Verb vs. Predicate

[jan_Lope]

The static verb "to be" does not exist in Toki Pona.
Therefore not only verbs but also nouns and adjectives can be used as a predicate.

So without the static verb "to be" declarative sentences without a verb are possible in Toki Pona.
In the official Toki Pona book Sonja forms declarative sentences completely without verbs in the first four lessons. That declarative sentences cannot contain verbs is unusual for many people.

In Toki Pona, declarative sentences consist of one subject phrase and one or more predicate phrases.
The purpose of the predicate is to complete an idea about the subject. In many languages, the predicate is formed by a verb. Thus many people think a verb and a predicate is the same. But, in Russian you can also form sentences that do not contain a verb.

As we have seen above, in Toki Pona a verb is not always necessary to form a predicate.
Some people confuse the terms verb and predicate. They think that a noun or an adjective becomes a verb. This is neither logical nor necessary. The meaning would change as a result.
The fact is that many Toki Pona words are possible in different word types. However, the meaning differs depending on the type of the word.
For example:

ona li pona.

"pona" is the predicate here and can be a verb, noun or adjective here.
- The transitive verb "pona" means "to improve", "to fix", "to repair" or "to make good".
- The noun "pona" means "good", "simplicity" or "positivity".
- The adjective "pona" means "ood", "simple", "positive", "nice", "correct" or "right".

As can easily be seen, the meaning of the sentence changes when the verb "pona" is used instead of the noun "pona" as the predicate.
ona li pona. - It is the good. (The noun "pona is used.)
ona li pona. - It is fixing. (The verb "pona" is used.)

So if only verbs were allowed as a predicate, many statements would not be possible in Toki Pona.
It would also contradict the official Toki Pona book (see the first four lessons).