Lesson 34 — I have

A word you'll lean on every day: to have. Once you can say you have something — or don't — a whole new range of everyday sentences opens up.

1 · Say this

mi ho ta (mee · hoh · tah) I have it.

mi is I (Lesson 1) and ta is it (Lesson 13). The new word is ho — have, hold, possess. Same familiar shape you've used since Lesson 1: person, verb, thing.

2 · A closer look: having, and not having

Point ho at anything you've got. Swap in people and things you already know:

mi ho cho — I have a dog. (with cho from Lesson 32)

tu ho mau? — Do you have a cat? (lift your voice at the end, mau from Lesson 32)

And to say you don't have something, reach for no — the flip-word from Lesson 3:

mi no ho yala — I don't have water. (yala from Lesson 24)

Amatu	Says	Means
`ho`	"hoh"	have / hold / possess

🧭 Why it's built this way ho is having in the sense of holding or owning — it's a different idea from where something is (that's a later lesson). For now: anything that's yours, you ho it. Anything that isn't, you no ho. A person can ho too: nara ho cho — the person has a dog (nara from Lesson 16).

⚠️ Watch out ho is one short, round beat — "hoh," the o pure like the o in go (but with no "oo" glide on the end). Don't stretch it into "hoe" or let it sag to "huh."

3 · Your turn

Out loud:

I have it → mi ho ta
I have a dog → mi ho cho
Do you have a cat? → tu ho mau?
I don't have water → mi no ho yala

4 · Tonight's phrase

mi ho ta — I have it — and mi no ho ta when you don't.

30-second check

Cover the page. (1) Say I have it. (2) Say I don't have water. (3) Ask someone if they have a cat. Three for three? You can now claim what's yours and ask after what's someone else's — the bones of half the small talk there is.

⬅️ Back: Lesson 33 — Come and go · ➡️ Next: Lesson 35 — Recap