Modifiers
Adjective, adverb, and possessive are one operation in Pikotika, not three: put the modifier in front of the word it modifies.
| English calls it | Pikotika | Literally |
|---|---|---|
| an adjective | tuke komi | sweet food |
| an adverb | veros ire | fast go |
| a possessive | eko sanaomo | me heal-person |
All three are the same thing: something in front, narrowing what follows. The possessor is simply a modifier — there is no my, only eko (I/me) standing where sweet stood.
Please speak slowly.
Pam nonveros tika.We're going to my father's house.
Ekomen ri ire ver eko viropari kase.Notice the double modifiers in eko viropari kase, my father's house.
The one exception: names
A proper noun comes after its category word, not before — omo Ar, ‘the person Hal’.
I'm going to Lisbon.
Eko ri ire ver sitas Rispan.That is a name saying which one — which person, which city. A name used to describe rather than to identify is an ordinary modifier, and goes where every other modifier goes:
| Pikotika | Meaning |
|---|---|
| omo Ar | Hal — the person of that name |
| Kanata omo | a Canadian person |
See Names and loanwords.
Related pages
Stacking two or more modifiers has its own rules, and so does the boundary between the modifiers and the word they modify:
- Stacking modifiers — which one sits nearest the noun.
- Grouping with TE — moving the boundary when the default is wrong.
- Comparison — more and less are modifiers too.
- Can, want, must — and so are those.
Try it yourself
- Eko opustesta ri mas anyopiko vons eko.
Show answer
‘My boss is younger than me.’
- Eko ri kusta a eko tis opus.
Show answer
‘I like my current job.’
- Say ‘your new job’. (new is nova)
Show answer
tu nova opus