Editing Quechuan languages (section)

====Position in the sentence====
Evidentials in the Quechuan languages are "second position enclitics", which usually attach to the first constituent in the sentence, as shown in this example.<ref>Aikhenvald 2004, p. 68-69.</ref>

{{interlinear|indent=3
|huk-'''si''' ka-sqa huk machucha-piwan payacha
|once-HSY be-SD one old.man-WITH woman
|Once, there were an old man and an old woman.}}

They can, however, also occur on a focused constituent.

{{interlinear|indent=3
|Pidru kunana-'''mi''' wasi-ta tuwa-sha-n
|Pedro now-DIR.EV house-ACC build-PROG-3SG
|It is now that Pedro is building the house.}}

Sometimes, the affix is described as attaching to the focus, particularly in the Tarma dialect of [[Yaru Quechua]],<ref>Weber 1986, p. 145.</ref> but this does not hold true for all varieties of Quechua. In Huanuco Quechua, the evidentials may follow any number of topics, marked by the topic marker ''–qa'', and the element with the evidential must precede the main verb or be the main verb.

However, there are exceptions to that rule, and the more topics there are in a sentence, the more likely the sentence is to deviate from the usual pattern.
{{interlinear|indent=3
|Chawrana-qa puntataruu-qu trayaruptin-qa wamrata-qa mayna-'''shi''' Diosninchi-qa heqarkaykachisha syelutana-shi
|so:already-TOP at:the:peak-TOP arriving-TOP child-TOP already-IND our:God-TOP had:taken:her:up to:heaven:already-IND
|When she (the witch) reached the peak, God had already taken the child up into heaven.}}