<p>I would use</p>
<blockquote>
<p>ni li sama tomo mi</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Technically, according to <em>Toki Pona: The Language of Good</em>, <em>sama</em> is an adjective. So the overall structure of the sentence would be <strong>NOUN + <em>li</em> + ADJECTIVE</strong> (p.20). The adjective in this case would have a complement <em>tomo mi</em>, to be &quot;like my house&quot;</p>
<p>As you correctly say, <em>e</em> is only used with verbs, and <em>pi</em> only connects noun phrases, so perhaps <em>sama pi tomo mi</em> could be interpreted as a literal translation of &quot;the likeness of my house&quot;, but it would be rather weird (and probably ungrammatical)</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-01-30T23:15:58.143Z
I agree with this assessment -- 'sama pi tomo mi' lexes fine in that I understand what the intended meaning is, but it's definitely not idiomatic in comparison to 'sama tomo mi.'
Slate
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-25T08:46:08.223Z
2022-10-25T08:46:08.223Z
Oliver Mason
<p>toki a!
mi jan Kasikusa</p>
<p>sina sona ala sona e ni: sama is also a preposition, at least in common use. You can use it as such. It thus might be said, as a translation of the English phrase &quot;These are the same as my house&quot;,  &quot;tomo ni li sama tomo mi&quot;.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-25T15:33:20.213Z
2022-10-25T15:33:20.213Z
Qaziquza
<p>You could also phrase it as &quot;ni li tomo sama tawa tomo mi&quot;, kind of like &quot;these are the same house from the perspective of (/ compared to) my house&quot;.</p>
<p>I feel like I should mention too that toki pona doesn't really have a true correct or wrong way to say things. If I remember correctly (don't have my ku with me right now), Sonja herself said that any toki pona that makes sense to the speaker is correct toki pona. Think about which phrasing best reflects how you intuitively think about what you're describing, and pick that one.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-25T14:25:37.673Z
2022-10-25T14:25:37.673Z
jan Niso
<p>I would like to say something like</p>
<blockquote>
<p>These are the same as my house.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I'm not sure if this should be:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>ni li sama <strong>e</strong> tomo mi.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>or</p>
<blockquote>
<p>ni li sama <strong>pi</strong> tomo mi.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>My understanding is that you only use <em>e</em> for verbs acting on an object, and don't otherwise. <em>sama</em> does not seem like a verb that is acting on <em>tomo mi</em>. But I'm more used to this with <em>ken</em> and <em>wile</em>.  For example</p>
<blockquote>
<p>mi ken kepeken e ilo tu.</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>mi wile moku.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I'm not sure if it is natural to use it with <em>sama</em> especially when I would need <em>pi</em> to indicate that <em>mi</em> modifies <em>tomo</em> not <em>sama</em>.</p>
<p>What would be the &quot;correct&quot; option here?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-25T15:48:34.553Z
An alternative way to phrase this which sidesteps this question is "ni en tomo mi li sama", which translates more directly as "These and my house are the same".
jan Emon
<toki-pona>
sama pi or sama e?
# sama pi or sama e?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-10-25)

I would like to say something like

> These are the same as my house.

I'm not sure if this should be:

> ni li sama **e** tomo mi.

or

> ni li sama **pi** tomo mi.

My understanding is that you only use *e* for verbs acting on an object, and don't otherwise. *sama* does not seem like a verb that is acting on *tomo mi*. But I'm more used to this with *ken* and *wile*. For example

> mi ken kepeken e ilo tu.

> mi wile moku.

I'm not sure if it is natural to use it with *sama* especially when I would need *pi* to indicate that *mi* modifies *tomo* not *sama*.

What would be the "correct" option here?

**Tags:** toki-pona
> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: An alternative way to phrase this which sidesteps this question is "ni en tomo mi li sama", which translates more directly as "These and my house are the same".  

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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2022-10-25. Score: 3

I would use

> ni li sama tomo mi

Technically, according to *Toki Pona: The Language of Good*, *sama* is an adjective. So the overall structure of the sentence would be **NOUN + *li* + ADJECTIVE** (p.20). The adjective in this case would have a complement *tomo mi*, to be "like my house"

As you correctly say, *e* is only used with verbs, and *pi* only connects noun phrases, so perhaps *sama pi tomo mi* could be interpreted as a literal translation of "the likeness of my house", but it would be rather weird (and probably ungrammatical)

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: I agree with this assessment -- 'sama pi tomo mi' lexes fine in that I understand what the intended meaning is, but it's definitely not idiomatic in comparison to 'sama tomo mi.'  

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### Answer by username_3 on 2022-10-25. Score: 1

toki a!
mi jan Kasikusa

sina sona ala sona e ni: sama is also a preposition, at least in common use. You can use it as such. It thus might be said, as a translation of the English phrase "These are the same as my house", "tomo ni li sama tomo mi".


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### Answer by username_4 on 2022-10-25. Score: 1

You could also phrase it as "ni li tomo sama tawa tomo mi", kind of like "these are the same house from the perspective of (/ compared to) my house".

I feel like I should mention too that toki pona doesn't really have a true correct or wrong way to say things. If I remember correctly (don't have my ku with me right now), Sonja herself said that any toki pona that makes sense to the speaker is correct toki pona. Think about which phrasing best reflects how you intuitively think about what you're describing, and pick that one.


---

