Toki Pona - Sitelen Chart

Categories arranged for quick reference and comprehension

Toki Pona is a minimalist constructed language of around 120 core words.
This chart groups the official vocabulary by theme and shows each word with its sitelen pona glyph, English meaning, and role in the sentence so you can read, write, and decode Toki Pona more quickly.

For clarity, the words are grouped by category (such as particles, people, living things, actions, colors, etc.). This makes it easier to learn Toki Pona as a speaker rather than as a translator. Most words can act as nouns, verbs, adjectives, or adverbs depending on context, so the categories are guides, not strict parts of speech.

This chart is a quick reference, not an exhaustive grammar guide. For grammar details, teaching resources, and community projects, visit tokipona.org

Particles & structure words

Words that define sentence structure and relationships.

a A
description
emphasis, emotion, or confirmation
anu ANU
description
connects phrases with “or”
e E
description
direct object marker
en EN
description
multiple subject marker (“and” for subjects)
kin KIN
description
also, too; indeed
la LA
description
context marker
li LI
description
predicate marker
o O
description
vocative / imperative particle
pi PI
description
regroups modifiers
taso TASO
description
but, however; only, just
seme SEME
description
what? which?

Pronouns & people

Words referring to persons and identities.

jan JAN
description
person, somebody, human
kulupu KULUPU
description
community, group, company, nation
meli MELI
description
female, woman
mi MI
description
first-person pronoun: I, me, we, us
mije MIJE
description
male, man
mama MAMA
description
parent; creator; caretaker
ona ONA
description
third-person pronoun: he, she, it, they
sina SINA
description
second-person pronoun: you
tonsi TONSI
description
non-binary, trans
ni NI
description
this, that

Time, numbers & amount

Words related to time, quantity, and measurement.

ala ALA
description
no, not, none, zero
ale ALE (ALI)
description
all, everything, 100
kama KAMA
description
arriving, coming, future; to become
mute MUTE
description
many, a lot; very; quantity
nanpa NANPA
description
-th; number, ordinal marker
open OPEN
description
to begin, to start; opening
pini PINI
description
finished, past; end
sike SIKE
description
circular object, cycle; of one year
tenpo TENPO
description
time, duration, moment, period
tu TU
description
two
wan WAN
description
one; single, unique, united

Living things

Words related to animals, plants, and life forms.

akesi AKESI
description
reptile, amphibian
kala KALA
description
sea creature, fish
kasi KASI
description
plant, vegetation; grass, leaf
kijetesantakalu KIJETES-
ANTAKALU
description
musteloids, such as raccoon, weasel-like mammals
kili KILI
description
fruit, vegetable
pipi PIPI
description
bug, insect
soko SOKO
description
mushroom, fungus
soweli SOWELI
description
land animal, mammal
waso WASO
description
flying creature, bird

Body & senses

Words related to body parts and sensory functions.

insa INSA
description
centre, inside, contents; organ, stomach
kute KUTE
description
ear; to hear, listen
lape LAPE
description
sleeping, resting
luka LUKA
description
arm, hand; five
monsi MONSI
description
back, behind, rear
nena NENA
description
bump, hill, nose, protrusion
noka NOKA
description
foot, leg; lower part
pilin PILIN
description
heart, feeling; to feel, think emotionally
sijelo SIJELO
description
body, torso; physical state
sinpin SINPIN
description
face, front, wall
uta UTA
description
mouth, lips; oral cavity
moku MOKU
description
to eat, to drink; food
unpa UNPA
description
sex; to have sexual relations
mu MU
description
animal noise; onomatopoeia

Space, place & environment

Words related to locations, directions, and surroundings.

anpa ANPA
description
downward, humble, low, lowly
kon KON
description
air; spirit, essence; unseen agent
lete LETE
description
cool, cold; raw
lon LON
description
located at, present at; true, real
lupa LUPA
description
door, hole, opening, orifice
ma MA
description
earth, land; outdoors; soil, territory
mun MUN
description
night sky object, moon, star, planet
nasin NASIN
description
way, road, doctrine, method
poka POKA
description
hip, side; nearby, beside, with
sewi SEWI
description
area above, highest part; divine, sacred
suno SUNO
description
light source, sun; bright light
telo TELO
description
liquid, water, beverage
tomo TOMO
description
indoor space; building, home, room

Objects, tools & stuff

Words related to physical objects and materials.

esun ESUN
description
market, shop, fair
ijo IJO
description
thing, object, phenomenon
ilo ILO
description
tool, machine, device, instrument
kiwen KIWEN
description
hard object, metal, stone, rock
ko KO
description
clay, semi-solid, paste, powder
leko LEKO
description
square, block
len LEN
description
cloth, fabric; cover, layer of privacy
linja LINJA
description
long and flexible thing; string, cord, hair, thread
lipu LIPU
description
flat object; paper, card, document, website
mani MANI
description
money, cash, currency item
nimi NIMI
description
word, name
palisa PALISA
description
long hard object; rod, stick
pan PAN
description
grain, pasta, bread, rice
poki POKI
description
container, bag, box, bowl, cup
supa SUPA
description
horizontal surface; thing to put objects on
sitelen SITELEN
description
image, picture, writing, symbol

Actions & qualities

Words related to actions, states, and characteristics.

alasa ALASA
description
to hunt, to forage
ante ANTE
description
different, other, changed
awen AWEN
description
enduring, kept, protected; to continue
ike IKE
description
bad, negative; irrelevant
jaki JAKI
description
disgusting, unclean, toxic
jo JO
description
to have, carry, contain, hold
kalama KALAMA
description
sound; to make a sound, utter
ken KEN
description
to be able to, can, may; possible
kepeken KEPEKEN
description
to use; with, by means of
kipisi KIPISI
description
to cut, to divide; part, division
lawa LAWA
description
head, mind; ruler; to lead, to regulate
lili LILI
description
small, little; few, a bit; young
lukin LUKIN
description
to see, look at, examine
moli MOLI
description
dead, dying
monsuta MONSUTA
description
fear; monster; scary thing
musi MUSI
description
entertaining, fun, recreational; play
namako NAMAKO
description
spice, garnish; additional, extra
nasa NASA
description
strange, unusual; foolish, silly
olin OLIN
description
to love, to respect
pakala PAKALA
description
broken, damaged; to mess up
pali PALI
description
to do, to work on; make, create
pana PANA
description
to give, to emit, to send
pona PONA
description
good, useful, simple, positive; to fix, improve
sama SAMA
description
similar, same; as, equal
seli SELI
description
fire; heat source
selo SELO
description
outer form, outmost layer; skin, peel, shell
sin SIN
description
new, fresh; another, additional
sona SONA
description
to know; wisdom, knowledge, information
suli SULI
description
big, heavy, large, important
suwi SUWI
description
sweet; cute, adorable
tan TAN
description
from, by, because of
tawa TAWA
description
going to; for; moving; toward
toki TOKI
description
to say, speak; language
utala UTALA
description
to battle, fight; challenge
wawa WAWA
description
strong, powerful; confident, energetic
weka WEKA
description
absent, away; removed
wile WILE
description
must, need, want

Colors

Words related to colors and hues.

jelo JELO
description
yellow, yellowish
kule KULE
description
color, colorful
laso LASO
description
blue, green
loje LOJE
description
red, reddish
pimeja PIMEJA
description
black, dark, unlit
walo WALO
description
white; light-colored, pale

Book & dictionary words

Words specifically related to the Toki Pona book and dictionary.

ku KU
description
to interact with the Toki Pona Dictionary (ku)
pu PU
description
interacting with “Toki Pona: The Language of Good”