In this lesson we will learn how to make basic Subject-Predicate sentences using the li particle. First, a bit about how particles work in Toki Pona, for those who are unfamiliar.
Particles
Particles in Toki Pona are words that act as markers to show what each part of the sentence is doing. Other languages like Japanese and Korean, two also context-heavy languages, also use particles in a similar way. This is very useful, as words in Toki Pona can mean many things, with many having both verb and noun meanings. The particle we are learning about today, li, marks the subject-predicate separation, allowing you to name the subject. To achieve multiple verbs in a sentence, you simply chain lis together. We will see this in the example sentences.
Words
- li | li – particle that marks the subject
- mama | mama – parent, mother, father, creator, caretaker, guardian
- sona | sona – knowledge, information, data, know
- kulupu | kulupu – group, community, team, crowd
- sitelen | sitelen – image, drawing, picture, symbol, writing
- ike | ike – bad, negative, evil, problem
- jaki | jaki – gross, disgusting, rotten, toxic
- ni | ni – this, that, these, those
- ijo | ijo – thing, object, being, matter, phenomenon
- tomo | tomo – building, house, home, room, tent, shack, indoor space
- Bonus: n | n – hmm, um, uh (something to say when you aren’t sure what to say)
Example Sentences
jan li moku
jan li moku – the person eats
kulupu li sitelen li toki
kulupu li sitelen li toki – the group writes and talks
ona li mama
ona li mama – they are my parent
ona li kulupu sitelen
ona li kulupu sitelen – they are a drawing club
ijo ni li jaki
ijo ni li jaki – that thing is gross
mi sona
mi sona – I know, I understand
Wait, what happened in that last sentence?
You may have noticed in that last sentence that there was no li but it was still a grammatically correct sentence. This is an exception to the rule. When the subject of the sentence is only mi or sina, drop the li.
Conclusion
Now you know how to make basic subject-predicate sentences using the particle li. You can now say what someone or something is or is doing. In the next lesson, Lesson 2, we will look at direct objects.