lipu sona

Content words

Most words in toki pona are content words. Content words are words that have a meaning, as opposed to particles or grammar words. Content words can act as nouns, adjectives, or verbs depending on context. In this lesson, we’ll look at using them as nouns and verbs.

Sentences with li

A basic sentence in toki pona is structured like this:

[x1] li [x2].

This type of sentence means “[x1] is [x2]” or “[x1] does [x2]”.

jan li moku.
The person eats.
The person is food.

ni li toki.
This talks.
This is a language.

jan li pona.
The person is good.

The word li comes after the subject and marks the predicate of the sentence. li does not mean “to be”; toki pona does not have a copula.

Unlike some other languages, toki pona does not use articles. There are no words like “a” or “the”. Definiteness is determined through context.

toki pona words have many meanings:

ijo li pona.
Something is good.
The thing is simple.
The being fixes something.

jan li lipu.
The person is flat.
The person flattens something.
The person is a book.

lipu li pona.
The book is good.
The paper is repaired.

Words aren’t marked for number. This means words don’t change depending on whether the subject is singular or plural.

jan li pona.
People are good.

Parts of speech

In dictionaries, toki pona words are usually listed as only one part of speech: as a noun, a verb, or an adjective. However, nearly any content word can be used as any part of speech!

For example, the word moku is defined as a verb, meaning “to eat or drink”. When used as a noun, it means “food or beverage”.