Gagana Samoa Lesona 4A Articles (Se, Le, Ni)

Front 1

le

'o le fale

Back 1

the (definate article singular)

the house

Front 2

se

'o se peni

Back 2

a (definate article singular)

a pen

Front 3

"le" is used whenever the the noun is __________ in the mind of the speaker.

Back 3

definate

Front 4

"se" is used whenever the noun is _________ in the mind of the speaker.

Back 4

indefinate

Front 5

Note carefully that even though English would sometimes use the indefinate article "a" in some situations, Samoan uses the definate "le"

Back 5

'O le povi.

It's a cow.

Front 6

"se" replaces "le" when the indefinate is to be expressed when:

Back 6

a) referring to one of many:
'Aumai se tusi. -Bring a book

b) when questioning something's existence:
'O se pusi lale? -Is that a cat?

c)expressing negative:
E lē o se pasi. -It's not a bus.

Front 7

the plural of the indefinate article "se" is _____.

Back 7

ni

Front 8

'O se lā'au. (make plural)

It's a tree.

Back 8

'O ni lā'au.

They are trees.

Front 9

'Aumai ni falaoa.

Back 9

Bring some bread.

Front 10

'O ni 'api lā?

Back 10

Are those exercise books?

Front 11

E lē o ni peni.

Back 11

They aren't pens.

Front 12

"ni" is sometimes omitted in colloquial speech:

'O foma'i?
E lē o faiā'oga.

Back 12

Are they doctors?

They aren't teachers.

Front 13

Sometimes the plural article of se can just be dropped:

'o se ta'avale (a car)

Back 13

'o ta'avale (cars)