Intensifiers: tru, stret, tumas — Tok Pisin Grammar

There is no word for "very" that goes in front of an adjective. Tok Pisin strengthens a word by putting something after it, and the three words it uses for this are among the most frequent in the language. All three began as ordinary English words and none of them means quite what its English source suggests.

'tru': Truly

is the adjective "true", and it still works that way in its own right.

Tok i tru, em i olsem.
The word is true, it is so.

Placed after another word it strengthens it, much as English "truly" or "really" does. It is the commonest of the three, and the safest choice when you are unsure.

Yu fani tru.
You're really funny.
Ples i hat tru.
The weather is really hot.
Buk ya em narakain tru.
That book is really unusual.

'tumas': Very

comes from "too much", but in Tok Pisin it means "very". The sense of excess is almost entirely gone: is very good, and a compliment, and is the ordinary way to say "thanks very much".

Ol man meri long hia i luk nais tumas.
The people here look very nice.
Em i gutpela tumas long yumi.
He is very good to us.
Smel bilong en i swit tumas.
Its smell is very sweet.
Lainim wanpela nupela tokples i hat tumas.
Learning a new language is very hard.
Bek bilong yu i hevi tumas.
Your bag is very heavy.

'stret': Exactly, Properly

is "straight", and by extension correct or right. As a strengthener it carries that flavour of exactness - properly, thoroughly, just so - rather than sheer degree.

Kaikai i swit stret.
The food is properly delicious.
Em bisi stret.
It's really busy.
Em orait stret.
That's perfectly fine.
Em save pilai gut stret.
He plays really well.
Yu gat gutpela haus stret.
You have a really fine house.

'tru' After a Noun

Following a noun rather than an adjective, does something different again: it says the thing is the genuine article. is the truth, as against merely words.

Em i pren tru bilong God.
He is a true friend of God.
Mipela i man bilong tok tru.
We are people of the truth.

'olgeta': Completely

A fourth word joins these when the point is that something is total. After a verb, means completely, utterly, all the way. In other positions the same word means "all" or "every".

Na bai em i lus olgeta.
And he will be completely lost.
Strong bilong mi i pinis olgeta.
My strength is completely gone.
Ol man nogut bai i bagarap olgeta.
Bad men will be utterly ruined.

They Strengthen Verbs as Well

Unlike English "very", these words can follow a verb directly and say how much the action applies.

Na Herot i laikim tumas danis bilong en.
And Herod greatly liked her dancing.
Ol i no wari tumas long lukautim gut.
They don't worry much about looking after it well.

Using Two at Once

They stack, and stacking is normal rather than emphatic overkill. is a set phrase meaning "truly, indeed", often opening a sentence.

Em doti nogut tru.
It's really filthy.
Tok bilong mi em i tru tumas.
What I say is absolutely true.
Tru tumas, ol dispela samting i gutpela tru!
Truly, these things are really good!

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Tok Pisin course

77 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 14. A few of them, with the words “Intensifiers: tru, stret, tumas” is about in bold:

Meri ya gat wanpela kar i save ron isi stret, dispela kar i no bikpela mani bilong em.
She has a slow, cheap car.
Lesson 110
Em faul tru ya. Yu tupela wantaim rong.
How ridiculous. You are both wrong.
Lesson 163
Yu fani tru. Mi ting yu fani.
You are funny. I think you are funny.
Lesson 169

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