Time

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A sundial tells the time of day by the position of the Sun. When discussing time, you too can refer to things in your environment, like sunlight or a nearby time-telling tool.

There are many ways to discuss time in Toki Pona. The corresponding word is tenpo, and many common phrases incorporate it, though not all.

Phrases

This section may be misleading or lack nuance, and should be rewritten. Do not assume this information to be correct.

Durations

Some phrases for duration are more common than others, though they are not entirely lexicalized. The same phrase in a different context is easily used to convey a different meaning, and the same meaning can be described by multiple phrases.

• tenpo suno - day, daytime, time that has light
• tenpo esun - week (based on the weekly workday cycle)
• tenpo mun - month (the length of a moon cycle is roughly one month), night (time related to the moon)
• tenpo sike - year (Earth circles the sun), repeating time

For approximate durations, one can use tenpo lili and tenpo suli. Some use the same phrases for distances, while others use tenpo poka and tenpo weka. These can then be combined with terms for past and future.

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Past

The most commonly used phrase is tenpo pini - "finished time". If you'd like to (or need to) use something else, here are some potential alternatives for inspiration:

• tenpo majuna - old time, time of old things
• tenpo tan - source time
• tenpo weka - gone time (might be confused with far-away time)
• tenpo kiwen - solid time, time that can't be changed
• tenpo mama - ancestor time, time that created the current time

Present

The most commonly used phrase is tenpo ni - "this time", which can be confused with "the time we're talking about". A somewhat common alternative is tenpo lon - "time that exists". Other possible phrases include tenpo mi - "my/our time" and tenpo pi toki ni - "the time of this conversation".

Future

The most commonly used phrase is tenpo kama - "coming time". If you'd like to (or need to) use something else, here are some potential alternatives for inspiration:

• tenpo sin - new time
• tenpo pi sona ala - unknown time
• tenpo ken - time of possibilities

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Spatial metaphors

A reoccurring idea from learners coming from English is to use tenpo monsi and tenpo sinpin to refer to the past and future. Although it seems unambiguous at first, spatial metaphors for time vary across languages: Aymara and Toba put the future behind the speaker, Mandarin Chinese does so in some cases (and often prefers a top-to-bottom timeline), French and Italian kinship terms equate "back" with both great-grandchildren and great-grandparents, and so on. Not even English is completely immune: if a meeting is "moved forward", does it now come earlier or later than before?