Comparisons

Comparisons can be divided into two types: comparatives, which pit two things against each other, and superlatives, which describe one thing as beyond everything else.

Comparatives

toki pona doesn't have a specific grammatical construction for comparatives, but there are nonetheless multiple ways to express them:

• Separate the claim into two sentences with an implied connection:

  poki mi li lili. poki sina li suli.

  My bag is small. Your bag is big.

  poki mi li suli (lili). poki sina li suli mute.

  My bag is (a bit) big. Your bag is very big.

• You can also make the connection explicit with taso:

  poki mi li lili, taso poki sina li suli.

  My bag is small, but your bag is big.

• Use la to make the magnitude of one claim relative to the other subject:

  poki mi la poki sina li suli.

  Given my bag, your bag is big.

• Similarly, use tawa to put the claim "in the perspective" of another:

  poki sina li suli tawa poki mi.

  Your bag is big to my bag.

Superlatives

Superlatives are even simpler:

• Use nanpa wan:

  poki sina li suli nanpa wan.

  Your bag is number one in bigness.

• Intensify the claim:

  poki sina li suli mute a.

  Your bag is extremely big.