Many words can play the role of            sina moku e seme? = What are              mi moku e kili e telo. = I 
       Toki Pona                                 a noun, adjective, or verb:                you eating?                               consume fruit and water.
                                                 telo = water / wet / to wash               seme li moku e kili mi? =                 Unofficial words
       Toki Pona is a constructed                                                           Who/what ate my fruit?
                                                 pona = good, simple / to fix, to 
       language created by Canadian              repair                                                                               Unofficial words (like names of 
       linguist and translator Sonja                                                        Modifying words using                     countries, languages, or people)
       Lang in 2001. It’s an experiment          Nouns have no singular/plural,             pi                                        are capitalized and treated like 
       to see how minimalist a                   and no definite/indefinite                                                           adjectives. They are attached to
       language can get.                         article:                                   To modify an expression with a            a noun, and often simplified to 
                                                                                            group of words, separate them             Toki Pona’s limited alphabet:
       This side describes the entire            kili = a fruit / the fruit / some          with the particle pi. It can often 
       grammar, the other side                   fruits / the fruits                        be thought of as “of”. Note the           mi jan Kapile. = I’m Gabriele.
       contains the entire vocabulary.                                                      difference:                               ma Kanata li pona lukin. = 
       Cheat sheet by blinry, CC0.               Direct objects                             tomo telo nasa = crazy water              Canada is pretty.
       blinry.org/toki-pona-cheat-sheet/         The particle e separates a                 house = strange bathroom                  mi toki ala e toki Inli. = I don't 
                                                 direct object from the rest of                                                       speak English.
                                                 the sentence:                              tomo pi telo nasa = house of the
       Alphabet                                                                             crazy water = pub                         ma tomo Nujoka li suli. = New 
                                                 soweli li moku e telo. = The cat                                                     York is big.
       Toki Pona uses nine                       drinks the water.                          jan wawa ala = no strong people
       consonants (j k l m n p s t w)                                                       jan pi wawa ala = people of not-
       and five vowels (a e i o u).              mi telo e soweli. = I’m washing                                                      Prepositions
                                                 the cat.                                   strong = weak people
       Pronounciation doesn’t really                                                                                                  lon, kepeken, tawa, and tan can 
       matter.                                                                              Providing context                         be used as prepositions at the 
                                                 Modifying words                            using la                                  end of a sentence:
       Basic sentences                           Words can be modified by 
                                                                                            To add a context to a sentence,           mi moku lon tomo. = I eat in the 
       The particle li separates the             appending other words:                                                               house.
       subject and the verb:                                                                prepend another sentence or 
                                                 jan lili = small human = child             expression, followed by la. This          mi moku kepeken ilo moku. = I 
       soweli li moku. = The cat is              tomo mi = my house                         often results in a structure like         eat using a fork.
       eating.                                                                              “If (part 1), then (part 2)” or “In 
                                                 pilin pona = to feel good = to be          the context of (part 1), (part2).”        sina pona tawa mi. = You are 
       jan li lape. = The person is              happy                                                                                good for me. = I like you.
       sleeping.                                                                            mi lape la ale li pona. = When 
                                                                                            I’m asleep, everything is okay.           sina tawa weka tan seme? = 
       There is no verb “to be”; the             Negation                                                                             Why are you leaving?
       part after li can also be a noun 
       or an adjective.                          To negate a word, append ala:              Time                                      Commands
       kili li moku. = Fruits are food.          mi lape ala. = I'm not sleeping.           You can use a la-clause to add 
                                                                                            a temporal context to a                   To state a command, use o and
       telo li pona. = Water is good.            jan ala li toki. = Nobody is               sentence:                                 then what you want the person 
                                                 talking.                                                                             to do:
       telo li moku. = Water is a drink.                                                    tenpo ni la mi lape. = I am 
                                                 Questions                                  sleeping right now.                       o lukin e ni! = Look at this!
       If the subject is mi or sina, the li
       is always omitted:                        To ask yes-or-no questions,                tenpo kama la mi lape. = I will           To address someone, start a 
                                                 replace the verb with “(verb) ala          be sleeping in the future.                sentence with “(person) o,”:
       mi moku. = I eat.
                                                 (verb)”:                                   tenpo pini la mi lape. = I slept in       jan Malin o, sina pona lukin. = 
       sina pona. = You are good.                                                           the past.                                 Malin, you are pretty.
                                                 sina ken ala ken lape? = Are you
       Ambiguity                                 able to sleep?                                                                       You can also use this together 
                                                 soweli li wile ala wile moku? = Is         Compound sentences                        with a command, merging the 
       Toki Pona has a lot of                    the cat hungry?                                                                      two o’s:
       ambiguity. You’ll often need to                                                      Separate multiple subjects in a 
       know the context to decide                Alternatively, append anu seme             sentence using en:                        jan San o tawa tomo sina. = 
       what things mean. For example,            (”or what”) to the sentence:                                                         Sam, go home.
                                                                                            lape en moku li suli. = Sleep and
       verbs have no tense:                                                                 food are important.
                                                 sina wile uta e mi anu seme? =                                                       Numbers
       mi moku. = I am eating. / I was           Do you want to kiss me?                    To say that the subject does 
       eating. / I will be eating.                                                          more than one thing, you can              Combine number words to add 
                                                 To answer these questions,                 use multiple li-clauses:                  them up:
       Many words have multiple or               reply with either “(verb)” or 
       general meanings:                         “(verb) ala”.                              pipi li moku li pakala. = The bug         wan = 1     tu = 2     luka = 5
       soweli = cat / dog / (any land            To ask questions that can’t be             eats and destroys.                        luka luka tu wan = 13
       mammal)                                   answered with yes or no, write             If there are several direct 
       kili = (any fruit or vegetable)           a normal sentence and replace              objects of the same verb, you             And… that’s it!
                                                 the word in question with seme:            can use multiple e-clauses:
                 a (emphasis, emotion or                     kulupu community, company,                        namako spice, something extra                            sewi area above, highest part, 
                    confirmation)                                       group, nation, society, tribe             nanpa -th (ordinal number);                                  something elevated; awe-
            akesi non-cute animal; reptile,                     kute ear; to hear, listen; pay                              number                                             inspiring, divine, sacred, 
                    amphibian                                           attention to, obey                                                                                     supernatural
                                                                                                                    nasa unusual, strange; foolish,                    sijelo body (of person or animal), 
               ala no, not, zero                                    la (between the context                                 crazy; drunk, intoxicated                          physical state, torso
            alasa to hunt, forage                                       phrase and the main                        nasin way, custom, doctrine, 
                                                                        sentence)                                           method, path, road                          sike round or circular thing; ball, 
               ali  all; abundant, countless,                    lape sleeping, resting                                                                                        circle, cycle, sphere, wheel; 
                    bountiful, every, plentiful;                                                                   nena bump, button, hill, mountain,                          of one year
                    abundance, everything, life,                 laso blue, green                                           nose, protuberance                            sin new, another, more
                    universe; 100                               lawa head, mind; to control,                           ni that, this
            anpa bowing down, downward,                                 direct, guide, lead, own,                                                                       sina you
                    humble, lowly, dependent                            plan, regulate, rule                        nimi name, word                                   sinpin face, foremost, front, wall
             ante different, altered, changed,                    len cloth, clothing, fabric,                     noka foot, leg, organ of                          sitelen image, picture, 
                    other                                               textile; cover, layer of                            locomotion; bottom, lower                          representation, symbol, 
                                                                        privacy                                             part                                               mark, writing
              anu or                                                                                                    o hey! O! (vocative or 
            awen enduring, kept, protected,                      lete cold, cool; uncooked, raw                             imperative)                                sona to know, be skilled in, be 
                    safe, waiting, staying; to                       li (between any subject                                                                                   wise about, have 
                    continue to                                         except mi alone or sina                      oko eye                                                   information on; to know 
                                                                        alone and its verb; also to                                                                            how to
                 e (before the direct object)                                                                        olin to love, have compassion 
                                                                        introduce a new verb for the                        for, respect, show affection             soweli animal, beast, land mammal
               en (between multiple subjects)                           same subject)                                       to                                           suli big, heavy, large, long, tall; 
            esun market, shop, fair, bazaar,                       lili little, small, short; few; a bit;            ona he, she, it, they                                     important; adult
                    business transaction                                young                                                                                          suno sun; light, brightness, glow, 
                                                                                                                   open to begin, start; open; turn on
               ijo  thing, phenomenon, object,                   linja long and flexible thing; cord,                                                                          radiance, shine; light source
                    matter                                              hair, rope, thread, yarn                 pakala botched, broken, damaged, 
                                                                                                                            harmed, messed up                          supa horizontal surface, thing to 
               ike bad, negative; non-essential,                 lipu flat object; book, document,                                                                             put or rest something on
                    irrelevant                                          card, paper, record, website                 pali to do, take action on, work 
                                                                                                                            on; build, make, prepare                   suwi sweet, fragrant; cute, 
               ilo  tool, implement, machine,                    loje red, reddish                                                                                             innocent, adorable
                    device                                                                                        palisa long hard thing; branch, rod, 
                                                                  lon located at, present at, real,                         stick                                        tan by, from, because of
             insa center, content, inside,                              true, existing                                                                                  taso but, however; only
                    between; internal organ,                                                                         pan cereal, grain; barley, corn, 
                    stomach                                      luka arm, hand, tactile organ; five                        oat, rice, wheat; bread,                   tawa going to, toward; for; from 
                                                                lukin to look at, see, examine,                             pasta                                              the perspective of; moving
              jaki disgusting, obscene, sickly,                         observe, read, watch; to                   pana to give, send, emit, provide, 
                    toxic, unclean, unsanitary                          seek, look for, try to                              put, release                                 telo water, liquid, fluid, wet 
               jan human being, person,                                                                                                                                        substance; beverage
                    somebody                                     lupa door, hole, orifice, window                      pi of                                          tenpo time, duration, moment, 
              jelo yellow, yellowish                              ma earth, land; outdoors, world;                  pilin heart (physical or                                   occasion, period, situation
                                                                        country, territory; soil                            emotional); feeling (an                      toki to communicate, say, speak,
                jo to have, carry, contain, hold              mama parent, ancestor; creator,                               emotion, a direct                                  say, talk, use language, 
             kala fish, marine animal, sea                              originator; caretaker,                              experience)                                        think; hello
                    creature                                            sustainer                                pimeja black, dark, unlit                             tomo indoor space; building, 
         kalama to produce a sound; recite,                     mani money, cash, savings,                           pini ago, completed, ended,                               home, house, room
                    utter aloud                                         wealth; large domesticated                          finished, past                                 tu two
                                                                        animal
           kama arriving, coming, future,                                                                            pipi bug, insect, ant, spider                     unpa to have sexual or marital 
                    summoned; to become,                         meli woman, female, feminine                                                                                  relations with
                    manage to, succeed in                               person; wife                               poka hip, side; next to, nearby, 
                                                                                                                            vicinity                                     uta mouth, lips, oral cavity, jaw
             kasi plant, vegetation; herb, leaf                    mi I, me, we, us
                                                                                                                    poki container, bag, bowl, box,                    utala to battle, challenge, 
              ken to be able to, be allowed to,                  mije man, male, masculine                                  cup, cupboard, drawer,                             compete against, struggle 
                    can, may; possible                                  person; husband                                     vessel                                             against
        kepeken to use, with, by means of                      moku to eat, drink, consume,                        pona good, positive, useful;                        walo white, whitish; light-colored, 
                                                                        swallow, ingest                                     friendly, peaceful; simple;                        pale
               kili fruit, vegetable, mushroom                                                                              thanks
                                                                moli dead, dying                                                                                        wan unique, united; one
               kin indeed, still, too                                                                                  pu interacting with the official 
                                                              monsi back, behind, rear                                      Toki Pona book                             waso bird, flying creature, winged 
           kiwen hard object, metal, rock, 
                    stone                                         mu (animal noise or                              sama same, similar; each other;                             animal
                                                                        communication)                                      sibling, peer, fellow; as, like           wawa strong, powerful; confident, 
               ko clay, clinging form, dough, 
                    semi-solid, paste, powder                   mun moon, night sky object, star                     seli fire; cooking element,                               sure; energetic, intense
              kon air, breath; essence, spirit;                 musi artistic, entertaining,                                chemical reaction, heat                    weka absent, away, ignored
                    hidden reality, unseen agent                        frivolous, playful,                                 source                                      wile must, need, require, should, 
                                                                        recreational                                selo outer form, outer layer; bark,                        want, wish
             kule colorful, pigmented, painted
                                                                mute many, a lot, more, much,                               peel, shell, skin; boundary
                                                                        several, very; quantity; 20                seme what? which?