Generally a verb agrees with its nominative case in number.

1. Exception. Nouns of multitude take a plural verb; as ‘ua mamate le lafu, the herd are dead.

2. In some cases the verb agrees with its object in number; as Ia ‘e tutuli ia te i latou, Drive thou them; here the verb is plural.

To accompany or do something with another is expressed by the dual or plural verb; as Lua te o mai ma Mareko, lit., You two come and Mark, bring Mark with you; Ta te nonofo, lit., Let us two sit, sit with me; Pe tatou te o ‘ea ma i matou? Shall we (inclusive) go with us (exclusive)? Will you go with us? Pe tatou te o ea ma outou? May we go with you?

The usual historic tense is expressed by ‘ua. Very often in narrating a tale ‘o will be used, as if bringing the events before the hearer's eyes. Na tago i le lauulu ‘o le aitu, ua ave le tasi fuafuati lauulu, ua nonoa, He took hold of the hair of the aitu, he took one lock and bound it.

Peculiar idioms are, ‘Ua malolo, He is well—that is, he has recovered from sickness; ‘O malolo ‘ea? Is he well—that is, does he continue in a state of health?

Verbal Particles

‘Ua is used to signify the present with neuter verbs; as ‘Ua tagi lo‘u loto, My heart weeps; ‘Ua ‘ou tula‘i atu, I am standing up; ‘Ua ‘ou nofo i‘inei, I am sitting here.

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Na and sa mark the imperfect tense; as Na ‘ou le fai atu ‘ea ia te ‘oe? did I not tell you? na oti, ‘a ua toe ola mai, he was dead, but is alive again. Sa is very rarely to be found in old tales, etc., “‘O le Pitofau o Tuu, sa lavalava mai.” There seems to be little or no difference between the two particles.

E. besides marking the future, is also used with verbs signifying quality or condition, without respect to time; as E silisili leova, Jehovah is very great; E lelei le poto, wisdom is good.

The third person singular changes the pronoun ia into na for euphony: na te te mafai, he is unwilling. Ia is also sometimes heard: Ia te lavatia tai tetele, he is able to receive high tides (i.e. number of visitors).

Ona before the verb, followed by ai lea after the verb, is used in a dependent sentence, and is either past or future, according to the tense preceding it; as ‘Ua sau ‘o ia, ona matou o mai ai lea, he came, and then we came; ‘A sau ‘o ia, ona matou o mai ai lea, if he comes, or when he comes, then we will come.

The Imperative

Ina is used in positive commands: ia is precative; as ina sau ia, come; ia ‘e sau, do you come. For intensity the verb is repeated, followed by ia; alu, ina alu ia, or alu ia, ina alu, go, begone.

The future tense is also used as an imperative; e te alu lava oe, you shall go. The formal ina and ia are often dispensed with; o ia outou, go you. Especially is this the case when the verb is repeated; o, ina o, go, be off. Peculiar is sau, ina alu, come, go.

The Infinitive

The infinitive is rather confined in its use; ‘Ou te alu e ta‘ele, I go to bathe; but also, ‘ou te alu, ‘ou te ta‘ele, I go, I bathe. More common than the infinitive is the use of particles, ia, ‘ina ia, ona ia making a subjunctive; as na ia fa‘aeaina le ‘ua mativa, ‘ina ia fa‘anofo, &c., he exalted him that was poor, that he might cause him to sit; ‘a ‘ua lemafai ‘o ia ona fa‘alogo ia te ia, but he was not willing that he should hear him.

The infinitive sometimes takes i instead of e; as ‘ou te musui alu, I will not go, lit., I am unwilling in (in the matter of) going.

Directive Particles

Verbal directives are mai, atu, ane, ifo, a‘e, ese. Mai after the verb denotes direction towards the speaker; as o mai ia te a‘u, come to me. Atu is direction from the speaker; o atu ia Iosefa, go to Joseph. A nice distinction, not readily comprehended by foreigners, is found in ‘a‘ami mai, to fetch from the speaker, in order to take somewhere; ‘a‘ami atu, to go and fetch from a distance, in order to bring it. So also difficulty is found with fa‘atau mai, to buy; fa‘atau atu, to sell; ‘Ua iloa mai i tatou, they can see us; ‘Ua ‘ou iloa atu le va‘a, I can

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see the canoe; ‘Ua lagona mai i tatou e i latou, they hear us; ‘ua ‘ou lagona atu, I can hear.

In describing boundaries, if the speaker is within the bounds, he will say, E pau mai [Lealatele], e pau mai [Safotu]. If he is outside the bounds then, E pau mai [Safotu], e pau atu i [Sasina]; the nearest, mai; the farthest off, atu.

Ane is indirect, along, aside; ‘ua alu ane i le ala, he has gone along in the road; ‘Ua alu ane i le fale, he has gone aside to the house.

Ifo is direction downwards; as E o ifo i latou i le tu‘ugamau, they go down to the grave; Se‘i ‘ou ‘ai ifo, let me eat down, is peculiar.

A‘e is direction upwards; as ‘Ua lele a‘e le manu, the bird has flown up.

‘Ese is away, away from; o ‘ese, begone. Doubling it makes it mean in different directions; ‘Ua o ‘ese‘ese, they have gone one in one way, one in another.

Accusative without a Preposition

Many verbs in Samoan (“the definite transitive”) govern an accusative directly, without any intervening preposition, as ‘Ua na au mai le tala lelei, he brought good news. Verbs signifying to lay up in store, to lay aside, to put off, thus take the accusative; ‘Ua to ‘ese lona ‘ofu, he has put off his garment. Definite transitive verbs omit the article before the noun governed by them. Verbs of plenty; as ‘ua mau talo, there is abundance of taro. Verbs of scarcity: ‘ua oge mea, destitute of goods. Verbs of eating; ‘Ua ‘ai talo, he eats taro; of buying and selling: ‘Ua fa‘atau ‘oloa, he sells goods; of making or building: ‘Ua fai fale, he builds houses; of journeying: ‘Ou te alu malaga, I am going a journey. ‘Ou te alu i le malaga would mean, I am going with a party of travellers. Adding the article makes the object definite; as e fai le fale, to build the house. Ta‘i suffixed in ans with, as moeta‘i, to run with.

Verbs with two Accusatives

Some verbs take two nouns after them, one in the accusative, and the other governed by a preposition. Amongst these are all causative verbs; as ‘Ua latou fa‘atumuina le nu‘u i le saua, they filled the land with oppression. Also verbs meaning to anoint, to plant, to stone, to feed. Sometimes each objective has a preposition, sometimes only one: ‘Ua na fa a‘ofu ia te ia i le ‘ie vavae, he clothed him with cotton cloth; ‘Ua ufiufi lona ulu i le pulou, he covered his head with a hat.

The repetition of a verb followed by its opposite denotes continuance ending in its opposite; vevela, vevela, ma‘alili, after being hot it becomes cold. The alternation is denoted by reversing the order; ma‘alili, ma‘alili, vevela, after being cold it is hot.

Very peculiar is the use of a noun with a verbal particle; as ‘Ou te se teine ‘ea? am I a girl? ‘Ua ‘o Toe, it is [like] Toe.

Passive verbs take after them the nominative, and the agent in the abative; as Ia fa‘atoina i matou e ia, he has cursed us, or, we are cursed by him.

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Verbs having a passive form are made active by placing the pronoun before them: Ia outou tu‘uina atu outou i le Atua, yield yourselves to God. This form of the verb renders unnecessary the relative ai; Ia ‘e manatua le aso sapati, ‘e te fa‘apa‘iaina, or, e fa‘apa‘ia ai, or ‘ina ia fa apa‘iaina, Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.

Participles

These, like verbs, take a noun after them governed by a preposition: ‘O lo‘o ‘alaga fia fia lo‘u loto ma lo‘u tino i le Atua soifua, My heart and my flesh are joyfully shouting to the living God. The bare participial particle ‘o lo‘o is used for the verb to be; ‘O lo‘o ia te ‘oe lona malosi, His strength is in Thee.

The use of the participle is confined to that which is now actually in progress; as ‘o lo‘o sau, he is now coming—that is, he is on the way. Then when he or it has actually come, ‘ua is added; ‘O lo‘o ‘ua ua, it is now raining. The future participle is expressed by ‘o le a; as ‘o le a fa‘a‘umatia le ‘a‘ai, the city is about to be destroyed. A peculiar use of ‘o lo‘o is in reference to the existence of God: ‘O lo‘o soifua le Atua, God lives. Other attributes take e: E poto lava o ia, He is wise.

Very many verbs are used also as adverbs; as ‘Ua tu sipa, it stands slantingly; ‘Ua moe nofo, he sleeps sitting.

Particles

Particles of negation: e leai (like the Hebrew particle), signifies non-existence; as e leai se lelei, there is nothing good. It is also used for denial, No! E te fia alu? E leai, do you wish to go? No. It takes the verbal particles; as sa leai, there was not; ‘ua leai, there is not. E le‘i leai is used in a diminutive deprecatory way; thus, in answer to the question, Have you brought a payment? answer, E le‘i leai.

Le‘i besides being used with the perfect tease, has also the meaning “not yet” (nondum); E le‘i alu le ea‘a, the canoc has not yet gone, leaving it to be implied that it will go at some future time; ‘ua le alu, it has not gone, and may not go at all.

A negative question is answered by an affirmation; as ‘Ua le alu ‘ea le malaga? Has not the party left? ioe, ‘Ua le alu, yes, it has not gone; or, e leai, ‘ua alu.

‘Aua is prohibitive; it is strengthened by ne‘i; as ‘aua ne‘i alu, do not by any means go. Ne‘i is also used alone: ne‘i e alu, lit. lest you go. It is strengthened by mao: Ne‘i e mao alu, beware lest you go.

Le does not require the repetition of the verb in the second clause of a sentence; as Ia outou sa‘ili i le lelei, ‘a e le ‘o le leaga, seek ye the good, but not the bad.

Particles of limitation are na ‘o, tau; as na ‘o manu, na ave ma matou, only the cattle we look for ourselves. Tau is more subjective in its meaning than na ‘o, and refers to the views and wishes of the speaker; Tauina ‘e fa‘amalosi, only be thou strong.

Optative particles are e, fia; as E! ana fa‘alogo mai lo u nu‘u, O

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that my people had hearkened; fia oti! O that I might die! E! fia alu, I wish to be gone.

A is also an infix particle in some proper names; as Falealupo, house of lupo; Fatualavai, the stone and the lavai.

Causative Particles

Aua. Sentences beginning with a causative particle in other languages are translated positively in Samoan; as Na oulua le fa‘atuatua ia te a‘u … ‘o le mea lea, &c., ye did not believe me, therefore, &c. Should the sentence not be followed up by therefore, then aua must be expressed at the beginning: aua ‘ua ‘e fa‘atau ‘oe ia te ‘oe … fa‘auta, &c., because you sold yourself … behold, &c.

Ona ‘o, for the sake of, differs from the former word in that it is placed before a noun to point out that on account of which something is done; as ‘E te fa‘a‘umatia ‘ea le ‘a‘ai ‘uma ona ‘o le to‘alima? Wilt thou destroy all the city on account of the five?

‘Ina ia is placed before verbs to indicate that something is done in order that the event denoted by the verb may take place: ‘Ou te ‘ai ai le manu a lo‘u atali‘i, ‘ina ia ‘ou fa‘amanuia ia te ‘oe, I will eat of my son's venison, in order that I may bless you.

‘Ina ne‘i is used to mark negative causality: ‘ina ne‘i malaia ‘oe i le sala a le nu‘u, lest you should perish in the punish ment of the place. Ne‘i is also often found without the ‘ina; as Ne‘i ‘ou iloa le leaga e o‘o i lo‘u tama, lest I should behold the evil that will come to my father.

Atonu expresses partly a doubt, and partly a hope to the contrary, like perhaps in English; Atonu ‘ua agasala o‘u atali‘i, May be my sons have sinned. Ai lava indicates more certainly with the doubt; ai lava ‘ua moe ia, probably he is asleep. Atonu would be improper here, as it would express the conviction of the speaker that such probably was the fact.

A‘i is a particle of instrumentality. It follows the verb, and indicates the instrument by which anything is effected. It also causes the relative ai to be dispensed with: Au mai le to‘i e vavae a‘i le la‘au, bring an axe with which to cut the word in two.

Multiplicatives are formed with the causative fa‘a; as, fa‘alima, five times; ‘O lo u sau fa‘alima lenci, this is my fifth coming.

Particles of Consequence

Fa‘apea, though usually employed to point out similarity or conformity of one object or action to another, also intimates consequence; as, Gen. i. 7, i le‘ua fa‘apea lava; and it was so. Gen. xxix. 26, E le fa‘apea le tu i lo matou nu‘u, such is not the custom in our country. It is used, proceded by pei, in the former sentence for the purpose of making a comparison: E pei ‘o u fanafana i le lima o le toa; e fa‘apea lava, &c., like arrows in the hand of the warrior, so, &c.

‘O le mea lea followed by ai, lit. it is that thing, or, therefore, points out an event as a consequence of a preceding event: Num. xx. 11, Na oulua le fa‘atuatua ia te a‘u, … ‘o le mea lava lea lua te le fa‘ao‘otia

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ai, &c., you (two) did not believe in me, therefore you shall not bring in, &c,

Conditional particles are ‘afai, ana, ‘a, pea.

‘Afai is future, and introduces the condition on which the fulfilment of the event depends. Exod. xix. 5, ‘Afai toa te matua fa‘alogo mai i lo‘u leo, ona fai lea outou ma ‘oloa taua. If ye will hear my voice, then shall you become a peculiar treasure.

Ana is past time; Ana le mai le Atua lena tagata, na te le mafaia, If that man were not from God, he could not. Both ‘afai and ana may be used in a subjunctive sense: ‘Afai ana outou tauaso, if ye were blind.—John ix. 33, 41.

‘A is used like ‘afai; as ‘a ua, matou te le o, if it rains we shall not go.

Ai supposes a case which may most likely occur; as Ai se le tali i le malo o le Atua, Should any one not receive the king lo[gap — reason: unclear]n of God.

Se anoa (utinam!), O that! Se anoa! ana i ai lo‘u ali‘i, O that my lord were.

Pe a differs from a and afai, in that it refers to the time of an action, when; Pe a ‘e fa‘atau se ‘au‘auna, when you buy a servant, Exod. xxi. 2. Then v. 3, Pe afai na sau; the afai is rendered into the past time by adding na, if he came. Ana sau would mean, Ha! he come; meaning he did not do so.

Aua introduces an account of the cause of a preceding statement; as Ona ‘ou fefe ai lea, aua ‘ua ‘ou le lavalava, Then I was afraid, because I was naked. Peculiar is its use by way of remons rance, on hearing a false statement: ‘o le a le mea na ia le sau ai? why did he not come? aua, na sau, lit. because he did come, or, yes but, he did come.

E ui lava is always in the antecedent, never in the relative sentence. I will go although it rains, must be transposed thus; E ui ina ua, ou te alu, although it rains, I will go.

Adversatives are ‘a, peita‘i, peisa‘i. These are emphatic, and stand with a noun or pronoun in the nominative absolute; as E le ‘o outou na ‘auina mai a‘u ‘i‘inei, ‘a ‘o le Atua, It was not you that sent me here, but God. It may also precede a verb; as ‘ua le ola Napoti, ‘a ‘ua oti, Naboth is not alive, but dead. It is often used in Samoan where a conjunctive is used in English; as Le ali‘i e, ‘ou te alu; ‘a ua le alu, sir, I go, but he went not.

Conjunctives are ma, foi, ‘atoa, amaise.

Ma connects nouns which are subjects of the same proposition; as Ona lalafi ai lea ‘o Atamu ma lana ava, Then Adam and his wife hid themselves. Ma always causes the rejection of a preposition: Ina ‘e toe fo‘i atu i lou nu‘u ma lou aiga, return to your country and your family. It connects two or more verbs relating to the same subject; as Ia uluola, ma ia tupu tele, ma ia tumu ai le sami, multiply, and increase, and fill the sea. Sometimes the verbal particle is rejected after ma; ‘Ua mafu ma loua, it is musty and disagreeable. Ma, when it connects adjectives, changes the second to a noun; as ‘O le tagata tino ‘ese ma le puta, a man tall and stout, lit. stoutness. Thus it apparently treats the first clause as a compound noun, to which the second is made to conform. In order to connect sentences together, fo‘i is used; thus, Sa ufitia fo‘i le moana i le pouliuli: na fegaoioiai,

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fo‘i le Agaga. The deep was covered with darkness; the Spirit also moved. When there is consequence, or dependence of one sentence on the other, they are connceted by ona … ai lea. In a list of names the conjunction is sometimes expressed only before the last: ‘o Semu, ‘o Hamu, ma Iafeta, Shem, Ham, and Japhet. Or nouns may be coupled together, and ‘atoa with ma and fo‘i, will then be used to gather up the last of the list; ‘O le lagi ma le lalolagi, ‘atoa fo‘i ma mea ‘uma ‘o i ai, The heavens and the earth, together also with all things in them.

Amaise has much the same meaning as ‘atoa, and is sometimes joined with fo‘i; Ia ‘e alofa ia te ia, amaise le fanau, have compassion on him, and also the children.

I le answers to and then; Se‘i mulumulu fo‘i ‘o oulua vae; i le alausu ai, wash your feet; and then start early.

Disjunctives

Po, or, is used before nouns, pronouns, Po o ai na te alu, po o a‘u, po o Sina? Who shall go, I or Sina? and also before ‘ua. Ua sau ea, po ua ma‘i? Has he come, or is he sick? Pe is used before verbs: Pe musu o ia pe leai? Is he unwilling or not?

Interrogatives

A question is shown by the particle ‘ea occurring early in the sentence; as ‘O a‘u ‘ea le leoleo o lo‘u uso? Am I my brother's keeper? Sometimes a question is known by the tone of the voice only.

Pe before verbs, with or without ‘ea is also used in asking questions: pe matou te o atu ‘ea? shall we go? Before ‘o and ‘ua, po is used; as po o ‘ai? who? po ‘ua o mai? have they come? Besides these there are interrogative pronouns; as ‘o ai? ‘o le fea? i ni a? and also interrogative adverbs: pe fa‘apefea? how? ‘o fea where? ‘o anafea? when? (past); afea? when? (future); ai se a? why? se a? what? maifea? whence?

In answering a question, the verb of the questioner must always be repeated; as ‘e te alu afea? when will you go? ‘Ou te alu taeao, I go to-morrow.

Emphatic Particles

Lava, indeed, very even: Ua ati lava, He is indeed dead. Ia te ia lava, even to him. La: Faauta la ia! Behold them!

Collocation

In a simple sentence the verb precedes: then follows the nominative, or, if a passive verb, the ablative (the agent), then the accusative, then a second accusative; as Na faia s le Atua le lagi ma le lalolagi i le ‘amataga. Were made by God the heavens and the earth in the beginning. In a relative sentence, the relative pronoun ai precedes the nominative to the verb; as ‘ua silasila atu i ai le Atua, God beheld it. The conjunction fo‘i follows the verb: ‘ua fetalai mai foi le Atua, God spake also. Unless a nominative absolute begins the sentence, in that case the fo‘i follows it; ‘o a‘u fo‘i, ou ts alu atu, I also, I will go.