First Words: People, Things, and Simple Descriptions

New Words and Phrases: People, Things, and Descriptions

In this step, you will learn some of the most common Toki Pona words for people, animals, plants, water, and simple good/bad and big/small descriptions. Pay attention to pronunciation and how each word can be used both as a noun and as an adjective.

How Descriptions Work: Modifiers After Nouns and Simple li Sentences

1. Adjectives come after nouns

In Toki Pona, descriptive words (like good, bad, big, small) come after the word they describe.

• jan pona – "good person" (literally: person good)
• jan (person) + pona (good)
• kasi suli – "big plant / big tree"
• kasi (plant) + suli (big)
• telo ike – "bad water"
• telo (water) + ike (bad)

You can also stack more than one describing word:

• jan lili pona – "good small person / good child"
• jan (person) + lili (small) + pona (good)

The meaning is usually: main noun first, then details.

2. Simple sentences with li

The word li is like a simple link between the subject and what you say about it.

Structure:

> [subject] li [description or action]

Examples from this module:

• telo ni li ike.

"This water is bad."

• telo ni (this water) = subject
• li = link
• ike (bad) = description

• soweli lili li pona.

"The small animal is good."

• soweli lili (small animal)
• li
• pona (good)

• kasi suli li pona.

"The big plant is good."

• ijo ni li suli.

"This thing is big."

3. Special case: mi and sina

You may remember two important pronouns:

• mi – I, me
• sina – you

With mi and sina as the only subject, you usually do NOT use li.

• mi jan pona. – "I am a good person."
• Literally: "I person good."
• sina jan ike. – "You are a bad person."

But for other subjects (jan, soweli, telo, ijo, etc.), you do use li:

• jan pona li lon. – "The good person is here / exists."
• telo ike li lon. – "Bad water exists / There is bad water."

4. Using ni (this/that) with nouns

ni usually comes after the noun it points to:

• telo ni – "this water / that water"
• ijo ni – "this thing / that thing"

Then you can use li to describe it:

• telo ni li pona. – "This water is good."
• ijo ni li ike. – "This thing is bad."

So, to build simple descriptive sentences:

1. Choose a noun: jan, soweli, kasi, telo, ijo
2. Maybe add ni or a size word: ni, suli, lili
3. Add li (except after mi or sina alone)
4. Add a describing word: pona, ike, suli, lili

Example patterns:

• [jan / soweli / kasi / telo / ijo] [suli / lili / ni] li [pona / ike / suli / lili].
• soweli ni li lili. – "This animal is small."
• kasi lili li suli. – "The small plant is big." (can be playful or context-based)

Practice Dialogue: Talking About People and Things Around You

In this conversation, two friends are looking at things around them: a person, an animal, a plant, and some water. They use simple Toki Pona sentences to say whether these things are good or bad, big or small.

Check Your Understanding: Describing People and Things

Choose the best English translation for the Toki Pona sentence.