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The little word `e`

For sixty-one lessons you've said I see you as mi ori tu — and that's correct. Today, a tiny word you can add to make crystal-clear what an action lands on. It's optional, and that's the whole point.

1 · Say this

mi ori e tu (mee · OH-ree · eh · too) I see you.

mi ori tu is I see you (Lesson 21) — still perfectly good. The new piece is e, a small word dropped just before the thing an action reaches: here, e tu quietly underlines that you are the one being seen.

2 · A closer look: marking the target

e goes right after the verb and before whatever the action lands on:

mi ama e tu — I love you. (the loving lands on you)

mi ori e cho — I see the dog. (the seeing lands on the dog)

You don't need it — mi ama tu is complete. You reach for it when you want to be unmistakable about the target, or when a sentence is long enough that things could blur:

Without e With e Both mean
mi ori tu mi ori e tu I see you
mi ori cho mi ori e cho I see the dog

🧭 Why it's built this way Amatu's rule is defaults do the work; precision is there when you want it. In a short, plain sentence the order already makes the target obvious, so e stays home. Add a frame, a spotlight, or a few extra words — say a whole nara (person) wanders into the sentence — and e steps in to keep what the action lands on unmistakable. A tool, never a tax.

⚠️ Watch out e is just "eh" — the e of bed, one quick beat, its own little word with a space on each side. Don't glue it to the verb or the noun: ori e tu, three separate beats. And note it's not oko (the eye, Lesson 47) — those two short words are easy to swap in a hurry.

3 · Your turn

Out loud:

  1. I see you → mi ori e tu
  2. I love you (underlined) → mi ama e tu
  3. I see the dog → mi ori e cho
  4. Say each again without e — and notice both are fine.

4 · Tonight's phrase

mi ori e tu — I see you — with e marking exactly what the seeing lands on.

30-second check

Cover the page. (1) Say I see you with e. (2) Say it without e. (3) Tell yourself what e points at — the thing the action reaches. Three for three? You've met your first piece of Amatu's precision machinery: a marker you add only when clarity is worth it.

⬅️ Back: Lesson 61 — Recap · ➡️ Next: Lesson 63 — The star