Lesson 46: Noun Classes
Building on the personal-noun and local-noun distinction, this lesson covers the full noun classification system: common nouns as a third type, and the verbs that follow the same pattern.
The name Sione is already specific: there is no need to say "the Sione." The place name Vavaʻu is already specific: there is no need to say "the Vava'u." Words like these are self-defining nouns: they are definite on their own. They do not take an article (e, he, or ha) and normally do not carry the definitive accent.
Lesson 45 · All 52 lessons · Lesson 47
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