The vocabulary for this page:
| word | meaning |
|---|---|
| kule | color, colorful |
| jelo | yellow (and its shades) |
| laso | blue, green (and its shades) |
| loje | red (and its shades) |
| pimeja | black, dark |
| walo | white, bright/light |
| nasa | unusual, strange, silly, intoxicated |
| jaki | dirty, disgusting, toxic |
| moli | death, dying |
| unpa | sex, sexual |
Colors
In toki pona, there are five basic color terms: “loje” (red), “jelo” (yellow), “laso” (blue and green), “pimeja” (black) and “walo” (white).
These terms can be combined with each other, or words referring to natural things, to form other shades:
laso sewi – blue (“sky green/blue”)
laso kasi – green (“plant green/blue”)
loje jelo – orange (“yellowish red”)
jelo pimeja – brown (“dark yellow”)
walo pimeja – gray (“dark white”)
loje walo – pink (“light red”)
Example sentences
kili loje lili li pona tawa mi. – I like small red fruits (strawberries/raspberries?).
jan lili li pana e ko jaki tan monsi ona. – The kid pooped himself.
jan Simu o, mije li moli. – He’s dead, Jim.
tomo ni li jo e jaki mute. ni li ike tawa mi a! – This room is covered in gross materials. I don’t like it!
mije mi li unpa ala e jan ante. – My husband is faithful (“doesn’t have sex with other people”).
Comparative sentences
While there are words in toki pona for “good” or “bad”, there is no “better” or “worse”. While there are words for “lots” and “little”, there’s no “more” or “less”.
To make a comparative statement, you instead split it into two sentences:
mi wawa. sina wawa lili. – I am stronger than you. (I am strong. You are slightly strong.)
Of course, the degree of comparison can be adjusted by changing the difference between the adjectives.
mi wawa mute. sina wawa ala. – I am way stronger than you. (I am very strong. You are weak.)
Exercises
Now, try to figure out the meaning of these sentences.
- kule loje li pona tawa mi.
- o pana e telo kili jelo tawa mi.
- kasi kule sina li pona lukin tawa mi.
- mi moku ala e telo nasa.
- o moli ala e ona a!
And try to translate the following sentences into toki pona.
- Your house is bigger than mine.
- I like blue flowers more than red flowers.
- Ew, gross! This food is terrible!
- I’m in the red house.
- The drunk person doesn’t listen to me.