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a is a particle of toki pona used for emphasis and to show emotion.

Function of a

warning: in general, "a" is a very flexible word, its use can be different from person to person and is in general more broad than what is indicated here. nevertheless, these are some of the usual use-cases.

"a" at the beginning of the sentence can mean "ah" or "oh":

a ni li pona tawa mi: oh, this is good for me.

"a" at the end can emphasize the whole sentence.

ni li pona tawa mi a: this is good for me! :)

"a" directly after a word can emphasize that word.

ni li pona a tawa mi: this is great for me

It typically applies to the word immediately before it:

ona a li pali e tomo: She builds a house

ona li pali a e tomo: He builds a house

ona li pali e tomo a: They build a house

You can use it at the end of a sentence to basically emphasise the entire sentence (like an exclamation mark):

ni li pona a: That is great!!!

You can use it on its own or in front of sentences to just add any number of unspecified emotional exclamations:

a, mi sona: Oh, ok, I understand

a pakala: Aw crap

a a a: Laughter — "hahaha"

External resources

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 "a" at the beginning of the sentence can mean "ah" or "oh":
-a ni li pona tawa mi - oh, this is good for me.
+; a ni li pona tawa mi : oh, this is good for me.
 "a" at the end can emphasize the whole sentence.
-ni li pona tawa mi a - this is good for me! :)
+; ni li pona tawa mi a : this is good for me! :)
 "a" directly after a word can emphasize that word.
-ni li pona a tawa mi - this is great for me!
+; ni li pona a tawa mi : this is great for me
-You can use it to basically underline a word:
+It typically applies to the word immediately before it:
-ona a li pali e tomo
-''She'' builds a house
-ona li pali a e tomo
+; ona a li pali e tomo : ''She'' builds a house
-He ''builds'' a house
-ona li pali e tomo a
+; ona li pali a e tomo : He ''builds'' a house
-They build a ''house''
+; ona li pali e tomo a : They build a ''house''
 You can use it at the end of a sentence to basically emphasise the entire sentence (like an exclamation mark):
-ni li pona a
+; ni li pona a : That is great!!!
-That is great!!!
 You can use it on its own or in front of sentences to just add any number of unspecified emotional exclamations:
-a, mi sona
+; a, mi sona : Oh, ok, I understand
-Oh, ok, I understand
-a pakala
-Aw crap
+; a pakala : Aw crap
-a a a
-This signifies laughter like "hahaha"
+; a a a : Laughter — "hahaha"
 == External resources ==
 * [[pu]] Lesson 10