Commands and Joining

Toki Pona 1

Chapter 8 · Commands and Joining

📣 Commands and Joining — o, en, taso, la

You can now describe, ask and tell. This chapter adds four small words that make speech flow: o to give a command or make a wish, en to join subjects ("you and I"), taso to say "but", and la to say "if" or "when". With them you can give an order, join two ideas and set the scene. It also revisits three helper verbs, ken, kama and awen, that sit before another verb.

📣 Commands — o

A command or wish starts with o, which takes the place of li. The listener is usually not named:

Toki Pona	English
o kama!	Come!
o moku e pan.	Eat the bread.
o tawa ala!	Do not go!
sina o lape.	You, sleep! (naming the one you speak to)
jan Mali o, kama!	Mali, come!

Putting the person's name before o and a comma after it addresses someone directly: jan Mali o, kama!. When the subject is some other person or thing, o works as a wish or a polite "let": ona o pona! "May she be well!".

Watch Out — o Replaces li, It Does Not Add to It Never write li o. In a command, o stands where li would stand: sina o moku, not sina li o moku. With mi the same rule gives a polite suggestion: mi o tawa "I should go", and with mi mute, mi mute o tawa "let us go".

➕ Joining Subjects — en

en joins two subjects, like "and" between people or things. A subject made with en always takes li, even if the first part is mi or sina:

Toki Pona	English
mi en sina li pona.	You and I are well.
kala en waso li moku.	The fish and the bird eat.
jan pona mi en jan pona sina li lon tomo.	My friend and your friend are at the house.

en joins subjects only. To join objects, repeat e (Chapter 4: mi moku e pan e kili). To join two actions by the same subject, repeat li: ona li moku li lape, "he eats and sleeps".

🔀 Joining Sentences — taso, anu

Toki Pona has no long word for "and" between whole sentences: it just puts them side by side. For contrast, taso "but" starts the second sentence, and anu "or" (Chapter 5) gives a choice:

Toki Pona	English
mi wile moku. taso mi jo ala e pan.	I want to eat. But I have no bread.
sina wile tawa anu awen?	Do you want to go or to stay?
ona li lili. taso ona li wawa.	He is small. But he is strong.

🎬 Setting the Scene — la

la splits a sentence into a setting and a main point: whatever comes before la is the context, the "if", "when" or "as for", and the rest is what is said. It is the main way to say "if" and "when".

Toki Pona	English
tenpo suno la mi pali.	In the daytime, I work.
tenpo pimeja la mi lape.	At night I sleep.
sina wile moku la o moku e pan.	If you are hungry, eat bread.
ken la mi lukin e sina.	Perhaps I will see you.

The part before la can be a time phrase, a whole sentence, or one word such as ken "possibly". The part after it can be any sentence, including a command.

Watch Out — la Is Not Placed Between Equal Halves The setting always comes first. A sentence like mi pali la tenpo suno would mean "if I work, then (it is) daytime" which is not what you meant. When you want "I work in the daytime", you can use either tenpo suno la mi pali or a preposition: mi pali lon tenpo suno (Chapter 6).

🧰 Helper Verbs — ken, kama, awen

Three verbs combine with another verb, just as wile did in Chapter 4: wile "want to", ken "can", kama "come to / become", awen "keep, remain". No e and no li sits between them and the next verb:

Toki Pona	English
mi ken moku e kala.	I can eat fish.
mi kama sona e toki pona.	I am learning Toki Pona (I come to know it).
mi awen lape.	I keep sleeping.
ona li kama pona.	He gets better.

💬 Five Short Dialogs

① Orders — o

A: o kama! Come!

B: mi kama. I am coming.

A: o moku e pan. o moku ala e kala. Eat the bread. Do not eat the fish.

② You and Me — en

A: mi en sina li pona. You and I are friends / well.

B: jan pona mi en jan pona sina li lon tomo. My friend and your friend are at the house.

A: mi mute o tawa! Let us go!

③ But — taso

A: mi wile moku. taso mi jo ala e pan. I want to eat. But I have no bread.

B: mi jo e kili. I have fruit.

A: pona! Thanks!

④ If and When — la

A: tenpo suno la mi pali. In the daytime I work.

B: tenpo pimeja la mi lape. At night I sleep.

A: sina wile moku la o moku e pan. If you are hungry, eat bread.

⑤ Learning — kama sona

A: sina kama sona e toki pona. You are learning Toki Pona.

B: mi ken toki. taso mi sona ala e nimi mute. I can talk. But I do not know many words.

A: o awen! Keep going!

📖 Vocabulary — nimi

4 new words from the official 120, plus three helper verbs for review. Stress is on the first syllable.

#	Toki Pona	Say it	Meaning	Type
1	o	o	(command or wish); calling someone	particle
2	en	en	and (between subjects)	particle
3	taso	TA-so	but; only	particle
4	la	la	(setting: if, when, as for)	particle
5	ken	ken	can; possible	verb
6	kama	KA-ma	come; become; come to	verb
7	awen	A-wen	stay; keep; continue	verb

Real Toki Pona Tip — taso Can Mean "Only" The word taso does two jobs. At the start of a sentence it means "but": taso mi jo ala e pan. After a noun it means "only": jan taso "only a person" or "just one person". This is the same position rule as in Chapter 3: a word's job is read from where it stands. The small number of particles (li, e, o, en, la, taso, anu) is what Constructed Languages 4 calls the grammar of the language: seven words that handle nearly everything.

📜 Reading — lukin

tenpo suno la mi pali. mi en jan pona mi li moku e pan. taso mi wile moku e kili. tenpo pimeja la mi lape. o pona tawa sina! In the daytime I work. My friend and I eat bread. But I want to eat fruit. At night I sleep. May things be good for you!

True or false? (a) The speaker works at night. (b) Two people eat bread. (c) The speaker wants fish. (d) The speaker sleeps at night.

Show answers

(a) False: tenpo suno la mi pali, in the daytime. (b) True: mi en jan pona mi li moku e pan. (c) False: the speaker wants fruit (kili). (d) True: tenpo pimeja la mi lape.

✍️ Try It Yourself — pali

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

1. Give three commands: "Come here", "Do not eat the fish", "Sleep!"

Show answer

o kama! · o moku ala e kala! · o lape!

2. Say "The bird and the animal are small" and "You and I work".

Show answer

waso en soweli li lili. · mi en sina li pali. (li after an en subject, even with mi)

3. Join with taso: "I am small. I am strong." and "I want food. I have no money."

Show answer

mi lili. taso mi wawa. · mi wile e moku. taso mi jo ala e mani.

4. Use la: "At night I sleep in the house" and "If you are cold, eat hot food."

Show answer

tenpo pimeja la mi lape lon tomo. · sina lete la o moku e moku seli.

5. Fix the mistake: sina li o kama, mi en sina pona, mi pali la tenpo suno.

Show answer

sina o kama (o replaces li). mi en sina li pona (li after an en subject). tenpo suno la mi pali (the setting comes first).

6. Say "I can see the moon", "I am becoming strong" and "I keep working".

Show answer

mi ken lukin e mun. · mi kama wawa. · mi awen pali.

Coming Up in Chapter 9 Names and writing: the particle pi that regroups describing words, how to make a Toki Pona version of a name, capital letters for names, and the hieroglyphic script sitelen pona in outline.