The study of the Meadow Mari (Cheremis) language has a lengthy tradition: since 1775, many linguists have produced thorough descriptions of both Hill and Meadow Mari (Sebeok, Raun 1956). Those descriptive grammars, however, have been written in a strictly formal framework, with foundations in the Latin-Greek terminological tradition. In this paper, I examine two markers that code desire and intention, particularly the desiderative suffix -ne and the periphrastic construction with an allegedly very similar meaning -mE (+ Px) + šuaš ’to arrive’. The research investigates the distribution and usage of both. The hypothesis was that the speaker’s choice between the two markers in a given situation is motivated, and therefore one marker cannot at all times be substituted with the other. The pragmatic aim of the study is to grasp the semantic differences between the two markers.