Conjunctions

Answers to the excercises from the previous lesson:

• toki ma to English:

  • waso li tawa sute la tenpo seli li kama → If birds are going south, summer is coming. (summer or just the warm weather)

  • telo li weka ita si seli mute e on → Water disappears if you heat it a lot.

  • soweli la ona li pona lukin! → Animals, they are cute! (lit. good looking)

  • ken la ona li ken kama ki pajan → Maybe they can come to the city.

• English to toki ma:

  • I will buy a car next month → mi esun e kali ita mun kama.

  • The soldier, they are coming! → jan utala la ona li kama!

  • If you want to grow big, eat your veggies! → si wile kama suli la o moku e kasi si! (yes! you can mix la and commands!)

  • Look left and right before crossing the street → o lukin pi soto en jupa ita si wile tawa alen nasin.

anu

You have already used anu to make questions:

si tawa anu seme? → Are you going?

The meaning of anu, as a particle, is "or", and it can be used inside subjects,

si anu mi li pesoni tawa → Either you or I need to go

or inside objects,

mi wile e kili anu suwi → I want either fruit or candy

or inside prepositional phrases,

mi wile tawa ki umi anu nena → I want to go to either the sea or the mountain

or inside a pi-phrase,

tomo pi si anu mi → your house or mine

or between verbs,

on li pali anu musi → He/she is either working or having fun

or between complete sentences,

mi tawa anu si kama → Either I'm going or you are coming

It can also work as a verb with the meaning of "to decide, to choose",

mi le anu e pan suwi → I have chosen the cake

or as a noun with the meaning of "decision, poll":

anu ni le ike → This decision was bad.

taso

taso, as a particle, means "but, however". It is usually used between two sentences:

mi le tawa taso si le lon ala → I went but you weren't there.

but it can be used in other contexts:

mi ala, taso si li pesoni tawa → Not me but you must go.

Be careful when using it this way because it may become ambiguous with the other meaning of taso, a modifier "only, sole":

mi taso li pesoni tawa → Only I need to go.

mi li pesoni tawa taso → I only need to go.

kin

kin is not exactly a conjunction, but it is similar enough to be listed here. It is a modifier, and means "too, also, as well, indeed, even":

mi kin tawa → I'm going too (=other people go, I'm going too)

mi tawa kin → I'm going too (=I'm doing other things, and also going)

It also works as a confirmation particle (as an answer of a question, or to a statement):

si jo e soweli. - kin → you have an animal. - Indeed

And

There is no general word for "and" in toki ma. If you remember the lesson on objects, we saw a few different ways of saying "and" in a sentence.

si en mi li tawa → you and I are going

on li tawa li kama → He/she is going and coming

mi wile e suwi e kili → I want candy and fruit

tomo pi mi en on → my and his/her house

Between sentences... you simply do nothing:

mi tawa. si kama → I'm going and you are coming.

Words you have learned in this lesson

leje, meli, mije, nena, sinko, taso, tima, tonsi, umi, unpa, and wa.

Exercises

Practice what you have learned with the following sentences. The answers, in the next lesson:

• toki ma to English:

  • si taso li sona e nimi pi lipu ni.

  • sinko mi kin li wile tawa ki umi.

  • o moku anu weka.

  • on li wile ala kama e mama. ni li anu pi on taso.

• English to toki ma:

  • My wife and I are going to your father's town, too.

  • I love you, but I also love her.

  • Either you go to the sea or to the city, but you have to decide.

  • He is bisexual (hint: he loves/has sex with both males and females)

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