nanpanumber particleordinal number
lupahole, pit, cave, doorway, window, portal
linjalong and flexible thing; rope, yarn, hair, fur, line, strand
akesireptile, amphibian, scaly creature, crawling creature
toki pona has five words to describe amounts:
ala nothing
wan one
tu two
mute many
ale everything
other number systems exist, but this one will usually be all you need.
often specific numbers end up obscuring what a quantity really means, because large numbers are a lot harder to conceptualize than a description of what this quantity really means.
ona li jo e ilo tawa mute a
they have 28 cars!
for some reason we care about the number in english, but does it matter? the interesting bit is that this is a lot of cars!
you can use the particle nanpa before a number to express an ordinal number.
soweli nanpa tu
the second animal
be aware that this counting system isn't intended to be used very much. in most cases, vague amounts will also get the message across.
this counting system uses 5 words:
wan one
tu two
luka five
mute twenty
ale one hundred
this system is additive, meaning you chain together the words to create bigger numbers
luka luka tu
five + five + two
= 12
ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale mute tu
2022
sina wile tawa tomo telo la o tawa lupa nanpa tu
if you wanna go to the bathroom, go to the second door
waso tu li tawa tomo moku
two bats are going to a restaurant
mi kama sona e nimi mute pi toki pona
i'm learning a lot of toki pona words
mi pini e pali mi la mi ken musi
when i'm done with my work, i can have fun
snakes are cute!
akesi li suwi a
aw man, my calculator broke
ike a · ilo nanpa mi li pakala
a · ilo mi li pakala
there are two shady people by your home
jan ike tu li lon poka pi tomo sina
this is your first woof
ni li mu sina nanpa wan
mi wile e soweli tu
i want two ferrets
akesi li tawa lon linja · ona li wawa mute a
the crocodile is walking on a tightrope. it's really confident!
mi o pali e lupa mute tan jan ike
i have to dig a lot of holes because of an evil guy