Learn

Senatola in 29 short lessons, divided into five parts. In each lesson you learn a few rules and words, read example sentences and click your way through a small quiz at the end; each part ends with a final quiz. Your progress is saved only in this browser.

Lesson 1: Sounds and syllables

You learn how Senatola sounds, how its syllables are built and which syllable is stressed. Plus your first words for greeting and thanking.

mi – I
tu – you
lo – he, she, it
ja – yes
ne – no
feva – hello, goodbye
fosa – thank you
tana – please
nata – sorry, excuse me
Senatola – Senatola

Lesson 2: The first sentence

You learn how words are made of a root and an ending, and build your first sentences with subject, verb and object.

name – eat
nama – food
lape – drink
sene – speak, say
sena – language
vese – see
nore – hear
rave – learn
nima – water
buga – bread
dova – house
pina – child
mela – person, human

Lesson 3: Qualities

You describe things with adjectives, learn the colours and form opposites with vu-.

biri – big
vubiri – small
guni – new
vuguni – old
rali – good
vurali – bad
ridi – warm
vuridi – cold
nobi – beautiful
piki – red
besi – blue
limi – green
luki – white
dofi – black

Lesson 4: Being without “to be”

You say how something is and what something is, without any word for “is”. Plus the greetings for every time of day.

tole – be clear
gome – be hard, be difficult
vugome – be easy, be simple
nupa – day
bela – morning
veka – evening
nika – night
vema – animal
bipa – bird
foka – fish
gera – tree
bela rali – good morning
nupa rali – good day
veka rali – good evening
nika rali – good night

Lesson 5: Quantities and numbers

You count from zero to ten, say “many” and “all” and learn how Senatola forms the plural.

ma – plural
ma mi – we
ma tu – you (plural)
ma lo – they
nomu – zero
pavu – one
dosu – two
kiru – three
fenu – four
lahu – five
sebu – six
rimu – seven
gutu – eight
jufu – nine
beku – ten
pulu – much, many, very
nalu – all

Lesson 6: No, yes and questions

You negate sentences, ask yes-no questions and say “also” and “only”.

ka – question word
ne – not, no
mo – also
so – only
bure – have
dure – want
pele – understand
rike – know
nile – love
nita – dog
dufa – cat

Lesson 7: Where? Places

You say where something is and where someone is going, and learn the most important prepositions.

di – in
he – on
mu – under
va – to
ko – from, out of
ga – with
sa – without
fu – for
fale – be located
nube – go
gole – come
nisa – place
geva – town
fara – way, path
guka – table
di nisa hi – here
di nisa da – there

Lesson 8: When? Time

You talk about past and future, say “already” and “still”, “today” and “yesterday”, and how often something happens.

po – past
vi – future
ti – already
ku – still
ru – through, during
le – before
gi – after
lusa – time
basa – year
doki – following, next
vudoki – previous
feme – sleep
nalo – always
pulo – often
nomo – never
di nupa hi – today
di nupa doki – tomorrow
di nupa vudoki – yesterday

Lesson 9: Question words and pointing

You ask who, what, where, when, why, how and how much, and point to things near and far. All with a single building kit.

tama – thing
vera – reason
fola – way, kind
duvu – quantity
hi – near: this, here, now
da – far: that, there, then
pide – mean
buke – feel
ralo – well
mela ka – who
tama ka – what
di nisa ka – where
di lusa ka – when
ko vera ka – why
folo ka – how
duvu ka – how much
tama hi – this, that
di lusa hi – now

Lesson 10: My, your: noun + noun

You say who something belongs to, introduce yourself by name and talk about family, friends and the body.

meba – name
bure meba – be called
lute – be the same
fopa – family
lisa – parent
veta – sibling
nuva – friend
rila – head
nosa – eye
gora – hand
tasa – foot

Lesson 11: Building words

You learn the building blocks Senatola uses to make many words from a few roots. You can already guess most of the new words in this lesson.

ravara – pupil
raveva – school
ravene – teach
ravenara – teacher
namota – cutlery
dovisa – little house
lagi – open
lagene – open (verb)
pesalaga – door
vesagefe – read
tamagefa – book
duranama – hunger
namalima – cucumber
melanira – woman
melalafa – man
lisanira – mother
lisalafa – father

Lesson 12: Want, can, must

You say what you want, can, must and may do, and describe with adverbs how something happens.

pune – can
tome – must
juke – may
bame – become
gefe – write
lufe – play
tave – work
sevo – quickly
vusevo – slowly
nilo – gladly
vedo – perhaps

Lesson 13: Requests

You ask, request and suggest: “Sit down!”, “Let's go!”, “Give me the bread!”

vo – request
ha – again
tose – sit
pime – stand
fove – wait
dube – help
beve – give
vubeve – take
vesene – show
nofe – return

Lesson 14: Linking sentences

You link sentences with “and”, “or”, “but” and build subordinate clauses with “because”, “if” and “that”.

su – and
jo – or
ho – but
ke – because
fi – if, when
de – that
kile – think
lupe – believe
tane – ask for
bale – be glad, be happy
vubale – be sad

Lesson 15: Relative clauses

You describe things and people more precisely: “the child who is eating”, “the book that I bought”.

je – who, which, that (in a relative clause)
nide – buy
vunide – sell
nideva – shop
bova – money
lire – find
pude – look for
vele – live

Lesson 16: Comparing and “self”

You compare (“bigger than”, “as big as”, “the biggest”) and tell “he himself” apart from “someone else”.

ro – more
hu – less
te – than
si – like, as
luti – same
vuluti – different
naki – strong
vunaki – weak
bani – clever
seve – be fast

Lesson 17: Telling

You report what someone said, talk about a topic and tell a little story.

re – direct speech
di tama – about (topic)
pabe – ask
vupabe – answer
raka – story
senarake – tell
gefajusa – letter

Lesson 18: With what, and where exactly?

You tell “with whom” apart from “with what”, say “because of” and describe exactly where something is: above, below, in front, behind, next to and between.

ru – through, with (tool, means)
rine – cut
rinota – knife
gefota – pen
navakisa – car
nubanave – drive
tari – high
di nisa tari – above
di nisa vutari – below
di nisa luri – in front
di nisa vuluri – behind
di nisa mepi – inside
di nisa vumepi – outside
di nisa fori – on the right
di nisa vufori – on the left
goba – side
rafa – middle

Lesson 19: Numbers in everyday life

You say big numbers and ordinal numbers, ask the time, name the days of the week and the months and do sums in Senatola.

bolu – hundred
bisu – thousand
baru – million
bunu – billion
kiri – third
di lusa pavi – first of all
seta – hour
setisa – minute
nuparima – week
lusapega – month
nupa pavi nuparima – Monday
nupa rimi nuparima – Sunday
lusapega pavi – January
petu – plus
nipu – minus
gemu – times
vegu – divided by
nutu – decimal point

Lesson 20: Quantities in more detail

You say “each”, “some”, “enough”, “nothing” and “nobody”, name parts of a quantity and tell “together” apart from “alone”.

fapu – some
radu – enough
vupulu – few, little
nifa – part
foba – half
nalu tama – everything
nomu tama – nothing
nalu mela – everyone
nomu mela – nobody
di nalu nisa – everywhere
di nomu nisa – nowhere
di pavu nisa – somewhere
nalu dosu – both
medo – together
vumedo – alone

Lesson 21: Paraphrase instead of a rule

You learn how Senatola gets by without extra rules: the passive, “one”, “in order to”, “before”, “instead of”, “except”, “although”, “whether” and more are said with what you already know.

fabe – build
dome – be finished
serila – tea
ma mela – one, people
de ka – whether
ru lusa – while, during

Lesson 22: In conversation

You put what you have learned to use: introducing yourself, asking where someone comes from and lives, shopping, asking the way and saying goodbye. There is no new grammar.

vele di – live (somewhere)
nisakida – homeland
tapa – price
bure tapa – cost
tapatari – expensive
tapavutari – cheap
nilise – like
lapota – drinking glass

Lesson 23: The first text

You read a whole story in Senatola: the fable of the North Wind and the Sun. On the way you meet almost all the rules from the lessons again.

pada – wind
doresa – north
sela – sun
senamege – quarrel
fegarida – coat
peri – thick
rive – begin
vurive – stop
vuriva – end
vefe – hold
beni – long
lume – be bright, shine
vuvepe – take off (clothes)

Lesson 24: At the market

You go shopping, ask about prices and quantities, pay and write a shopping list.

nide – buy
vunide – sell
vunidara – trader
nisanida – market
bode – need
bova – money
bevabove – pay
bevaboveva – checkout
rifatapa – bill
bovabefa – coin
bovarifa – banknote
rifagura – list
lina – fruit
bimanama – vegetables
sekita – apple
nopa – egg
bedavefa – bag
gepene – put, lay

Lesson 25: At the doctor's

You say how you are and what hurts, understand advice and talk about illness and health.

rase – hurt, ache
rila – head
lada – belly
napa – tooth
meka – throat
gebi – healthy
vugebi – ill
vugeba – illness
noka – medicine
nokara – doctor
nokisa – pill
nidevanoka – pharmacy
nokaranapa – dentist
ridavugeba – fever
mekajute – cough
lusameva – appointment
bure lusasepa – rest
godi – tired
feme – sleep

Lesson 26: Finding the way

You ask the way, understand directions and travel by bus and train.

kiveso – straight on
nubapanove – turn off
nubagobe – cross
farabira – street
farameva – crossroads
lumotafara – traffic light
luvafara – road sign
gevarafa – square
rifanisa – map
foveva – stop (bus, tram)
navabira – bus
navabena – train
navabeneva – station
vugole – leave, depart
lipi – far
vulipi – near
vesene – show

Lesson 27: Weather and seasons

You talk about the weather, about warm and cold and about the four seasons.

riba – weather
nimalara – rain
gufa – snow
pada – wind
dola – cloud
goka – sky
dolageda – fog
nimalarota – umbrella
seli – sunny
padi – windy
doli – cloudy
nimalari – rainy
ridi – warm
vuridi – cold
ridafesola – temperature
kiba – season
kibadoba – spring
kibarida – summer
kibalara – autumn
kibavurida – winter
pulo – often
vefanube – carry, take along

Lesson 28: Free time and celebrations

You say what you like doing, make plans, talk about celebrations and give a date.

nilo – gladly
bine – make, do
nore – hear, listen
duka – music
senaduke – sing
nubaduke – dance
lufa – game
bavanuba – film
bavanubeva – cinema
venora – art
venoreva – museum
nubalipisa – trip
dula – celebration
dulene – celebrate
nupakida – birthday
tamabeva – present
nupameba – date
rifabasa – calendar
nupa rimi nuparima – Sunday

Lesson 29: A day in town

You read a short story with conversations and understand everything you have learned in this part: shopping, asking the way, eating in a restaurant, phoning and going out.

nupa sebi nuparima – Saturday
di lusa pavi – first, at first
gi tama hi – then, afterwards
pude – search, look for
pabe – ask
dovanama – restaurant
dovanamara – waiter
rifanama – menu
namakiga – soup
vefagole – bring
nuparafa – midday
veka – evening
senagonele – phone (call)
nuva – friend
gove – laugh