Pasifikapages
Command Tense in Samoan
When the tense of a statement is understood, the tense marker is often omitted. The command tense marker is often omitted because the tense is almost always understood as immediate, urgent, and present. Sometimes you only need a verb/action word like aumai, ave, salapu, alu, alu ese, fa’avave, fa’avave mai, fa’avave mai lau tuai. You…
Why Samoans Identify Nouns with the Letter “O”
The Samoan language identifies subjects with the particle “O” when there is no action or location given to the noun. The “O” is a noun tense marker that indicates: The “O” noun tense marker is used in complete subject phrases. If you were to ask someone to identify a person, place, thing, or idea in…
Using the Worksheet to Learn Samoan Possessive Pronouns
Download this worksheet First choose a noun and determine whether it is an a-class or o-class possession. Let’s use penitala or pencil. If there’s no letter in the first column then it’s plural and specific set of penitala. If there’s an l, then it’s singular and specific penitala. If we use “s” then we’re saying…
