Faleni · Lesson 9: Telling a story

Everything so far has been the present tense, near enough. A story needs two more things: time and joins. Faleni adds no rules for either. Time is a word you drop in, joins are words you already half-know, and reported speech is a colon. By the end you'll narrate a whole day, and read a whole story.

Hear these first

Tap each word to hear it, say it aloud, then reveal the meaning.

Tap a word to hear it, say it aloud, then reveal the meaning.

Time is a word, not an ending

A Faleni verb never changes shape. wa ha kema is I eat, I ate and I will eat, and context usually settles which. When it doesn't, add a time word:

• wa ha kema: I eat. (unmarked, and usually enough)
• wa ha kema napo: I ate. (eat + past)
• wa ha kema nase: I'll eat. (eat + future)
• wa ha kema neke: I ate yesterday. · wa ha kema neka: I'll eat tomorrow.

A day-word already carries the time, so you don't add napo as well: wa ha ka neke is enough for I went yesterday.

Setting a story in the past takes exactly one word, at the start:

• ahe, wa ha sane niwi tuna li.: Once, I lived in a small town.

After that first ahe, every following sentence is understood as past without marking it again. That is how the reference text works, and it is worth noticing what it saves you: no tense endings, no irregular verbs, no sequence-of-tenses rule.

Then, and then

Faleni sequences with plain words, in the order things happened:

• eno: then · kipa: begin · kine: finish · asa: again

• wa ha kaluwe, eno wa ha kema nami.: I woke up, then I ate breakfast.

• wa ha kipa towa nami, hi wa ha kine towa nana.: I started work in the morning, and finished in the evening.
• wi ha fewa asa.: They asked again.

Why, but, while, although

These are the joins that turn a list of events into a story. You have met most of them already:

Read the right-hand column aloud before you read the translations:

1. I'm tired because I worked.
2. I'm tired, so I'm going to sleep.
3. I'm tired, but I'm happy.
4. I eat while they talk.
5. Although I'm tired, I work.
6. If you're hungry, I'll cook.

Saying what someone said

There is no quotative particle to learn. Use fa (say) or kuno (tell), then a colon, then the sentence exactly as it was spoken:

• pama ha fa: kema ha losu.: Mother said: dinner is ready.
• wa ha kuno nosa peni wa: wa ha ka neka.: I told my friend: I'm going tomorrow.

Because nothing changes shape, the quoted sentence needs no adjustment at all. Compare English, where "I am going" has to become "he was going".

A story you can already read

Every word below is one you have met. Tap a line to hear it; press gloss for the word-for-word layer.

1. ahe, pu li ha sane niwi tuna.Once, a small child lived in a city.gloss
2. pu ha komu sope ta.The child had one dog.gloss
3. nita ta, sope ha kihu, hi pu ha he kona wi.One day the dog left, and the child could not find it.gloss
4. pu ha moli u, oso wi ha fewa pa a.The child was very sad, so they asked everyone.gloss
5. pa lawo ha fa: mi niwi tete.An old person said: look in the garden.gloss
6. pu ha kali nosa tete, hi sope ha niwi tete.The child walked to the garden, and the dog was in the garden.gloss
7. nima, pu ha masu asa.Now the child is happy again.gloss

A little conversation: telling someone your day

A: we ha ke jeta neke?: What did you do yesterday? B: wa ha towa nami, eno wa ha kali niwi tete.: I worked in the morning, then I walked in the garden. A: we ha masu ho?: Were you happy? B: awe, api wa ha lunu u.: Yes, but I was very tired. A: we ha ke jeta neka?: What will you do tomorrow? B: wa ha kumi nefa!: I'll sleep a lot!

Practice

1. Listen & choose

Tap 🔊, listen, then pick what it means.

2. Read & understand

Read each aloud, then reveal the meaning.

• ahe, pa lawo ha sane niju sete.
• wa ha he ka neke uka wa ha lefa.
• wi ha fa: wa ha kawi nesi.

3. Say it in Faleni

Translate to Faleni:

1. I ate breakfast, then I went to work.
2. I'm tired, but I'm happy.
3. Once, a small dog lived in a big house.
4. She said: I'll come tomorrow.

Next

You can now put events in time and join them into a story, and you did it without learning a single ending. Next, Lesson 10 does the same for numbers, money and the clock. Read the whole reference text next, take any line of it apart in the translator, and keep the words alive in practice.