Welcome to the 8th lesson about Samoan grammar. We will first learn about prepositions, negation, questions, adverbs, and pronouns including: personal, object and possessive pronouns.
We will start with prepositions. In general, they are used to link words to other words. For example: I speak Samoan and English the preposition is [and] because it connects both words Samoan and English. The following is a list of the most used prepositions in Samoan.
| Prepositions - Samoan |
|---|
| and ma |
| above luga ifo |
| under lalo ifo |
| before luma/ae le'i o'o iai |
| after pe'a uma |
| in front of i luma ifo |
| behind o tua |
| far from mamao ese mai |
| near latalata |
| in totonu |
| inside totonu |
| outside fafo atu |
| with ma |
| without |
| about ta'amilo |
| between o le va |
| but peita'i |
| for mo (ia/oe/a'u etc |
| from mai le |
| to i le |
The following examples use prepositions in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.
| Prepositions + Rules - Samoan |
|---|
| I eat without a knife [preposition + noun] ou te ai e aunoa ma se naifi |
| she lives near the church [verb + preposition] e nofo latalata ile falesa |
| he is taller than her [adjective + preposition] e umi atu le tama nai lo le teine |
| he came with his small dog [preposition + pronoun] na omai ma lana tamai maile |
| can you come with me? [preposition + pronoun] e mafai ona e sau tate o |
Now let's learn how to make a negative sentence (negation). For example: Saying no, I can't, I don't ... The following examples use negation in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.
| Negation + Rules - Samoan |
|---|
| I understand you [affirmative form] ou te malamalama ia te oe |
| I don't understand you [negation + verb] ou te le malamalama ia te oe |
| this is not the correct word [negation + adjective] e le ole upu sa'o lena |
| don't leave me [imperative negation] aua ete tu'ua a'u |
| no problem [negation + noun] leai se fa'afitauli |
| Negative Sentences - Samoan |
|---|
| I don't speak French [negation + present tense] ou te leiloa fa'afarani |
| she didn't visit Germany [negation + past tense] e lei asiasi o ia i siamani |
| he cannot see us [negative modal verb] e le mafai ona ia iloa mai tatou |
| can't she play chess? [interrogative negation] e le iloa e le teine mu |
| we will not come late [negation + future tense] matou te le tuai mai |
Now let's learn how to ask questions (interrogative). Such as: what, why, can you ...? Here are some common examples:
| English - Samoan |
|---|
| how? faafefea? |
| what? ole a? |
| who? o ai? |
| why? aisea? |
| where? o fea? |
More of the interrogative form, now in a sentence:
| Questions + Rules - Samoan |
|---|
| where do you live? [interrogative + verb] o fea ete nofo ai? |
| does she speak Chinese? [interrogative verb] e mafai ona tautala fa'asaina? |
| how much is this? [interrogative preposition] e fia le tau o le mea lea? |
| can I help you? [interrogative modal verb] e mafai ona ou fesoasoani atu ia te oe? |
| what is your name? [interrogative preposition] o ai lou igoa? |
It's time to learn the adverbs in Samoan. But what is an adverb? In general, adverbs modify verbs and adjectives. For example: You speak fast. The adverb is [fast] because it describes the verb and answers the question how do you speak?. Here is a list of the most common ones:
| Adverbs - Samoan |
|---|
| now taimi nei |
| yesterday ananafi |
| today o le aso nei |
| tonight nanei |
| tomorrow taeao |
| soon toeititi |
| quickly vave |
| slowly lemu |
| together fa'atasi |
| very matua |
| almost toeititi |
| always taimi 'uma |
| usually masani lava |
| sometimes nisi o taimi |
| rarely seasea |
| never le taitai |
The following examples use the adverbs in different ways and places to demonstrate how it behaves in a sentence.
| Adverbs + Rules - Samoan |
|---|
| do you understand me now? [pronoun + adverb] ua mafai ona e malamalama mai ia te au |
| I need help immediately [noun + adverb] ua ou manaomia ile taimi nei lava se fesoasoani |
| she is very intelligent [adverb + adjective] e matua atamai tele le teine |
| I will always love you [verb + adverb] ou te alofa pea mo oe |
| can we learn German together? [adverb in a question] e mafai ona a'o fa'atasi le ta gagana fa'asiamani |
We're almost done! This time we will learn the pronouns in Samoan. In general, a pronoun can be used instead of a noun. For example instead of saying my teacher speaks 3 languages, you can use the pronoun he, and say he speaks 3 languages. Here is a list of the most common ones:
| Personal Pronouns - Samoan |
|---|
| I ou/'ou te |
| you o 'oe |
| he o ia/tama |
| she o ia/teine |
| we tatou |
| they latou |
| Object Pronouns - Samoan |
|---|
| me o a'u |
| you o 'oe |
| him o ia/tama |
| her o ia/teine |
| us tatou |
| them latou |
| Possessive Pronouns - Samoan |
|---|
| my o la'u |
| your o lau |
| his o ia/tama |
| her o ia/teine |
| our tatou |
| their latou |
I think it's better to put the above example in a sentence to better assist you. The following examples use pronouns in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence. We will start with the personal pronouns.
| Personal Pronouns - Samoan |
|---|
| I am your friend [1st pronoun + verb] o a'u o lau uo |
| you speak very fast [2nd pronoun + adverb] e vave tele lau tautala |
| he has three dogs [3rd pronoun + verb] e tolu ana maile |
| she can speak German [3rd pronoun + verb] e mafai ona tautala ile gagana siamani |
| we will not come late [1st plural pronoun] matou te le tuai mai |
| they bought milk and bread [3rd plural pronoun] na latou aumaia susu ma falaoa |
The object pronoun is used as a target by a verb, and usually come after that verb. For example: I gave him my book. The object pronoun here is him. Here are more examples:
| Object Pronouns - Samoan |
|---|
| can you tell me your name? [1st object pronoun] e mafai ona e tauina mai lou igoa? |
| I will give you money [2nd object pronoun] ou te a ou avatua le tupe ia te oe |
| she wrote him a letter [3rd object pronoun] sa ia tusia se tusi mo ia |
| they visited her yesterday [3rd object pronoun] na latou asiasi atu ile teine/ia te ia ananafi |
| can she help us? [1st pl. object pronoun] e mafai ona ia feasoasoani mai iai tatou? |
| he gave them food [3rd pl. object pronoun] sa ia tuuina atu iai latou meaai |
| Possessive Pronouns - Samoan |
|---|
| my name is Maya [1st possessive pronoun] o lo'u igoa o maya |
| your brother lives here [2nd possessive pronoun] e nofo iinei lou tuagane |
| her mother cooks for us [3rd possessive pronoun] sa kuka lona tina mo i matou |
| his hobby is reading books [3rd possessive pronoun] o le mea e fiafia iai o le faitau tusi |
| our dream is to visit Paris [1st pl. possessive pronoun] o la matou miti o le asiasi lea i pale |
| their house is not far [3rd pl. possessive pronoun] e le mamao le latou fale |
One more thing you need to know is the demonstrative pronouns. They're very easy to learn.
| Demonstrative Pronouns - Samoan |
|---|
| this is my house o lo'u fale lea |
| that restaurant is far e mamao le faleaiga lena |
| these apples are delicious e ese le manaia o apu ia |
| those stars are shiny o fetu la e fepulafi |
I hope you learned a lot about the Samoan grammar in this lesson. Please check out our main menu here for more lessons: homepage. The next lesson is below, have fun!
Inspirational Quote: First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do. Epictetus |