a

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!

You can use it to basically underline a word:

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

This signifies laughter like "hahaha"