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You and me, well and not

Ask someone how they are, answer back, and learn the one little word that flips any sentence to its opposite.

1 · Say this

tu pai? (too · PAI — rhymes with "pie") Are you well? / How are you?

And the answer:

mi pai (mee · PAI) I'm well. / I'm good.

You already know mi ("I") and tu ("you") from Lesson 1. The new word is pai — good / well. A question is just the same words with a rising voice and a ?.

2 · A closer look: the flip-word no

You met no in Lesson 2 as a standalone "no". It has a second job: put it right before a word to negate that word.

Amatu Means
mi sen I know / I understand
mi no sen I don't know
mi pai I'm well
mi no pai I'm not well

no always sits in front of the thing it cancels. Drop it in, and the meaning turns over.

🧭 Why it's built this way There's no separate "do/does/don't" machinery to learn, the way English makes you say I don't know instead of I know-not. Amatu negates with one word in one place: no, right before the target. Learn where it goes once, and you can negate anything.

3 · Your turn

Out loud:

  1. Ask a friend how they are → tu pai?
  2. Answer that you're good → mi pai
  3. Answer that you're not good → mi no pai
  4. Say I don't know → mi no sen

🎯 Pro tip mi no sen — "I don't know" — is one of the most useful phrases in any language you're learning. Bank it now; you'll reach for it constantly.

4 · Tonight's phrase

mi pai — I'm well — and its mirror, mi no pai.

30-second check

Cover the page. (1) Ask someone if they're well. (2) Say you're well. (3) Say you don't know. Three for three means you can now build a sentence and its opposite.

⬅️ Back: Lesson 2 · ➡️ Next: Lesson 4 — Good morning, goodnight