Plural with 'ol' — Tok Pisin Grammar

Tok Pisin nouns have exactly one form. There is no plural ending and no irregular plurals: is "child" and "children", is "man" and "men". When it matters, plurality is shown by a separate word placed in front.

The Marker

before a noun marks it as plural.

Ol bas i wok long kam long bas stop.
The buses are coming to the bus stop.
Ol man meri i kam daun bas.
The men and women come down from the bus.
Mi putim ol su go insait long kabot.
I put the shoes into the cupboard.
Ol man meri long hia i luk nais tumas.
The people here look very nice.
Ol boi, yupela lukim dispela tu?
Boys, do you see this too?

The noun after is unchanged. Compare English, where the "-s" is compulsory and comes with a set of exceptions: child/children, man/men, foot/feet.

It Is Optional

carries information; it is not an agreement rule. If plurality is already obvious, it is left out. In particular it is dropped in front of a number.

Mi gat wanpela maus na tupela ia.
I have one mouth and two ears.
Haus bilong mi i gat tupela rum slip.
My house has two bedrooms.

is already unambiguously two ears, so nothing more is needed, and is not said. The same goes for the quantifiers: , and almost always stand without it.

You will occasionally meet both together, which is unusual but not wrong:

Ol tripela pikinini bilong mi, olgeta wankain krismas.
My three children are all the same age.

The Same Word Means 'They'

is also the third-person plural pronoun, "they" and "them". The plural marker grew out of the pronoun, so the same two letters do two jobs.

Ol i no amamas.
They aren't happy.
Ol i no save long mi.
They don't know me.

Position tells you which is which. In front of a noun it is the plural marker; standing where a subject or object goes, it is the pronoun. With it is "their".

Both at Once

Because the two uses are distinct, they can appear in the same sentence, and often do. Read these left to right and each falls into place.

Ol pikinini bilong ol i wokim planti nois tumas.
Their children make far too much noise.
Ol wanwok bilong mi ol i gutpela long mi.
My workmates are good to me.

In the first, is "children" and is "of them". In the second, the first pluralises and the second restates that plural subject just before the predicate marker - an echo of the subject that Tok Pisin uses when the subject phrase has run long.

With 'dispela'

combines with the demonstrative, in either order.

Ol dispela flawa i gat naispela kala stret.
These flowers have really nice colours.
Yu baim dispela ol retpela balun bilong pati bilong yu?
Did you buy these red balloons for your party?

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Tok Pisin course

48 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 13. A few of them, with the words “Plural with 'ol'” is about in bold:

Mi laikim ol na ol i laikim mi.
I love them and they love me.
Lesson 32
Yu gat tupela naispela pikinini stret. Hamas krismas bilong ol?
You have two very beautiful children. How old are they?
Lesson 264
Ol pisin i singsing long gaden.
The birds are singing in the garden.
Lesson 489

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