Common misconceptions

• o
• li

  li is not "is"

  Beginners often have the misconception that li translates to "is", "are", or "to be". Notably, the series 12 Days of sona pi toki pona by jan Misali makes this claim, which was later corrected in his newer series toki pona lessons. The word "is" is a verb, whereas li is not. It is a particle that introduces a verb, regardless of whether the sentence would be translated with "is". For example:

  mi pona　

  mi pona.

  I (›) am good.

  ona li pona　

  ona li pona.

  They › are good.

  ona li pona e ijo　

  ona li pona e ijo.

  They › improve » something.

  It is more consistent to say that "to be good" and "improve" are both translations of pona. This pattern is true of all content words.

  This is also why li cannot be used in a pi phrase. li is a particle that has higher priority than pi, not a content word that could be used within a pi phrase.

• e
• pi

  pi is not "of"

  Some dictionaries, most notably the one featured in pu, define the word pi as meaning "of". This is misleading, as most senses of "of" don't translate into pi. This was acknowledged in the section "Notes on lipu pu" of the Toki Pona Dictionary.

  toki pi pona

  toki pi pona

  the language of good

  It may be more helpful to think of every modifier as having an implied "of" before it:

  kala utala suli

  kala utala suli

  fish of fighting of bigness

  Possession

  pi is not a possessive particle. It does not necessarily indicate ownership or translate the English suffix -'s, also known as the Saxon genitive. Any adjective can be interpreted as indicating possession regardless of the presence or absence of pi. pi serves the same purpose in a possessive context as it does in any other: to separate a group of modifiers from those preceding them.

  tomo ona

  tomo ona

  their house

  In this case, the word ona could name the owner of the house, and there is no pi.

  tomo pi(jan [ale luka uta])

  tomo pi jan Alu

  jan Alu's house

  Here, jan Alu owns the house; pi is used to separate the phrase jan Alu from the word tomo, preventing confusion. This is only because jan Alu is a multi-word modifier, and ona is a single-word modifier.

  tomo ona ale

  tomo ona ale

  all their houses; all houses belonging to them

  tomo pi(ona ale)

  tomo pi ona ale

  all-of-them house; house belonging to all of them

  Possession is one of many possible interpretations of pi: what comes after pi simply modifies, describes, qualifies, or alters what comes before it.

• la
• en
• anu
• n
• mi li and sina li
• a
• alu
• Particles
• ki
• pa
• su (particle)
• wa
• lo