% toki pona page 3 - verbs and objects
% /dev/urandom
% 2020-03-15

The vocabulary for this page:

| word  | meaning                          |
|-------|----------------------------------|
| e     | (specifies an object)            |
| ijo   | thing, object                    |
| ilo   | tool, machine, device            |
| lipu  | book, document, paper            |
| lukin | eye, to look, to see, to seek to |
| olin  | love, compassion, affection      |
| pali  | to do, to work, to make, labor   |
| pana  | to give, to send, to emit        |
| telo  | water, fluid, to water, to clean |
| tomo  | home, room, structure            |

To add a verb to the sentence, use the following structure:

> [noun] li [verb]

For example,

> mije li pali. - A man is working. / A man works.

Both the noun and the verb can have adjectives added after it. If added after a
verb, the adjective functions as an adverb.

> jan wawa li pali pona. - A strong person is working well.

> %warning%
> There is no way to determine whether a word in such a sentence is an
> adjective or a verb. For example, the phrase "mi moku" can mean either "I am
> eating" or "I am food".


> %info%
> Verbs don't have any tense information in them. A way to specify time will be
> explained in a later page.

To add an object -- the thing that the verb applies to -- use the particle "e"
for a following structure:

> [subject] li [verb] e [object]

> jan wawa li pali e tomo. - A strong person is (building/working on) a house.

Objects can also have adjectives added to them.

> jan pali li pana e moku pona. - A worker gives out good food.

Here are some sentences:

> jan pona mi li pona e ilo lukin. - My friend is (improving/fixing) a looking
> instrument (glasses, binoculars, microscope, etc.).

> mi telo e moku. - I clean the food.

> mi olin e meli mi. - I love my wife.

> %warning%
> 
> Since the word "lukin" itself describes the act of seeing someone, rather than
> their appearance, complimenting someone on the latter would usually be expressed
> as:
> 
> > sina pona lukin. - You look good (are "good visually").
>
 
## Exercises

Now, try to figure out the meaning of these sentences.

* jan lili li pana e telo lukin.
* ona li lukin e lipu.
* soweli ike li utala e meli.
* jan utala li moku e kili suli.
* soweli lili li moku e telo.
* mi telo e ijo suli.

And try to translate the following sentences into toki pona.

* She loves every person.
* The bathroom ("house of water") is good.
* I hand out documents.
* An evil warrior is looking at your house.
* My tools are working well.

[Answers](answers.html#p3)

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