Lesson 12: The Ko Pattern
Unlike the verb-first sentences built so far, the ko pattern has no verb and no tense marker. It uses the word ko to identify or name something.
The word hele means "knife." The word ko does the work that "is" does in English. It connects a thing to its identity, directing the listener's attention to who or what is being talked about.
Lesson 11 · All 52 lessons · Lesson 13
The Tongan alphabet and pronunciation · Tongan greetings and what they mean · Tongan tense markers explained · Tongan word order · Saying "not" in Tongan · Tongan possessives · The Tongan ko pattern