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Lesson Two
Vocabulary Imperative More Greetings
Lesson Three
Vocabulary Present Tense Locational Preposition "ki" Exercises
Lesson Four
Vocabulary More Pronominal Pronouns Asking Exercises
Lesson Five
Vocabulary Verb "To Be" Other Prepositions Numbers How To Use Them Exercises
Lesson Six
Vocabulary Self-defining & Common Nouns Articles Exercises
Lesson Seven
Vocabulary More On Articles Exercises
Name
Sampa
IPA
Equivalence
Aa
[ A, a ]
[ ,a ]
Ee
[ e, E ]
[e, ]
Ff
[f]
[f]
as f in English "fool"
Hh
[ h, x ]
[ h,x ]
Ii
[i]
[i]
Kk
[k]
[k]
as k in English "kill"
Ll
[l]
[l]
Mm
[m]
[m]
as m in English "man"
Nn
[n]
[n]
as n in English "no"
Ng ng
ng
[N]
[]
Oo
[ Q, o ]
[ , o ]
Pp
[p]
[p]
Ss
[s]
[s]
as s in English "see"
Tt
[t]
[t]
Uu
[u]
[u]
Vv
[v]
[v]
fakaua
[-]
[-]
Greetings, Farewells
hello (lit. congrat. on being well, the being in good health is worthy of gratitude)
how are you? (ff means how, hake is idiomatic with ff)
Sai p
just fine
Sai
Ml e lava mai
Io, ml e tau mo
eni
Ko hai ho hingo?
Ko _____ au
Ko hoku hingo ko
_____
Whats your name? (ko is an equivalent of the verb to be, hai means which and ho means you
Well talk about these later)
I am _______
My name is _______
Alu
Nofo
Mou
Mou nofo
Fakaau
Mou fakaau
Ktaki
Ml
Ml aupito
thanks a lot
Aupito
a lot, much
Fakamolemole
Ofa atu
best wishes (lit. love to you. Ofa means love. Its much used at the end of letters)
lsoni
uluaki
lea
motualea
io
ikai
hingoa
nofo
alu
mou
hai
lesson
first
language, speech, to speak, to talk
alphabet
yes, answer to all greetings, compliments
and farewells
no
name
to stay, to remain
to go
you (plural)
who, which
Vocabulary
mahino
alu
ff
lelei
tangi
p
sai
fetaulakianga
ama
kata
hau
mll
fiefia
mou
mai
ui
mohe
pongipongi
p
aho
efiafi
ofa
to understand
to go (singular form)
how
good, well
to cry
just, postposed modifier (see notes)
fine, well, good, nice
meeting place
canoes windward side
to laugh
to come (singular form)
to rest
happy, to be happy
you (plural)
to go (plural form)
to come (plural form)
to call, to call out
to sleep
morning
night
day
afternoon
love, kindness, to love, to be kind to, to b
fond of
Notes
As you have noticed the verbs "to go" and "to come" have
different forms for the singular persons and the plural
persons. This doesnt happen with the rest of the verbs
Grammar
The Imperative
Every verb in Tongan is used also as the singular imperative
form without any changes. Thus we have:
Alu!
Go!
Mohe!
Sleep!
Hau!
Come!
Mou ui!
Mou mll!
Attention:
Mou !
Mou mai!
Tau !
More Greetings
Some more greetings, goodwill, apologies etc
Ml e lelei ki he pongipong ni
Ml etau lava ki he po ni
Goodnight
Mohe
Sweet dreams
Ml e ofa
ua!
Sure! Exactly!
Ko au
Hey!
Sorry?
Tulou
Mlie
Io, ml e lelei
Hi
Ff hake?
Sai p, ml aupito
Ta inu?
Shall we drink?
Io, ta inu p
Fale
Api
Fale koloa
Fale ako
Api ako
Fale kai
Kolo
Nukualofa
Eulope
Ou
Ki
Tahi
Mattahi
Vai
Inu
La
Vaka
Vakapuna
Faiako
Taahine
Tamasii
Tamasii ako
univsiti
ilifia
mll
mate
house
house, home
shop, store
school
school
kitchen
town
Tongas capital
Europe
I (for the present tense)
to, towards
sea
beach
water
to drink
sun
boat, ship
airplane
teacher
girl
boy
pupil (male)
university
to be afraid
to rest, (euph.) to die
to die
puaka
mlohi
pig
strong, strongly, hard, powerful, powerfu
Notes
1. Dont forget that there are no diphthongs in Tongan.
Thus, the word "ou" is pronounced oh-oo.
2. We learned in the previous lesson the verb ako to
study, to go to school. Here we see that with the
word fale house in front of it we form the word "school",
that is "house of studying". Thus we have "house of eating"
(kitchen), "house of goods" (shop) (koloa - goods) etc. We
will find more "fales" in the future.
Grammar
The Present Tense
In Tongan there are only four tenses. Now we will learn the
present tense. Its the equivalent of both the Simple
Present and the Present Continuous in English.
In Tongan a verb never changes. There is only one form for
each verb. In English for instance the verb "call" can be
found as "called", "calling" etc., but in Tongan the
equivalent verb, "ui" doesnt have any other types. It is
always ui. So, since verbs are unchangeable, in order to
show their tense we put before them other words, which
are called tense signs. The tense sign of the present is
the oku.
After the tense sign comes the pronominal pronoun, that is
the words for "I, thou, he, she, it, we, you, they". In this
lesson we will learn only the first person singular
pronominal pronoun which is ou. Just keep in mind that the
first singular pronominal pronoun has different forms for
the four tenses; we will see that later. The rest of the
pronominal pronouns are standard for all tenses.
In order to say "I am coming" we have to put first the tense
sign (oku), then the pronominal pronoun (ou) and then the
verb (hau): Oku ou hau
Thus we have:
Oku ou alu
I am going / I go
Oku ou mohe
I am sleeping / I sleep
Oku ou inu
I am drinking / I drink
Oku ou ui
I am calling / I call
Oku ou ako
Io, ml e lelei!
Hello
Alu ki f?
Alu ki kolo
Sai. Alu
Nofo
Bye bye
Exercises
Exercise A: Translate the following sentences:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
Solutions
Solution of Exercise A:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
'Ofa atu
Vocabulary
Mei
Lau
Lau tohi
Tohi
Komipiuta
Fono
Fmili
Fefine
Fonua
Puleanga
Tangata
Tui
Puleanga fakatui
Tala
Peh
Talanoa
Hisitlia
Tpile
Sea
Loki
Mohe
Loki mohe
Loki kai
Loki mll
Loki talanoa
Loki kaukau
Tama ako
from
to mention, to think, to consider, to read
to read a letter or a book
book, letter
computer
a town or village meeting
family
woman
land
state, kingdom, government
man
king
kingdom, monarchy
to tell
to say
to chat, to talk (in an informal way)
history
table
chair
room
to sleep
bedroom
dining room
W.C.
lounge
bathroom
pupil, student (more polite than tamasii
ako)
Grammar
More Pronominal Pronouns
We learned in the previous lesson the pronominal pronoun
ou for the first singular in the present tense. The second
singular pronoun is ke and the third is ne.
When oku precedes them, its stress falls on the ultimate
and it becomes ok:
Ok ke alu
Ok ne alu
he/she/it is going
This one is used when both the speaker and the listener are included in its sense. When one
says "we are going" and he means "me and you are going" (he includes the listener to the
action) he must use the tau: oku tau
This is used when the listener is NOT included in the "we". When one says "we are going" an
he means "me and the others, not you, are going" he must use the mau: oku mau
We already learned that in the imperative: oku mou you are going
The stress of the oku doesnt change here
These are all for the singular and the plural. They are the
same in the rest of the tenses that we will learn later. Only
the first singular (ou) has a different form for the other
tenses. In Tongan there is also the dual number, which has
four more persons that we will learn in another lesson.
Asking
In Tongan in order to ask a question one doesnt have to
make any changes in the sentence. The question is shown
just with the intonation.
Ok ke mohe?
Exercises
Solution of Exercise A:
1) 'Ok ta ki fale
2) 'Ok na talanoa p
3) `Ikai, `oku na lau tohi
4) 'Oku mou inu vai?
5) `Io, `oku mau inu p
6) `Oku tau ilifia?
7) `Oku mou ` atu ki `Eulope?
8) 'Ikai, 'oku mau p ki kolo
9) 'ok ne hau mei matathi
10) `Oku tau nofo?
'Ofa atu
Loi
Tala
Tahi
Moana
Vaka
Vakapuna
to lie
to tell
sea
ocean
boat, ship
airplane
Plasi
Fale Alea
Uta
Motu
Mounga
Vai
Loto
Tua
Hala
Toomatau
Toohema
Mua
Mui
Olunga
Lalo
Peito
Fale mahaki
Maama
Langi
Aneafi
Apongipongi
Pusi
Fakaofoofa
Talavou
Pe
Lelei
Sai
Lahi
H mai!
palace
Parliament
bush, mainland, the land in the interior,
away from the coast
island
mountain
water
inside, interior
outside, exterior
road, street
right
left
front
back, behind
above
below
kitchen
hospital
world, earth
sky, heaven
yesterday
tomorrow
cat, pussy
beautiful, handsome
good-looking, healthy, youth, young man
or
good, well
to be well, to be good, to be suitable
very (after the adj. or the adv.)
Come in!
Tau
year
Tongas currency: 1 Paanga (TOP or T$
100 sniti
Paanga
Notes
The prepositions ki and mei become kia and meia before
names of persons:
Kia Mele
to Mary
Meia Sione
from John
Grammar
The Verb "To Be"
In Tongan as well as in the rest of the Polynesian languages
there is no exact equivalent of the verb "to be". When we
want to say that someone is something we dont use any
verb:
Oku ou mlohi
I am strong
Ok ne fakaofoofa
she is pretty
Other Prepositions
We have learned till now the prepositions ki (kia)
and mei (meia). As we said, ki denotes direction and
movement and it is the equivalent of the English "to",
"towards" and mei denotes origin and it is the equivalent of
the English "from".
The preposition i is the equivalent of the English "in" or
"at". It denotes place but not movement. Examples:
Oku ou i api
I am at home
Ok ke i Tonga?
Just as the
prepositions ki and mei become kia and meia before proper
The Numbers
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
30
40
Noa
Taha
Ua
Tolu
F
Nima
Ono
Fitu
Valu
Hiva
Hongofulu / taha noa
Hongofulu m taha / taha taha
Hongofulu m ua / taha ua
Hongofulu m tolu / taha tolu
Hongofulu m f / taha f
Hongofulu m nima / taha nima
Hongofulu m ono / taha ono
Hongofulu m fitu / taha fitu
Hongofulu m valu / taha valu
Hongofulu m hiva / taha hiva
Uongofulu / ua noa
Uongofulu m taha / ua taha
Uongofulu m ua / uo ua
Uongofulu m tolu / ua tolu
Uongofulu m f / ua f
Tolungofulu / tolu noa
Fngofulu / f noa
90
100
101
102
110
111
120
130
140
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000
1001
1002
50
60
70
80
As you can see for numbers with more than one digit there
two ways to be expressed. First, by adding the m before
the last part (Attention: Only before the last part), and
second by naming each digit separately:
547.910 can be expressed as:
a. Nima kilu f mano fitu afe hivangeau m hongofulu
b. Nima f fitu hiva taha noa
900.500 as:
a. Hiva kilu m nimangeau
b. Hiva noa noa nima noa noa
3.104. 482 as:
a. Tolu miliona taha kilu f afe fngeau valungofulu m ua
b. Tolu taha noa f f valu ua
Both ways are totally acceptable.
Just pay attention to the twenty which is Uongofulu and
not uangofulu. Also 22 is uo ua and not ua ua, 55 is nime
nima and not nima nima and 99 is hive hiva and not hiva
hiva.
one house
Paanga e hongofulu
ten paanga
Sniti e nima
five cents
13)
14)
15)
16)
Twenty islands
Forty four cents
192 houses
14.947 books
Solutions
Solution of Exercise A:
1) `Oku Tonga faka'ofo'ofa?
2) `Oku nau `i `api?
3) `Ikai, oku nau mai mei mattahi.
4) 'Oku mau ki tahi 'apongipongi.
5) Tala kia Mele!
6) Ok ke kata, 'ok ke fiefia.
7) `Oku ou lau hisitlia.
8) `Oku tau 'i fale kai.
9) `Oku tau ki loki kai.
10) `Oku nau `i `olunga.
11) 'Oku mou 'i 'uta?
12) 'Alu ki tu'a!
13) Motu 'e uongofulu
14) Sniti `e f f
15) Fale `e taha hiva ua
16) Tohi 'e taha f hiva f fitu
Malae
Puha
Folau
Lsoni ahiahi
exercise, lesson
Grammar
The Self-defining & Common Nouns
Till now we have learned the prepositions ki (= to)
and mei (= from). You have noticed that we used them right
before the noun they identify without any article. We said
"ki kolo" and "mei kolo" (to the town, from the town). So we
didnt use any equivalent of the English "the". This doesnt
happen always though. The difference is that in Tongan, all
nouns are classified into two categories: self-defining and
common nouns. Self-defining nouns are used without the
definite article since as their name shows, they are
considered definite by themselves. We could say that "they
dont need the article to be definite". These nouns are
proper names of persons or places or words which are used
as if they were proper names of persons or places. So we
say:
Kia Mele
Ki Tonga
Meia Siosiua
from Joshua
Mei Amelika
from America
The Articles
Tongan has definite and indefinite articles like English. The
definite articles are e and he and the indefinite article
is ha. First about the two definite articles. The he is used
immediately after the prepositions e, ki, mei, i. In all
I am reading a book.
I am telling to a child.
one boat
Ha fale e ono
six houses
Here the speaker wants to show his/her love for the cat.
Note that with the definite sii the stress falls on the
ultimate again.
Ok ne he puh?
Is it in the box?
Ikai, ok ne he toh.
Solutions
Solution of Exercise A:
????????????????????????
'Ofa atu
Fmili
Kinga
Fngota
Mohe
Mohenga
Fakamohe
family
relatives
to fish
to sleep
bed
to put to sleep
Kakau
Kaukau
Fnau
Pp
Otua
Tamai
Kui
Kelekele
Fonua
Fakafonua
Tauhi
Taai
Faiako
to swim
to bath
children
baby
God
father
Grandparent
land, soil
land, country
traditional, national, pertaining to the land
to take care of
to beat, to hit
teacher, to teach
Grammar
More On Articles the focus markers transitive and
intransitive constructions
In the previous lesson we learned the structure "Oku ou lau
e toh" (I am reading the book). As we said, e is the definite
article. In fact this is the way Tongans speak. In written
form this sentence would be Oku ou lau a e toh. This a is
the focus marker and it is usually ommited in daily talk. In
the European languages, the distinction is subject-object.
The subject is in the nominative, while the object in
accusative, dative etc. In Tongan the distinction is
different. There is the focus marker a which denotes "the
focus of the verbs action". With intransitive verbs, this is
the equivalent of the European "subject". See the following
paradigms:
Oku mohe a e tamasi
Oku a e fna
Paul is eating
Note again that proper nouns, like Sione, Paula etc. are not
preceded by the definite articles e and he. The
word Otua is not considered to be a proper noun and it
takes the definite articles.
Remember that in daily talk the focus marker a is
ommited:
Oku kata e tangat
You can see here that although the verbs are transitive
according to the European standards, the construction in
Tongan is intransitive. The focus marker a remains before
the subject. Contrast the following:
Oku inu e he tamasi a e va
Oku kai e he fefin a e tal
Exercises
Exercise A: Translate the following sentences, as they would be in written language:
1) Is Tonga beautiful?
2) The pupil is lying.
3) The teacher beats the pupil.
4) The boy is swimming.
5) The woman is resting.
6) The man is taking care of the children.
7) The father is putting the baby to sleep.
8) Are you (plural) at the kitchen?
9) She is going to the hospital.
10) I stay at home.
Solutions
Solution of Exercise A:
????????????????????????
Solution of Exercise B:
????????????????????????
'Ofa atu
This is the end of part one. Now you've learned some of the
basics of the Tongan language. In the future we might
create a part two of this course but for now this is all.
Thanks for your interest in this course! If you discovered
any mistakes or you just want to say something then
please let us know . We do need feedback!