Toki Pona – Cheat Sheet and Exercises

Noun Phrases | Verbs + Direct Objects | Adverbs | Prepositional Complements

1. Spelling and Pronunciation

  • 5 vowels: a, e, i, o, u. They are like in Spanish/Italian.
  • 9 consonants: j, k, s, l, m, n, p, t, w. They are like in English, except for j, which is pronounced like a y.
    • Example: In Toki Pona yellow comes from English and it is jelo (but pronounced like yelloh).
  • Sentences do not start with an upper case letter: ni li nasin.
  • Stress of every word is in the first syllable mi kepeken musi

2. Words and meanings

1. Toki Pona has (A) content words, encapsulating meanings of concepts, and (B) grammar particles. More on that later.

2. Word location: All content words can be Nouns, Adjectives, Verbs, Adverbs (and some can be prepositions or verbs before verbs), depending on where you place them in the sentence. We'll see where.

3. Many meanings: Words can have many different meanings at the same time. Context and specifying with other words helps interpret what was meant. Ex. lon can mean real, to exist, located at, true...

4. No derivatives: There is no plurals, gender, tenses or any other derivatives. Again: meaning is inferred.

5. Semantic bag: words mean anything you can imagine that is related to their dictionary entries (and that's not better captured by another word).

Let's practice it. Check the examples and solve one random exercise.

Imagining meanings

dictionary
    as a noun
    as a verb
    as an adjective
    as an adverb
    another meaning

    A) Noun Phrases

    Several words without particles: The first one is a Noun; and each following word modifies all that came before: jan utala suli = ((person fight) big) = big warrior.

    We can use the particle pi to change parentheses: jan pi utala suli = (person (fight big)) = a person of war.

    Particles en ("and" in subjects); anu (it's "or") can be used to join groups of words together.

    Noun Phrase shape. (* means 0 or more times)

    Noun (Adjective)* (pi NounPhrase)* (en NounPhrase)* (anu NounPhrase)*

    big house
    tomoNoun suliAdjective
    the leader’s house
    tomoNoun pipi janNoun lawaAdjective
    tea or water
    telo kasiNounPhrase anuanu telo tasoNounPhrase

    A1. English → toki pona (NounPhrases only)

    1) my small book
    2) long road
    3) two tools
    4) the person’s door
    5) water of the river (use 2+ words for river)
    6) my city (use 2+ words for city)

    A2. toki pona → English (NounPhrases only)

    1) tomo lili
    2) ilo pona
    3) jan pi tomo pali
    4) tenpo suno mute
    5) moku pi soweli lili
    6) kili suwi tu
    7) tomo pi jan pona mi
    8) moku pi telo suwi

    B) Verbs, Direct Objects (li / e) Prepositions

    Sentence shape. (* means 0 or more times)

    SubjectNounPhrase li Verb (Adverb)* (e NounPhrase)* (Preposition NounPhrase)*

    1. li ends the subject and starts the predicate.
      • If the subject is only mi or only sina, li is dropped.
    2. A Direct Object is made with e + Noun Phrase.
    3. An Adverb (just a modifier word after the Verb) describes how the action happens.
    4. A Prepositional Complement is Preposition + NounPhrase.
      • There are five prepositions: lon (in / at), tawa (toward), kepeken (using), sama (as, like), tan (because, from, by).
      • Note that prepositions are also content words.
    5. No "and" for predicates, direct objects, or within prepositional complements, just repeat li, e or the preposition.
    The person eats a sweet fruit.
    janSubject NounPhrase lili mokuVerb ee kiliDirectObject suwiAdjective
    I see this person's house.
    miSubject NounPhrase lukinVerb ee tomoDirectObject pipi jan niNounPhrase
    The cat sleeps at home.
    soweliSubject NounPhrase lili lapeVerb lonPreposition tomoNounPhrase
    The person speaks well.
    janSubject NounPhrase lili tokiVerb ponaAdverb
    This person is a good person and works a lot in drawing and music.
    jan niSubject NounPhrase lili jan pona"is" predicate lili paliVerb muteAdverb ee sitelenDir. Obj. ee kalama musiDir. Obj.

    See what happens with either e or one of the 5 prepositions {lon, tawa, kepeken, sama, tan}.

    mi lukin sitelen.
    jan li tawa tomo.
    mi moku kili.
    mi moku ilo.
    mi kama ma tomo.

    B1. English → toki pona (Verbs and Direct Objects)

    1) My friend opens the door.
    2) The child drinks water.
    3) I want food.
    4) We watch a movie.

    B2. toki pona → English (Verbs and Direct Objects)

    1) mi jo e lipu.
    2) sina pali e tomo.
    3) jan li alasa e kili.
    4) ona li pana e moku.

    B3. English → toki pona (Adverbs and Prepositions)

    1) I work well.
    2) The person talks a lot.
    3) The child sleeps in the house.
    4) We go to the city.
    5) I break it using a tool.
    6) The dog comes from the house.

    B4. toki pona → English (Adverbs and Prepositions)

    1) jan li toki ike.
    2) mi pali mute lon tomo.
    3) ona li pana e lipu tawa mi.
    4) soweli li tawa kepeken noka.
    5) mi kama tan ma.
    6) jan li lukin sama sina.