Toki Pona: tan

tan represents the idea of “cause”, “reason”, origin as a preposition tan means “because”

mi pilin ike tan ni: soweli mi li kama moli.

I feel bad because of this: my cat is dying.

I am sad because my cat is dying.

mi moku tan ni: mi wile moku.

I eat because of this: I am hungry.

I am eating because I am hungry.

and sometimes it means “from” as in “origin”

jan olin mi li kama tan ma Nijon.

My girlfriend is from Japan.

telo loje li kama tan nena kute mi!

Blood is coming from my ear!

as a noun it means “cause” or “reason”

mi sona ala e tan.

I do not know the reason.

ali li jo e tan.

Every thing has a reason.

Vocabulary

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