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Pronouns

The pronoun is put in the nominative absolute for emphasis, and is then repeated with the verb; as ‘a ‘o ‘oe, ia ‘e fai atu, but as for you, you say. The possessive pronoun precedes the noun; as ‘o lona fale, his house. In quoting the words of another, the person of the pronouns is usually changed from the indirect to the direct; as ‘Ua fai mai ‘o ia ‘Ou te alu, He told me that I should go; very seldom ‘Ua fai mai ‘o ia, ‘E te alu ‘oe, He told me, You go.

When it follows the verb, the ‘o of the nominative is usually dropped; ‘Ua sese i matou nei, We are in fault. On the contrary, it is always used with ia, third person singular. E le toe sau lava ‘o ia, He will not come again. Euphony seems to direct this usage.

The relative is often understood in Samoan: ‘O le la‘au lea na a‘u lia‘iina, That is the plant I pulled up. In this case the passive termination seems to supply the place of ai. More commonly it is expressed by ai: ‘O le mea lava lenei na a‘u mana‘o ai, This is the thing which I wanted.

‘O le mea lea, therefore, and se a le mea, wherefore, are always followed by ai after the verb; as ‘O le mea lea na a‘u sau ai, That is why I came.

The interrogative pronoun is much used instead of direct negation: ‘Ou te alu ‘o le a? What should I go for? instead of, I will not go; E iloa e ai? Who knows? I don't. The interrogative pronoun ‘o ai is used in asking a person's name: ‘O ai lona igoa? lit.: Who is his name?