tan

toki tenpo – time talk

toki suli!

o sona e ni: mi wile ala lawa e nasin toki pi jan ale lon ni. wile pi lipu ni la jan li ken sona e nasin toki tenpo ken lon toki pona. jan li wile toki e ijo tenpo lon toki pona la, nasin ante mute li ken lon o lon! lipu ni li toki e nasin pi mi Itan. taso, sona mi la, nasin toki mute ni la kulupu pi toki pona li sona e ona. o lukin pona!

Important!

Know this: I do not seek to lexicalize terms or lead the way in which people speak here. The point of this page is that people might know of a possible way to talk about time in toki pona. If people want to talk about time related things in toki pona, then there are many ways, and there should be! This page talks about my way (jan Itan). But as far as I know, many of these ways of talking are known in the toki pona community. o lukin good :P

nasin li ni – key:

  • tenpo [..]: English idea (literal translation; explanation)
  • idea / alternate valid translation or idea
  • [5/4/3/2/1]" – lipu ku rating (higher ≈ more known)

nimi – Terms

tenpo: time5 (period of time / specific moment / sometimes)
tenpo ilo: tool (clock) time (i.e. "tenpo pi ilo tenpo": a clock-related time)
tenpo ilo lili: second / minute (small clock time)
tenpo ilo suli: minute / hour (large clock time)
tenpo suno: day4 (sun time the time of a sun)
tenpo pimeja: night4 (dark time)
tenpo esun: week4 (business time; period of time used to track business days)
tenpo mun: month4 (moon time; period of time related to the cycles of the moon)
tenpo sike: year3 (cycle time; period of time in which the Earth does a sun cycle)

(tenpo pi) kipisi sike: season (part of the cycle)
tenpo seli: summer4 (warm time)
tenpo pi weka seli / tenpo pi kasi kule: fall (heat's leaving time / colorful plant time)
tenpo lete: winter5 cold time
tenpo pi weka lete / tenpo pi kasi sin: spring (cold's leaving time / new plant time)

tenpo seme: when3 (what time)
tenpo ala: never (no time)
tenpo lili: short time / rarely1 (small time)
tenpo ale ala / tenpo: sometimes (not allways)
tenpo suli: long time / often1 (large time)
tenpo ale: always (all times)

tenpo wan: once (one time; one way to say "time" as in "occurrence")
tenpo pi mute lili: rarely (occurrences of a small quantity)
tenpo mute: sometimes / often2 (multiple times)
tenpo pi mute suli: often (occurrences of a large quantity)
tenpo pi mute seme: how often (occurrences of what quantity)

tenpo open: beginning (start time)
tenpo pini: past5 (finished time)
tenpo lon: present / now1 (existing time; we exist in it / it exists)
tenpo kama: future4 (coming time)
tenpo poka: recently1 / soon1 (nearby time)
tenpo weka: long ago / long in the future (distant time)
tenpo sama: simultaneously1 / meantime1
tenpo ni: this/that time (a specific moment, often means now3 or then)

sina ken wan e kulupu nimi mute ni la nasin toki mute li lon:
You can combine these terms, so there are lots of ways to talk:
tenpo pini poka / tenpo poka pini: recently (nearby & finished time)
tenpo kama poka / tenpo poka kama: soon (nearby & coming time)
tenpo pini weka / tenpo weka pini: long ago (distant & finished time)
tenpo kama weka / tenpo weka kama: long in the future (distant & coming time)

o lukin e toki ni – Examples:

tenpo ilo lili kama nanpa luka la mi kama. — I’m coming in 5 minutes.
mi weka lon tenpo ilo suli pini nanpa wan. — I left an hour ago.
mi kama sona e toki pona kepeken tenpo sike wan. — I learned toki pona in one year.
tenpo mun pi mute seme la sina pilin ike? — For how many months have you felt bad?
tenpo pini poka la mi pini lukin e lipu pu. — I recently finished reading pu.
tenpo pi mute seme la sina kama tawa ni? — How often do you come here?
mi awen tawa tenpo ni: sina pini pali. — I’m waiting until you finish working.
tenpo lon li seme? / mi lon tenpo seme? — What’s the current time? / When are we?
mi sike e suno lon tenpo mute wan. — I’ve circled the sun 21 times (I’m 21).
lipu ku li kama lon tenpo sike pu nanpa luka tu wan. — ku came in the year 2021.
tenpo suno luka pi tenpo esun wan la mi pali. — I work 5 days out of the week.