li X e X

This article needs work:

What are the limits of this method?

If you know about this topic, you can help us by editing it. (See all)

Consider these sentences where the verb is the same as the head of the direct object, or the head of the prepositional phrase.

mi toki e toki-pona
mi toki kepeken toki-pona

mi toki e toki pona.
mi toki kepeken toki pona.

We speak (using) Toki Pona.

ona li musi e musi [ma alasa nena kiwen anpa]
ona li musi kepeken musi [ma alasa nena kiwen anpa]

ona li musi e musi Manka.
ona li musi kepeken musi Manka.

They play (using) the game Minecraft.

This is seen by some as a bit repetitive and awkward. You could also interpret the versions with e as "We say 'toki pona'" and "They entertain the game Minecraft."

In these cases, you can think of the action and the object as the same thing, so you can shorten the sentence by modifying the verb directly.

mi toki-pona

mi toki pona.

We speak well. We Toki Pona.

ona li musi [ma alasa nena kiwen anpa]

ona li musi Manka.

They play in a way named Minecraft. They're Minecrafting.

Many speakers prefer it this way because it is more compact and simpler, and thus arguably more pona. In fairness, these forms also have other interpretations, "I am Toki Pona" and "It is Minecraft", but in most contexts this does not cause much ambiguity.