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Overview

Intro to la

la is Toki Pona's most complex piece of grammar. But it's still simple like the rest of the language, so let's dig in!

First, la is about context. When does something happen? What is it related to? la tells you that when one thing is going on, another thing happens.

The thing before la is a condition for the thing after it, like if and then working together in English. This may be a requirement, such as if the thing after la only happens when the thing before la does! It can also be where, when, or why something happens, like prepositions. Sometimes, it can be two statements only related by happening at the same time! la is very broad, but there are many useful patterns you can pick up on to better understand them.

When reading la phrases, it's helpful to think of them like this:

[1] la [2]

In the context of [1], [2]

If [1], then [2]

Because of [1], [2] happens.

Keep these shorthands in mind as we explore the different ways la can be used!

Phrases and la

la and perspective

The context could be a subject or object, such as a person or thing. This is useful for discussing perspective, like the preposition tawa:

Here, the la phrase has mi in it- this could mean "in my opinion" or "in my perspective". mi being context for the rest of the sentence is a way of saying that something is relevant to the speaker- relevant to you! Check under the spoiler for your understanding.

la and location

But the context isn't limited to people or things- it can also be places, like with the preposition lon:

Here, sewi is the context. Since sewi is often a location, this could refer to where something happens, or where something is! This isn't the only interpretation though. Check under the spoiler!

la and cause

The context could be an action or idea too, and refer to cause and effect like the preposition tan:

Here, the context pali is an action- working or creating. The la phrase refers to cause: pali must happen for everything else to happen! Even this works like one of the prepositions- most phrases in la work like one of the prepositions! This doesn't work every time, but it can help your understanding go far!

la and description

The context in la could be a description, which is especially useful for contrast:

Here, two contexts are used in separate sentences to explain a deeper idea! They each give context for their respective sentences, and together give more information than either one alone. The first sentence uses laso: "If green, then...", and that is contrasted with loje: "If red, then..." Check under the spoiler for the translation!

la and feelings

Sometimes, the context will be the speaker's opinion or feelings about the main sentence, like an interjection:

And here, the context ike tells us how the speaker feels about the statement. It's like an interjection!

la and meaning

Sometimes, it won't be clear what the context is when you hear it. It could be a place, object, action, description, or many more things- and that's okay!

Here, utala works like a location, idea, or action depending on perspective. This is all about interpretation, but the result is the same: the main sentence happens in the context of a fight!

la and whole prepositions

Lastly, you can have any full prepositional phrase in la! This is the same as having that phrase at the end of the sentence, how we learned it before:

This is exactly the same as having the preposition at the end of the sentence- so why would you use it? For style, for fun, maybe because it feels more clear! This is a choice you have more than anything else.

Because so many la phrases are similar to prepositional phrases, you can often drop the preposition itself and have the same meaning as with it. This especially applies to lon and tawa, and sometimes tan and kepeken.

tomo la mi lape

This restatement without lon can mean the same as the above example!

Notably, sama phrases won't usually mean the same thing if you drop the preposition.

sama needs its preposition to be understood, but sama prep phrases can still be used in la!

Phrases and la summary

That was a lot of information! Let's take a moment to review everything so far.

Think back to the start of the lesson, and this example of how la could be interpreted:

In the context of [1], [2]

When la has a phrase, it works most like this. Look back over the examples, and see how often this applies!

Otherwise, any valid phrase may be before la, and those phrases can act like almost any part of speech or function in Toki Pona! In short, the context can be any almost anything, so experiment!

These prepositional meanings are most common when la has a phrase. The other uses, such as cause and effect, are still possible with phrases before la. But cause and effect is most often expressed with full sentences before la, which are next!

Sentences and la

la has one more important use: you can use a full sentence for context!

When you have a full sentence, it can express anything- so instead of breaking down many possibilities like I did with phrases, we'll work through several examples and build an understanding. Let's get started!

Here, the context is "sina pona", which you understand by now! The main sentence is "mi pona", and you know that too! But with la between them, the meaning of the second sentence now depends on the first. You might say, "if sina pona, then mi pona". Check your understanding in the spoiler!

This is a bit more complex! Now we have a sentence with li, but that's okay. We note that ona in the later sentence refers back to jan in the first, and we can once again imagine the two working together like "if" and "then" in English. Here's a similar example with "so": jan li pona, so mi wile lon poka ona. Check the spoiler!

Here, we have a statement with e before la. It doesn't matter how complex the sentence before la gets- the sentence after will still depend on the one before! But at this point, you should be comfortable with sentences like these.

Sentences before la work the same with prepositions, pre-preds, and any other part of speech or function. Like I said, these are normal sentences, with all the same rules we've learned.

If you remember back to the early lessons, there was a suggestion to ignore parts of the sentence, read what is left, then add back the ignored part. For example, with modifiers, you could look at only the first word, and go back for the modifier(s). You can do this with la too, but unlike modifiers which only get more specific, la changes the sentence. You'll need it! Still, this strategy can help you.

By the way- sentences can get complex, both before and after la! It's generally better to break down speech into more sentences, but you can still have complex ones, so here's a really involved example:

There's a lot going on here! An action, a time that action happens, and the effect of that action on the subject! The sentence before la describes a circumstance- what happened before, what will happen, or a hypothetical situation that could happen. The sentence after describes what that circumstance causes. Interpret each individually, then connect them as though "if" and "then" were used. Check under the spoiler for your understanding!

Sentences and la summary

Think to the start of the lesson again:

If [1], then [2]

When la has a sentence, it most often works like this! The sentence before la is what causes the sentence after la to happen.

You can often interpret each sentence individually, then figure out what they mean together from that! And this generally expresses cause and effect.

Other uses of la

Multiple la

You can have multiple consecutive la phrases, but keep them short for clarity:

You'll notice that one of the phrases is just a word, and the other is a sentence. Mixing the two is totally fine!

Here, the phrase and sentence are in the opposite order. Just as well!

if la, then o

You can combine la with o to make your instructions conditional. Here it works with a sentence:

These are the same as the if [1], then [2] way to interpret. But now, the "then" part is then do [2]!

It works with a phrase too, but it can be a bit less clear what you mean. Try this one out:

Sentences are often more clear than phrases because they provide more information about when or why you should do something- still, experiment! Clever, brief statements can convey a ton of info.

Exercises

Toki Pona to English

You meet an old man in a dark cave, close to your journey's beginning. He tells you of your dangerous trials ahead, and offers you an important tool: a blade. He tells you what you have to do:

You're out in a dark sky park waiting for the last rays of the sun to disappear. As the skies clear, you see all the stars come into view brighter than you've ever seen them, and say in amazement:

You're discussing with a friend how love feels, and how your relationships work. You ask them, how did you make your relationship work? And they answer:

Following your discussion with your friend, you want to show your partner you love them. You start with a compliment, something you might have overlooked before, and say:

You and 30 of your closest friends are waiting outside a campground, which is specially set up for a fair! You're excited to get inside when they open, and you explain to everyone there what'll happen:

You arrive home one day to find your house totally clean thanks to a friend! But it's not perfect: the entire house smells strongly of cleaner! It's making you a bit sick, so you have to explain to them:

You've never much liked the chore of shopping. To better convince yourself to go out and do the work, you buy yourself a treat on the way. You bring a friend along on one shopping trip, and while stopping for your treat, you explain to them:

You and a friend are on a carnival ride! You didn't particularly want to go, but it's too late, you're on the ride! It starts spinning wildly, and you sit way down in the cup and try to wait it out. Then you start to feel bad and tell your friend:

You are sitting under a flowing waterfall, feeling the icy water hit your back and wash down into the pond around you. You sit still and take in the sensation, and as you do so, you think to yourself in your meditation:

You're scritching your bunny's pretty coat, recently grown thick because of the winter. Apparently you were a little rough with the critter, because some of their fur came out! You feel a little bad and say to your bunny:

You recently finished an intense course on welding. A friend texts to ask how it went, so you go to your garage to make them a gift. When you see them again, you hand them two fused soda cans with a perfect weld between them, and say this of your skill:

You're sitting in physics, learning about how gravity works to keep objects on the ground. Your teacher makes an example of how different throwing a frisbee would be on other planets, saying:

You walk into work one day and find your boss looking super rough and disappointed, staring sadly at a big tuba sitting in the corner. You ask your boss how they're doing, and they explain the story:

English to Toki Pona

Takeaway

Here's something important about this entire lesson, exercises and all: the way I described la here is by no means perfect. It's not the only way you can think about how la works, and it's not necessarily the best way- this is a breakdown of how I see and teach this part of Toki Pona's grammar. You'll get different explanations from other speakers- so the best you can hope for is to have a good idea in mind that gets you close to right! And you'll know you're there when you read and understand the sentence.

Either way, the raw grammar still applies, and so do all these provided translations!

Summary

As a short review, la comes in two forms:

• Incomplete sentences, as in phrases and individual words. Most often these are interpreted as "in the context of [1], [2]". They can also convey condition like modifiers, or circumstance like prepositions!
• Complete sentences, which can be as long and complex as any sentence without la! These are often conditional, interpreted as "if [1], then [2]".

This is a complete list of everything la does grammatically, but not everything it can do in meaning. Also, all the given English interpretations are only approximations of how la really works, and aren't perfect.

la and expression

la makes Toki Pona come alive with meaning and expression! So many new and unique things can be said with la, it's hard to imagine Toki Pona without this piece of grammar. You can describe circumstance, context, cause and effect, everything a preposition can do, and more.

What if I don't get it?

If you're ever confused by another speaker's statement, try asking them what's up with Questions in the next lesson:

sina toki e ni lon poka pi nimi 'la': ... ni li toki e seme?

And while you're at it, don't worry about not getting la yet. Most speakers say it took them the most time to understand la compared to all the other words and grammar. If you keep trying, you'll get it!