them. For example:

a nim i anye e mo
 ↓       ↓      ↓     
 I      make   food
If we want to say that I make the food for the child, we use u!

U is the marker to indicate indirect objects, which in English usually translates to "to/for". For example:

u falfal = for the child

So the full sentence is:

a nim i anye e mo u falfal
 ↓       ↓      ↓       ↓
 I      make   food  for child

These are the mnemonics for the markers: Agent Initiates Engaging Unto

Just like with the other markers, word order is flexible. You can use whatever order feels most natural to you:

a nim i anye e mo u falfal
           =
u falfal i anye e mo a nim

I make food for the child.

Now try to say: She cooks food for my sibling.

U also works naturally with verbs you've already seen:

anye   = make    → i anye e [thing] u [person]   (make for)
boemo  = cook    → i boemo e [thing] u [person]  (cook for)

Try to say: We need to cook food for you.

In sum:

u = to / for [someone]  (indirect object, verb complement)

a [subject] i [verb] e [thing] u [recipient]

Now try to create a sentence using u, or 3 if you're up for a challenge!

The AN Subclusters

Remember what AN indicated?

Click to check

AN = actions.

Now look at these AN words and see if you can spot the narrower patterns.

Oravia English
ando can, be capable of, be able to
anita take
anifou need
anidai want
aniyel come
anona give
anopu lose
anocari leave
anolu out
anefene rest
anepou stop
anefe put
anelem stay, remain

What do you think the words beginning with ANI, ANO, and ANE have in common?

Recognize the Roots

Take another look at anolu. Do you recognize any roots you've learned before?

🌍 Sound Connections

Ani is movement toward like Japanese に ni (toward, directional particle).

Ane is static movement like Latin manere (to remain/stay).

If you need something it's because you lack it: fou means "lack" and comes from English few.

Some of these verbs are special. They can take not only things as complements, but other verbs too. Take for example the verb to want, or anidai. How would you say "my parent wants a bed?"

nim fare i anidai e bonfene.

But what if your parent wanted to do an action instead? For example, to lie down. How would we say that? Step 1: How to make e bonfene a verb instead of a noun? That's right, we use i instead of e:

nim fare i anidai i bonfene.

Step 2: now, we drop the subcluster sound of the first verb. What remains is what we call the root, like this:

nim fare i dai i bonfene.

Done! There are a few reasons we use just the root of the first verb for a construction like to want to do. First, it sounds more distinct from the noun option, so listeners can tell the difference easily. Second, it's shorter, and these verb stacks come up a lot! You can use many verbs in the first verb role - ando, anifou, anidai, anepou, anelem... These are all verbs that take another action as a complement.

How do you think we would say to need to come? How about to be able to leave?

You will see this construction often.

You can also use the full verb form, like i anidai i bonfene. It tends to sound a bit formal and stiff for everyday speech. Sometimes you may want to create this effect, but short form is what you will hear and use most naturally in conversation.

In sum, in the AN cluster (actions), we have:

ANI - movement towards  
ANO - movement away     
ANE - static
i do/dai/fou... i [verb] = can/want/need... to [verb]

Flexibility

Don't worry too much about memorizing the right subclusters for each word. For example, you can say anefene, or anfene, they mean the same thing! You could also say only ane (static) or fene (rest), just the meaning would be broader without context. Options like these will be discussed later on, once you understand better how the language works. For now, just keep in mind there is no need to stress over the right subclusters and that words are flexible.

Matching Games

Time to practice! Match the Oravia words with their English meanings. Use sound-meaning associations as clues. For example, the subcluster sound tells you the category, even for words you haven't seen before.
If you don't remember or make a mistake, that's totally fine! We will have plenty of opportunities to practice. Right now just give it a try.
Click one word from each column to match them. The game will check automatically when you select both words.

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

🎉 Lesson 10 Complete!

Use the Flashcards tab for another quick review.

Come back tomorrow for Lesson 11.