Addressing People

Sometimes you need to get a person's attention before you can talk to him. When you want to address someone like that before saying the rest of the sentence, you just follow this same pattern: jan (name) o (rest of sentence).

jan Ken o, pipi li lon len sina.		Ken, a bug is on your shirt.
jan Keli o, sina pona lukin.		Kelly, you are pretty.
jan Mawen o, sina wile ala wile moku?		Marvin, are you hungry?
jan Tepani o, sina ike tawa mi.		Steffany, I don't like you.

Although it's not essential, you should try to remember to put the comma after the o. You'll see why in a minute when you learn about making commands.

Toki Pona also has a neat little word a which can be used whenever you're addressing people. It's only used when the person makes you feel really emotional. For example, you might use the a when you haven't seen the person for a very long time or when having sex.

jan Epi o a!

Oh Abbie!