Word order
Toki Pona's word order is subject–verb–object (SVO).
The verb is introduced with the particle li. The direct object is introduced with e.
- subject li verb (e object).
- Subject verbs (object).
Multiple subjects are connected with en. Multiple verbs and objects are introduced by repeating the particle for each. In standard grammar, all of the subjects go first, but objects can tag onto their respective verbs.
- subject en subject li verb (e object e object) li verb (e object e object).
- Subject and subject verb (object and object) and verb (object and object).
Modifiers follow their heads.
- In toki pona, toki ("language") is the head, and pona ("good") is the modifier.
- sike loje mi is literally "ball red my", and means "my red ball".
- This is typically the opposite of English, but there are counterexamples like "someone special", "anything new", "time immemorial", and "Alcoholics Anonymous".
Free word order
An experimental system for free word order was created as an April Fools' Day joke. Most speakers do not use or easily understand it.
In this system, the subject, verb, and object can go in any order. The subject is introduced with en if it does not start the sentence.
| SOV | ona e kasi li moku. | "They plants eat." |
|---|---|---|
| SVO | ona li moku e kasi. | "They eat plants." |
| VSO | li moku en ona e kasi. | "Eat they plants." |
| VOS | li moku e kasi en ona. | "Eat plants they." |
| OVS | e kasi li moku en ona. | "Plants eat they." |
| OSV | e kasi en ona li moku. | "Plants they eat." |
Besides its lack of acceptance, there are some potential problems with this system. The correspondence between multiple verbs and objects may be lost. Also, sentence boundaries may be unclear.