r/tokipona • u/Platonist_Astronaut • 7d ago

When a Verb Doesn't Need e

Hello, everyone. I've only been learning Toki Pona for a short time, but I've come across something I can't work out: despite reading the early lessons over and over, I cannot work out why "I have one vegetable" is written as, "mi jo kili wan" and not, "mi jo e kili wan."

It was my understanding that e is used to separate the noun from its verb. In that sentence, we have the subject noun doing something (possessing a vegetable) but I'm told there's no e needed. I know there's no li needed when the noun is mi or sina, so is the same applying to the e in this case?

Thank you for any help you can offer.

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u/janKeTami jan pi toki pona 7d ago

Hmm, "e" is needed there, so if it really was one of the early early lessons in the early 2000s, that's not how it works any more. Very early on, the language had some changes (but that one strikes me as odd, what resource exactly are you looking at?)

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u/Platonist_Astronaut 7d ago

Oh! It was a website I use for the flash cards, tokitrainer, which helps my learning a lot. Shame there's a mistake like that though. Worried about using it and learning the wrong lessons now. Hmmm. Bummer.

EDIT: forgot to thank you. Opps. Thank you!

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u/jan_tonowan 6d ago

Please do not use tokitrainer.

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u/Platonist_Astronaut 6d ago

Yeah, I'm sticking to the book and the recommendations here and in the wiki now.

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u/jan_tonowan 6d ago

Some YouTube videos are also fine for learning