lesson 5 - preverbs

vocab

󱥑 pipi - bug, insect, ant, spider

󱤷 moli - dead, dying

󱤎 ilo - tool, implement, machine, device

~ preverbs

󱤖 kama - arriving, coming, future, summoned; (pv.) to become, manage, to, succeed in

󱥷 wile - must, need, require, should, want, wish; (pv.) to want to, to need to

󱤈 awen - enduring, kept, protected, safe, waiting, staying; (pv.) to continue to, to keep

󱥡 sona - know, be skilled in, be wise about, have information on; (pv.) to know how to

󱤘 ken - be allowed to, can, may; possible; (pv.) to be able to

󱤮 lukin - eye; look at, see, examine, observe, read, watch; look for, seek; (pv.) try to

~ notes

words have different meanings when used as preverbs and otherwise. the preverb meaning of a word is marked with (pv.)

there are two words you already know on this list, ken and lukin, but their preverb meanings are new.

lesson

~ preverbs

preverbs go before the predicate and modify it.

they can be negated by the word ala, and otherwise you can't modify preverbs.you can also use multiple preverbs at once

subject li preverb predicate (e object)

~ examples

mi ken ala moli e pipi
~ i can't kill the bug

jan li wile ala moku e pipi
~ people don't wanna eat bugs

sina ken kama pona
~ you can become good

exercises

~ one for each preverb

mi lukin pali e ilo pona

i try to build good tools

ona li wile moku e pipi

they wanna eat bugs

jan li kama sona toki pona

people learn to speak toki pona

waso li sona waso

birds know how to be birds

waso suwi li awen wile e pipi

the cute bird still wants a bug

soweli li ken moku e sina😱

animals can eat you 😱

~ repetition

i am protecting you

mi awen e sina

jan li kama e moku

the person brings food

this tool strengthens the bugs

ilo ni li wawa e pipi

mi wile e ni: sina lukin e pipi pona

i wish that you see good bugs

~ translate from toki pona to english

mi ken awen wawa

we can stay strong

weka ona li wawa e jan mute

their absence empowers the people

ilo li ken ala moli

tools can't kill

waso li pali e ilo toki

the bat is making a phone (communication device)

jan li pali e ni: mi wile awen soweli

people make me want to remain an animal

~ translate from english to toki pona

i wanna learn toki pona

mi wile kama sona (e) toki pona

i can't see that

mi ken ala lukin e ni

your goodness can fix the colourful house

pona sina li ken pona e tomo mute

i saw that you fixed our house

mi lukin e ni: sina pona e tomo mi

i'm trying to see my glasses

mi lukin lukin e ilo lukin mi

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