VERB
to look at, see, examine, observe, read, watch
PRE-VERB
to seek, look for, try to
audio
kala Asi
jan Lakuse
usage
core ·
99%
book
pu
coined
pre-pu
origin
Tok Pisin
·
lukim
‘see, look at’
English
·
look
English
·
him
coined by
jan Sonja
commentary
In common usage (both before and after pu), "lukin" and "oko" are separate words, each with their own meaning. In pu, they are considered synonyms. Those who consider them synonyms typically don't use "oko" at all, preferring "lukin" in all circumstances. The usage of "alasa" as a preverb meaning "try to" is more common than "lukin". In pu, only "lukin" has this meaning. A very common beginner mistake is treating "lukin" as if it means "appearance", due to the mistakenly equating the "visual" meaning as in "pona lukin (visually good)" to mean "looks good".