Let’s learn how to be more expressive in Toki Pona!
to feel, to experience; heart
dirty, disgusting, rotten
scary thing, fear
to break, to harm
pilin
To talk about how they feel, people often use the verb pilin with an adjective:
to feel good
to feel powerful
mi pilin nasa.
I feel strange.
sina pilin seme?
How are you feeling?
mi pilin monsuta tan soweli.
I am scared of animals.
You can also talk about something affecting pilin sina, your sensations:
sina pona e pilin mi.
You make me feel better.
kon li jaki tawa pilin mi.
The air feels foul to my senses.
Interjections
Interjections are short phrases that can occur on their own, without a full sentence. They can serve as greetings, expressions of emotion, or work as responses in conversation.
Let’s look at a few common Toki Pona interjections:
Hello! Let's talk!
Good!
I see. Understood. Got it.
Incredible! Amazing!
That's true.
Welcome!
But it’s not a complete list! In the right context, almost anything could be an interjection:
(Aaah!) A bug!
One special interjection, however, is a:
ah, huh, oh
It’s less of a word, and more of a stand-in for any sorts of sounds of excitement, hesitation, joy we might make. It often goes with other interjections, or in full sentences:
How sweet!
Ah, perhaps.
hahaha!
When used in full sentences, it emphasises whatever it comes after:
mi sona ala a e ni!
I do not know that!
Polite by default
We often make our speech more complicated when we want to be respectful and nice:
- ❌ gimme the sugar!
- ❌ where is the library?
- ✅ Would you so kindly pass me the sugar? Thank you.
- ✅ Sorry, I don’t mean to bother you, but could you point me to the library, please?
But if you speak to me in Toki Pona, you are already as polite as you need to be!
- ✅ o pana e suwi!
- ✅ tomo lipu li lon seme?