Lesson 49 — There is

A word for plain existence — there is, there's some. Different from having something: this just says the thing is out there, present in the world.

1 · Say this

mana po (MAH-na · poh) There's food.

You know mana as eat (Lesson 39) — it's also the word for food. The new word is po — there is, exists, is present. Name a thing, add po, and you've said it's there.

2 · A closer look: there is vs. I have

po is close to ho (have, Lesson 34) but not the same. ho says it's yours; po just says it exists:

mi ho mana — I have food. (it's mine) mana po — There's food. (it's around)

Ask with a rising voice, and flip with no (placed before po):

mana po? — Is there food? mana no po — There's no food.

You can pin down where with in from Lesson 37:

cho po in ni — The dog is here. (a dog is present, in this place) yala po — There's water.

🧭 Why it's built this way Many languages lean on a heavy phrase for there is — French il y a, Spanish hay. Amatu makes it one small word, po, that simply asserts presence. Existence is common enough to say a thousand times a day; it earns a word you can say in a blink.

⚠️ Watch out po is one short, round beat — "poh," the pure o, no "oh-w" glide. To deny existence, no comes right before it: mana no po, food-not-exists.

3 · Your turn

Out loud:

There's food → mana po
Is there food? → mana po?
There's no water → yala no po
The dog is here → cho po in ni
The cat is here too → mau po in ni

4 · Tonight's phrase

mana po — there's food — presence in the world, distinct from mi ho (I have).

30-second check

Cover the page. (1) Say there's food. (2) Ask is there food?. (3) Say there's no water. Three for three? You can now point at the bare fact that something exists — the groundwork under every where is it, do you have it, and is there any?

⬅️ Back: Lesson 48 — Like, love, and want · ➡️ Next: Lesson 50 — Recap