Actions and Objects

Toki Pona 1

Chapter 4 · Actions and Objects

🎯 Actions and Objects — mi moku e kili

So far every sentence has had a subject and a predicate and nothing else. Now we add the thing that the action is done to: the object. Toki Pona marks it with a single small word, e, so you can always tell who is acting and what is acted on, whatever the word order. By the end of this chapter you will say "I eat fruit", "the person sees the moon" and "I do not see the moon", and you will know when to use e and when not to.

The Pattern — Subject, Verb, e, Object mi moku e kili. "I eat the fruit."
jan li lukin e mun. "The person sees the moon."
Put e immediately before the object. The sentence order is the English one (subject, verb, object), but the e is not optional. Compare Esperanto in Constructed Languages 3, where the object ends in -n: Toki Pona marks it with a separate word instead of an ending.

🔀 Same Verb, With or Without an Object

One verb can be used with an object or without one, and the meaning follows:

Verb	Without an object	With an object
moku	mi moku. I eat.	mi moku e kili. I eat fruit.
pali	mi pali. I work.	mi pali e tomo. I make a house.
toki	mi toki. I talk.	mi toki e nimi. I say a word.
pona	tomo li pona. The house is good.	mi pona e tomo. I fix / improve the house.

Notice the last row: with an object, a word like pona becomes "make good". This is a regular pattern, so ike with an object is "make bad" and sin is "renew".

👤 Pronouns as Objects

The pronouns are the same word in every role: mi is "I" and "me", sina is "you" for subject and object. There are no separate forms to learn.

Toki Pona	English
mi lukin e sina.	I see you.
sina lukin e mi.	You see me.
ona li kute e mi.	He / she listens to me.
mi olin e sina.	I love you.

Remember the rule from Chapter 2: li is dropped only after a bare mi or sina. So the pattern for a noun subject is jan li lukin e mi, with both li and e.

🚫 Saying No — ala

To negate a verb, put ala right after it, before e:

Toki Pona	English
mi moku ala e kala.	I do not eat fish.
jan li lukin ala e mun.	The person does not see the moon.
mi sona ala.	I do not know.

Watch Out — "wile" With a Verb and With an Object wile "want" can be followed by a verb or by an object, and the two are different. mi wile moku is "I want to eat" (the wanted thing is an action: no e). mi wile e moku is "I want food" (the wanted thing is an object: e). The same holds for kama and ken in later chapters. If the next word is an action, no e; if it is a thing, e.

💬 Five Short Dialogs

① At the Table — moku

A: mi moku e pan. I am eating bread.

B: mi moku e kili. I am eating fruit.

A: mi moku ala e kala. I do not eat fish.

② Looking and Listening — lukin, kute

A: mi lukin e suno. I am looking at the sun.

B: mi kute e kalama. I am listening to the sound.

A: waso li kalama. A bird is singing.

③ Giving and Having — pana, jo

A: mi pana e lipu. I give a book.

B: mi jo e lipu. I have the book.

B: pona! Thanks!

④ Building — pali

A: jan pali li pali e tomo sin. The workers are building a new house.

B: ona li wawa. They are strong.

A: mi wile e tomo sin. I want a new house.

⑤ Love — olin

A: mi olin e sina. I love you.

B: mi olin e sina. I love you too.

A: sina pona. You are good.

📖 Vocabulary — nimi

20 words from the official 120. Stress is always on the first syllable.

#	Toki Pona	Say it	Meaning	Type
1	e	e	(marks the object)	particle
2	lukin	LU-kin	look, see, read	verb
3	kute	KU-te	listen, hear, obey	verb
4	jo	yo	have, hold	verb
5	pana	PA-na	give, send, put out	verb
6	olin	O-lin	love, respect	verb
7	sitelen	SI-te-len	draw, write; picture	verb
8	utala	U-ta-la	fight, battle	verb
9	open	O-pen	open, begin	verb
10	pini	PI-ni	end, finish; finished	verb
11	alasa	A-la-sa	hunt, search for	verb
12	esun	E-sun	trade, buy, sell; market	verb
13	pan	pan	bread, grain	noun
14	kala	KA-la	fish, sea creature	noun
15	mani	MA-ni	money	noun
16	ilo	I-lo	tool, machine	noun
17	seli	SE-li	fire, hot, cooked	noun
18	oko	O-ko	eye	noun
19	luka	LU-ka	hand, arm	noun
20	uta	U-ta	mouth	noun

Real Toki Pona Tip — Many Meanings From One Verb lukin covers "look", "see", "read" and "seem", and kute covers "listen", "hear" and "obey". Instead of learning a different word for each English verb, pick the Toki Pona word whose centre is closest and let the object decide the rest: mi lukin e lipu is "I read a book", mi lukin e mun is "I look at the moon". The same reasoning is used for compound meanings in Constructed Languages 10.

📜 Reading — lukin

jan pali li pali e tomo. mi lukin e ona. mi kute e kalama. mi wile moku. mi moku e pan e kili. mi pona. The workers are building a house. I watch them. I listen to the sound. I want to eat. I eat bread and fruit. I am happy.

True or false? (a) The speaker builds the house. (b) The speaker listens. (c) The speaker eats bread. (d) The speaker eats fish.

Show answers

(a) False: the workers build it (jan pali li pali e tomo). (b) True: mi kute e kalama. (c) True: mi moku e pan. (d) False: no fish is mentioned.

Notice e pan e kili: to give two objects, repeat e before each.

✍️ Try It Yourself — pali

Say each answer out loud first, then click to check.

1. Translate: "I see the moon", "You hear a bird".

Show answer

mi lukin e mun. · sina kute e waso.

2. Say "The person gives money" and "The child does not eat bread".

Show answer

jan li pana e mani. · jan lili li moku ala e pan.

3. What is the difference between mi wile moku and mi wile e moku?

Show answer

mi wile moku is "I want to eat" (an action). mi wile e moku is "I want food" (a thing).

4. Fix the mistake: mi lukin kala, jan e lukin mi, mi li moku e pan.

Show answer

mi lukin e kala (add e). jan li lukin e mi (li before the verb, e before the object). mi moku e pan (no li after bare mi).

5. Say "I want to work" and "I want a tool".

Show answer

mi wile pali. · mi wile e ilo.

6. Say "I have bread and fish" and "She does not love you".

Show answer

mi jo e pan e kala. · ona li olin ala e sina.

Coming Up in Chapter 5 Questions and answers: the "X ala X" question you have already heard, the question word seme "what", and how to answer yes, no and "I don't know".