lesson 4: adjectives
Describe!
Now you know some nouns (things) and verbs (actions). Time to add adjectives (descriptions)!
Let’s memorise a few of them:
large, important
small, young
good, pleasant
bad, unpleasant
powerful, amazing
knowledgeable, wise
cute, sweet
In English, adjectives go before the noun. But in Toki Pona, they always go after:
a large animal
a small bug
an adorable bird
English speakers sometimes find this order confusing, but this is how it works in French, Irish, Arabic, Malay, and many other languages. Think of it this way: the first word is always the most important!
Let’s make some sentences with descriptions:
waso li lukin e soweli suwi.
The bird sees a cute animal.
soweli wawa li moku e kasi suli.
The strong animal eats large plants.
pipi ike li moku lili e soweli.
Mean bugs bite the animal a little.
waso sona li sona pona e pipi.
The wise bird knows bugs well.
If these sentences feel long and tiresome, don’t worry! We will look at some shorter sentences soon. Remember: the sentence structure is actually quite simple! You can always tell which part is the subject, the verb, and the object, by looking at li and e.
Here’s something interesting: in English, adjectives only go on nouns. But in Toki Pona, they can go on verbs too: to bite a little ~ moku lili, to know well ~ sona pona. There is no difference between adjectives and adverbs in Toki Pona.