Ni - a versatile fijian word

The word 'Ni' corresponds to these English words and that's why I call it versatile:

• As
• When
• Since
• That
• Because

And here are some examples of its use

Lock your bag since there are thieves around.

Lokata na nomu kato ni levu na dau butako.

Did you know that it's raining?

O kila ni tau tiko na uca?

New words

Uca - rain

Tau na uca - raining

Lokata - lock

kila - know

Oya - Particles in space and time Part 3

Oya is the particle used in reference to a address third person or an object further away from  two people in a discussion. Oya can also be used to refer to a distant past.

Again oya is usually abbreviated to ya in everyday Fijian.

Eg.

na yanuyanu oya                 that island
na motoka oya                    that car

na gauna oya                       that time

Particles for space and time 2 - Oqori

Oqori is used in the second person to refer to people or things at hand in relation to the person being addressed.

In contrast oqo is in relation to the person speaking or in the first person.

Eg. John asks Anna for the salt.

Can I have the salt.                         Kerea na masima oqori.

Again abbreviation is common in everyday Fijian language speaking that 'qori' is more commonly used.

the  car (you're standing next to)         motoka qori (oqori abbreviated)

Particles for space and time 1 - Oqo

Three particles in the Fijian language refer to positions in space and time.  These are oqo, oqori and oya.

Oqo is

1. linked to things near or at hand to the person speaking or in the first person.

Eg. Na motoka oqo.                                   This car.

2. and the present time.

Eg. Au sa lako yani oqo                               I am coming now.

Often oqo is abbreviated in everyday language to qo.

So you may hear people say - Au sa lako yani qo. Na motoka qo.

Come back tomorrow for the other two particles.

Fijian nominal pronouns

These are nominal pronouns in the Fijian language. I love this about the Fijian language that it has more choices than in English!

Nomu                Your
Nomudrau         Your (two)
Nomudou          Your (few)
Nomuni             Your (many)

Examples in phrases.

Solia na nomu bilo.                   Give your cup.
I vei na nomudrau vale?         Where's your house?
I vei na nomudou koro?          Where's your village?
I vei na nomuni qoliqoli?          Where's your fishing territory?

Past and future in Fijian

The Fijian language doesn't have a time or tense system as in the English system. For example in the English system adding-ing and -ed (most commonly) changes the tense of the verb to current and past tense.

In Fijian however two particles are used to denote the past and future - these are 'a' for the past and 'na' for the future.

Let us look at some examples:

English                                                                     Fijian
They will go to Suva tomorrow.                                E ratou na lako ki Suva ni mataka
The weather will be bad tomorrow.                           E na draki ca ni mataka.

I ran to the shop.                                                       Au a cici ki na sitoa.
I ate the cake.                                                             Au a kania na keke.

Try these using the past and future particles..

I will go to school next year.
I will go to the swimming pool tomorrow.
I walked to school.
I drank the water.

New words

School - koro ni vuli
swimming pool - tobu ni sisili
drink - gunuva
year yabakivi
run - cici
eat - kania

Learn Fijian App

We will be releasing our Learn Fijian App soon. We going through some testing and will be releasing it soon via both Google Play and iOS App Store. The App will continue to be updated with more words and phrases. It has audio to help with proper pronunciations of words and phrases. Sign up with the form below and you will be amongst the first to know when its released.