Lesson 31: Existential Expressions
Building on the back-reference word ai, this lesson introduces the existential expression ʻoku ʻi ai (there is, there are). You previewed this pattern in Lesson 29, where it combined with indefinite possessives to form the Tongan equivalent of "to have" (ʻOku ʻi ai haʻo kato? Do you have a basket?). This lesson gives it its full treatment as a standalone existential.
The combination ʻi ai can also sit in the verb position of a sentence, where it means "there is" or "there are." This is how Tongan expresses existence. Literally, ʻi ai means "is in-it" or "is there," and in the verb slot it becomes an existential statement.
Lesson 30 · All 52 lessons · Lesson 32
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