Comparison: moa, winim, tumas — Tok Pisin Grammar

Tok Pisin has no comparative or superlative endings. There is no -er and no -est, and no irregular set like good/better/best to memorise. Adjectives never change shape; comparison is done with separate words.

'winim' - The Main Comparative

is a verb, from English "win". It means to beat or surpass, and Tok Pisin uses it where English uses "than". Literally you are saying that one thing beats another.

Em i swit tru ya, winim suga.
It's really sweet, sweeter than sugar.
Swit bilong em i winim kaukau.
Its sweetness beats sweet potato.
Em i winim tru loliwara na orens.
It really beats lemonade and orange.
Namba bilong ol i winim wan handet.
Their number exceeds one hundred.

Because it is a genuine verb, it takes the predicate marker and behaves like any other verb in the sentence. That is a different piece of machinery from English "than", which is a conjunction and does nothing else.

'moa' - More

means "more", and also "again" or "any longer". It follows the word it modifies.

Mi ken stap liklik moa.
I can stay a little longer.
Mi no inap long wet moa.
I can't wait any longer.
Plis, kam kaikai sampela moa kek.
Please come and eat some more cake.
Orait, yu ken pilai wanpela moa taim.
All right, you can play one more time.

Both Together

The two combine, with raising the quality and naming what is being beaten.

Ol man meri ol i gutpela moa, winim ol man meri long ples Spein.
The people are nicer than the people in Spain.

Read it in parts: "the people are good more, beating the people in Spain".

You will also meet used directly for "than", though this is less common.

Em seif moa long flai.
It's safer than flying.

'nambawan' - The Superlative

"Number one" does the work of English "best", "first" and "top". There is no separate superlative form.

Sushi em nambawan kaikai tru bilong mi.
Sushi is my very favourite food.
Yu nambawan meri long luksave!
You're the best woman at noticing things!
Tude em nambawan de bilong mun Mei.
Today is the first of May.

The last shows the literal sense still working - is simply day number one.

Saying Things Are Equal

, "one kind", is the word for "the same".

Papa na mama bilong yu ol i gat wankain krismas?
Are your father and mother the same age?
Nem bilong em Lisa, wankain tasol.
Her name is Lisa, just the same.
Ol tripela pikinini bilong mi, olgeta wankain krismas.
My three children are all the same age.

For likeness rather than identity, the word is .

Laip em olsem wanpela basket soklet.
Life is like a box of chocolates.

Going Too Far

covers the excess end of the scale - "too much" and, in ordinary speech, simply "very". Context decides which is meant.

Em i bikpela tumas long hia.
It's far too big for here.

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Tok Pisin course

33 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 35. A few of them, with the words “Comparison: moa, winim, tumas” is about in bold:

Nambawan taim mi lukim em stret, mi ting olsem em meri i gat planti save.
My first impression is that she is very smart.
Lesson 333
Yu nambawan meri long luksave!
You are the first person to notice!
Lesson 337
Lainim wanpela nupela tokples i hat tumas.
Learning a new language is very hard.
Lesson 499

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