The Verb 'stap'

01

Being Somewhere

This is the core use. Where English says "is at" or "is in", Tok Pisin says stap long.

• Mi stap long maket.

  I'm at the market.

• Em stap long skul.

  She is at school.

• Pik i stap long haus tasol.

  The pig stays in the house all the time.

02

Asking Where

The question word we follows the verb, in the slot the answer would fill. Both stap we and stap long we are used.

• Pusiket i stap we?

  Where is the cat?

• Kaikai stap long we?

  Where is the food?

• Plet bilong mi i stap we?

  Where is my plate?

03

Staying and Remaining

The older sense is still fully alive: to stay, to remain, to live somewhere.

• Mi ken stap liklik moa.

  I can stay a little longer.

• Yu noken i stap hia.

  You can't stay here.

04

Being in a State

Followed by an adjective, stap describes a condition someone is in rather than a place they are at. This is where the two commonest greetings in the language come from.

• Yu stap orait?

  Are you well?

• Mi stap gut.

  I'm fine.

• Em i no stap gut.

  It isn't in good condition.

• Ol pikinini bilong mi ol stap isi tru.

  My children are very calm.

05

Existing at All

stap also rounds off a statement that something exists, usually after i gat. English drops this second verb entirely - "there is a lot of work" - where Tok Pisin keeps it to say that the thing is there to be had.

• I gat planti wok mani i stap.

  There is plenty of paid work about.

• I gat tupela kain i stap.

  There are two kinds.

06

The Other 'stap'

There is a second stap which is not this verb: placed after another verb it marks an action in progress, as in Mi dring wara i stap, "I am drinking water". Telling the two apart is straightforward: the verb stands alone or before long, the particle follows another verb.