Gagana Samoa Lesona 4a Articles (se, le, ni)
Terms
undefined, object
copy deck
-
le
'o le fale -
the (definate article singular)
the house -
se
'o se peni -
a (definate article singular)
a pen - "le" is used whenever the the noun is __________ in the mind of the speaker.
- definate
- "se" is used whenever the noun is _________ in the mind of the speaker.
- indefinate
- Note carefully that even though English would sometimes use the indefinate article "a" in some situations, Samoan uses the definate "le"
-
'O le povi.
It's a cow. - "se" replaces "le" when the indefinate is to be expressed when:
-
a) referring to one of many:
'Aumai se tusi. -Bring a book
b) when questioning something's existence:
'O se pusi lale? -Is that a cat?
c)expressing negative:
E lē o se pasi. -It's not a bus. - the plural of the indefinate article "se" is _____.
- ni
-
'O se lā'au. (make plural)
It's a tree. -
'O ni lā'au.
They are trees. - 'Aumai ni falaoa.
- Bring some bread.
- 'O ni 'api lā?
- Are those exercise books?
- E lē o ni peni.
- They aren't pens.
-
"ni" is sometimes omitted in colloquial speech:
'O foma'i?
E lÄ“ o faiÄ'oga. -
Are they doctors?
They aren't teachers. -
Sometimes the plural article of se can just be dropped:
'o se ta'avale (a car) - 'o ta'avale (cars)