Questions and Answers

Toki Pona 1

Chapter 5 · Questions and Answers

❓ Questions and Answers — sina pona ala pona?

You have been using two questions since Chapter 1 as whole phrases. This chapter shows how they are built, so you can make your own. Toki Pona has two kinds of question: yes/no questions, built by a repeating pattern, and question-word questions, built with seme "what". It also has a short, clean way to answer both. By the end you will ask "Do you eat fish?", "What is this?" and "Is it a bird or an animal?", and answer each.

🔁 Yes/No Questions — X ala X

To ask a yes/no question, repeat the key word with ala between the two copies: "X not X?" The key word is the verb or the describing word you are asking about.

Statement	Question	English
sina pona.	sina pona ala pona?	Are you well?
sina moku.	sina moku ala moku?	Are you eating?
sina moku e kala.	sina moku ala moku e kala?	Do you eat fish?
soweli li suli.	soweli li suli ala suli?	Is the animal big?
jan li lukin e mi.	jan li lukin ala lukin e mi?	Does the person see me?

Notice that li and e stay in the question, in their usual places: the repeated verb sits between them. In speech, the question is also marked by rising tone.

✅ Answering — Repeat the Word

The shortest answer repeats the key word. A positive answer is the word alone; a negative answer adds ala.

Question	Yes	No
sina pona ala pona?	pona. or mi pona.	pona ala. or mi pona ala.
sina moku ala moku e kala?	moku. or mi moku e kala.	moku ala. or mi moku ala e kala.

You can also answer with lon "yes, true" and ala "no", as in Chapter 1.

Another Way — anu seme You can also turn any statement into a yes/no question by adding anu seme ("or what?") at the end: sina moku e kala anu seme? "You eat fish, or what?", i.e. "Do you eat fish?". Use whichever is easier. X ala X is the traditional form, and anu seme is handy when the key word is long.

🔎 The Question Word — seme

To ask "what?", put seme where the missing word would be. It never moves to the front, so a question looks just like a statement with a blank:

Toki Pona	Pattern	English
ni li seme?	subject	What is this?
sina lukin e seme?	object	What do you see?
sina wile e seme?	object	What do you want?
jan seme li pali e tomo?	describing a noun	Which person / who is building the house?
tenpo seme?	describing a noun	When? (what time)
nimi sina li seme?	subject	What is your name?
sina pilin seme?	verb	How do you feel?

To answer, replace seme with the real word: ni li kili "this is fruit", mi lukin e mun "I see the moon", nimi mi li Mali "my name is Mali".

⚖️ Choosing — anu

The word anu means "or", and it offers a choice. Put it between the alternatives:

Toki Pona	English
sina pona anu ike?	Are you well or unwell?
ni li soweli anu waso?	Is this an animal or a bird?
sina pona anu seme?	Are you well, or what?

Answer a choice by naming the one you mean: waso "a bird", or ona li waso.

Watch Out — Do Not Move seme to the Front English puts "what" first and rearranges the sentence: "What do you see?" Toki Pona keeps the order and leaves seme in the blank: sina lukin e seme? A sentence like seme sina lukin? is wrong. The question word occupies the same slot as the answer, which makes answering easy: swap one word for another.

💬 Five Short Dialogs

① Are You Hungry — moku

A: sina wile ala wile moku? Do you want to eat?

B: wile. Yes.

A: sina moku ala moku e kala? Do you eat fish?

B: moku ala. No.

② What Is This — ni li seme?

A: ni li seme? What is this?

B: ni li kili. This is fruit.

A: ona li pona ala pona? Is it good?

B: pona. Yes.

③ Names — nimi

A: nimi sina li seme? What is your name?

B: nimi mi li Mali. My name is Mali.

B: nimi sina li seme? What is your name?

A: nimi mi li Teku. My name is Teku.

④ Seeing — lukin

A: sina lukin e seme? What do you see?

B: mi lukin e soko. I see a mushroom.

A: ona li pona anu ike? Is it good or bad?

B: mi sona ala. I don't know.

⑤ How Do You Feel — pilin

A: sina pilin seme? How do you feel?

B: mi pilin pona. I feel good.

A: pona! Good!

📖 Vocabulary — nimi

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

#	Toki Pona	Say it	Meaning	Type
1	seme	SE-me	what, which, who (question word)	question
2	anu	A-nu	or	particle
3	kin	kin	also, really, indeed	particle
4	ken	ken	can, be able, possible	verb
5	a	a	ah! (feeling, emphasis)	particle
6	mu	mu	animal sound (woof, meow); a noise	sound
7	awen	A-wen	stay, wait, keep	verb
8	kipisi	KI-pi-si	cut, slice	verb
9	noka	NO-ka	leg, foot	noun
10	selo	SE-lo	skin, outside, shell	noun
11	poki	PO-ki	container: box, cup, bowl	noun
12	pipi	PI-pi	insect, bug	noun
13	akesi	A-ke-si	reptile, amphibian	noun
14	soko	SO-ko	mushroom, fungus	noun
15	kiwen	KI-wen	hard thing: stone, metal	noun
16	ko	ko	soft or semi-solid: paste, dust	noun
17	linja	LIN-ya	long flexible thing: rope, hair	noun
18	sike	SI-ke	circle, round; year, cycle	noun
19	supa	SU-pa	flat surface: table, shelf	noun
20	lupa	LU-pa	hole, door, window	noun

Real Toki Pona Tip — Short Answers Are Polite In Toki Pona, repeating the verb is a full, polite answer, not curt. pona. is just as good as "mi pona". The language rewards economy, as Constructed Languages 4 explains: short replies, few words, and meaning carried by context. Save the longer answer for when you want to add something.

📜 Reading — lukin

sina wile ala wile e kili? wile. ni li kili. sina wile e telo anu seme? wile ala. mi pilin pona. Do you want fruit? Yes. This is fruit. Do you want water, or what? No. I feel good.

True or false? (a) The first answer is "no". (b) The speaker offers fruit. (c) The speaker is asked about water. (d) The speaker feels bad.

Show answers

(a) False: wile is "yes". (b) True: ni li kili. (c) True: sina wile e telo anu seme? (d) False: mi pilin pona.

✍️ Try It Yourself — pali

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

1. Turn each statement into an X ala X question: sina lape, jan li pali e tomo, soweli li suli.

Show answer

sina lape ala lape? · jan li pali ala pali e tomo? · soweli li suli ala suli?

2. Answer sina lukin ala lukin e mun? three ways: yes, no, and "I don't know".

Show answer

Yes: lukin. or mi lukin e mun. No: lukin ala. or mi lukin ala e mun. Don't know: mi sona ala.

3. Ask "What do you eat?", "What do you hear?" and "What is your name?"

Show answer

sina moku e seme? · sina kute e seme? · nimi sina li seme?

4. Ask whether something is a bird or an insect, and answer "an insect".

Show answer

ni li waso anu pipi? · pipi. or ona li pipi.

5. What is wrong with seme sina wile?, and what is the correct question?

Show answer

seme must stay where the answer would go. Correct: sina wile e seme?

6. Ask with anu seme whether someone can sleep, and answer "I can".

Show answer

sina ken lape anu seme? · mi ken. or ken.

Coming Up in Chapter 6 Places and tools: the small words lon, tawa, tan, kepeken and sama that tell where, to where, from where, with what and like what, and how they follow the verb.