Tok Pisin/Adjectives

Main types of adjectives

There are basically four types of adjectives in Tok Pisin:

Class 1 adjectives
They have the suffix -pela in attributive position, and also when they follow the copula.
Example:

bikpela, big. Bikpela haus, A big building, Haus i bikpela, The building is big.

Class 2 adjectives
They have the suffix -pela in attributive position, but they usually lose it when they follow the copula.
Example:

kolpela, cold. Kolpela wara, Cold water but Wara i kol, The water is cold.

Class 3 adjectives
They do not have the suffix -pela.
Example:

liklik, small. Liklik haus, A small building, Haus i liklik, The building is small.

Class 4 adjectives
They do not have the suffix -pela either. Unlike other adjectives, they stand after the noun in attributive position.
Example:

nogut, bad. Tok nogut, bad words, insults.

Numerals

Numerals belong to class 1 (they have -pela in all positions), or to class 3 (they never have -pela, and stand before the noun in attributive position).
Examples:

tripela, three. Tripela man o meri, Three persons.
tupela ten or twenti, 20. Tupela ten pikinini or Twenti pikinini, 20 children.
nambatri, third. Bilong nambatri kain, Of the third type.

More about numerals

Quantifiers

Quantifiers also belong to class 1 (they have -pela in all positions), or to class 3 (they never have -pela, and stand before the noun in attributive position).
Examples:

sampela, some. Sampela buk, Some books.
planti, many. Planti buk, Many books.

More about quantifiers