Goal

Say where things are and who they belong to.

New Grammar

• Use sa for clear possession.
• Use core relation words: de, en, go, kon, sama.
• Reflexive forms with -ego act like ordinary noun phrases.
• muto means “each other”.

Core Vocabulary

Mini-ma	English
sa	possessive linker
de	from, of, about, by
en	in, at, on
go	to, toward
kon	with
sama	like, same, as
buku	book
mesa	table
kaja	box
toilete	toilet
ego	self, own self
tu-ale-ego	yourselves
muto	each other, one another
ade	help, care for
jeti	hit
dire	say, tell
mala	bad

Model Examples

mi-sa buku
my book

Bob-sa kaja
Bob's box

buku e en mesa
The book is on the table.

mi i toma a buku go tu
I take the book to you.

si e kon mi
He or she is with me.

si i jeti a si-ego
He or she hit himself, herself, or itself.

tu-ale i ade a tu-ale-ego
You all help yourselves.

plu amigo i pale go muto
Friends speak to each other.

mi i de dire a mala kosa de mi-ego
I said bad things about myself.

Guided Notes

• In this course, use sa when you want clear possession.
• The course keeps hyphenated sa: mi-sa buku.
• The possessor can be a simple contiguous phrase, as in plu kinde-sa sekola or oda mega man-sa buku.
• Keep the possessor directly before the noun. If the possessor becomes too complex, prefer a paraphrase instead of a long ambiguous stack.
• en covers “in”, “at”, and “on”. Context decides the exact English translation.
• go often marks direction.
• In a full verbal clause, de, en, and go are relation words once the main verb has started: mi i toma a buku go tu.
• mi-ego, tu-ego, tu-ale-ego, and si-ego are full noun phrases. Use them where you would use a normal object or a phrase after de.
• muto is different from a reflexive. si-ego means “himself or herself”; muto means “each other”.

Compatibility with Mini

Plain Mini often says mi buku instead of mi-sa buku. Mini-ma keeps sa as the clearer default when teaching.

Practice

1. Translate into Mini-ma: “your book”
2. Translate into Mini-ma: “The water is in the box.”
3. Translate into English: si e kon tu
4. Reorder: mesa / en / e / kaja
5. Translate into Mini-ma: “He or she hit himself or herself.”
6. Translate into English: mi i de dire a mala kosa de mi-ego
7. Translate into Mini-ma: “Friends speak to each other.”

Mini Recap

You can now say whose something is and where it is.