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

The vocabulary for this page:

| word  | meaning                          | derived from                      |
|-------|----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
| e     | (specifies an object)            | unknown origin                    |
| ijo   | thing, object                    | Esperanto "io" (something)        |
| ilo   | tool, machine, device            | Esperanto "ilo" (tool)            |
| lipu  | book, document, paper            | Finnish "lippu" (flag, banner)    |
| lukin | eye, to look, to see, to seek to | Tok Pisin "lukim" (see, look at)  |
| olin  | love, compassion, affection      | Serbo-Croatian "volim" (I love)   |
| pali  | to do, to work, to make, labor   | Esperanto "fari" (do, make)       |
| pana  | to give, to send, to emit        | Finnish "panna" (put, set, place) |
| telo  | water, fluid, to water, to clean | Acadian French "de l'eau" (water) |
| tomo  | home, room, structure            | Esperanto "domo" (house)          |

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.

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

> %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 instrument is working well.

<a name="answers" href="#answers" onclick="revealSpoilers();">Reveal answers</a>

> %spoiler%
> * A child is crying (emitting eye water).
> * (He/she/they) look at a document.
> * The bad animal is attacking a woman.
> * The warrior is eating a big (fruit/vegetable/mushroom).
> * Little animals are drinking water.
> * I am (watering/cleaning) something big.

> %spoiler%
> * ona li olin e jan ale.
> * tomo telo li pona.
> * mi pana e lipu.
> * jan utala ike li lukin e tomo sina.
> * ilo mi li pali pona.

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