Lesson 4: Direct Objects; Compound Sentences
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# Vocabulary #
Nouns
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ilo tool, device, machine
kili any fruit or vegetable
ni this, that
ona he, she, it
pipi bug, insect, spider
ma land, country, region, outside area
ijo something, anything, stuff, thing
Verbs
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jo to have; ownership, possession
lukin* to see, to look at; vision, sight
pakala mess up, destroy; accident
unpa have sex with; sex; sexual
wile to want, to need, to have to; desire
Grammatical Words
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e introduces direct object (see notes below)
* The official dictionary lists lukin and oko--a word you'll
learn in lesson 15--as being interchangeable. Traditionally,
though, these two words had different connotations and uses,
and most Toki Ponans seem to use these two words according
to their traditional definitions, so this course will teach
them that way.
# Direct objects using e #
In the last lesson, you learned that phrases like mi moku
could have two potential meanings: I'm eating or I am food.
You must heavily depend on context when reading such
sentences. However, there is a way to distinguish between
I'm eating versus I am food. Look at how e is used in these
two examples:
mi moku e kili. = I eat fruit.
ona li lukin e pipi. = He's watching the bug.
Whatever is getting action done on itself is the "direct
object," and in Toki Pona, we use e to separate the verb and
its direct object.
In the last lesson, you also learned that sina pona, like mi
moku, has two possible meanings: You are good or You're
fixing. Realistically, it would mean You are good simply
because no one really says I'm fixing without specifying
what they're fixing. With e, you can now specify:
ona li pona e ilo. = She's fixing the machine.
mi pona e ijo. = I'm fixing something.
Many other languages (e.g., Latin, German, and Esperanto)
use special features to denote the direct object, so you may
already be familiar with this concept, but if not, practice
using it. (Don't forget to practice li, too). As you
progress into Toki Pona, you'll see why e is necessary.
# Direct objects using e with wile #
If you want to do something, you can say so like this:
mi wile lukin e ma. = I want to see the countryside.
mi wile pakala e sina. = I must destroy you.
As these examples show, e comes after the infinitive in
these two sentences, not before it. A few people have
mistakenly said things such as, "mi wile e pakala e sina,"
so be careful not to make the same mistake.
# Compound sentences #
There are two ways to make compound sentences in Toki Pona:
One involves li, and the other involves e. Since you've now
studied both of these words, we'll cover how to use both of
them to make compound sentences.
## Compound Sentences with li ##
Look at this example:
pipi li lukin li unpa. = The bug looks and has sex.
If you put li before each verb, you can say that the subject
(pipi in this sentence) does more than one thing.
This multiple-li is slightly different if the sentence
begins with mi or sina:
mi moku li pakala. = I eat and destroy.
Because this sentence starts with mi, you must omit li
before the first verb (moku) (Review lesson 3 if you've
forgotten this rule.), but still use it before the second
verb (pakala). Without the li there, the sentence would be
chaotic and confusing.
## Compound Sentences with e ##
If there are several direct objects of the same verb, use
multiple e's like in this example:
mi moku e kili e telo. = I eat/drink fruit and water.
You use e multiple times because kili and telo are both
direct objects, and e must precede them both. Here's another
example:
mi wile lukin e ma e suno. = I want to see the land and
the sun.
# Practice #
Try translating these sentences from English to Toki Pona
(the answer key is at the bottom of the page):
A) I have a tool.
B) She's eating fruit.
C) Something is watching me.
D) He wants to squish the spider.
E) Pineapple is a food and is good.
F) The bug is thirsty.
Hint: Think of the sentence like this:
"The bug wants to drink water."
1) ijo li lukin e mi.
2) mi jo e ilo.
3) ona li wile pakala e pipi.
4) pipi li wile moku e telo.
5) kili li moku li pona.
6) ona li moku e kili.
And now try changing these sentences from Toki Pona into
English (answer key below):
G) mi lukin e ni.
H) mi wile unpa e ona.
I) jan li wile jo e ma.
J) mi jan li suli.
7) I want to have sex with him/her.
8) I am looking at that.
9) I am somebody important.
10) People want to own land.
