Convenience Store

1. Tredstoa i stap we?

   Where is the trade store?

   Usage

   Papua New Guinea has no Japanese-style convenience stores; the village "trade store" fills that role — a small shop selling rice, tinned fish, soap, snacks, cold drinks and phone credit, usually served across a counter behind wire mesh. Port Moresby and Lae also have supermarkets such as CPL and Stop N Shop

   Grammar Note

   "I" is the predicate marker used with third-person subjects and appears constantly in Tok Pisin. "I stap" expresses existence or location

2. Wanem samting yu laikim?

   What would you like?

   Usage

   Said by staff. Because trade-store stock sits behind wire mesh where you cannot reach it, you will always be asked this. Pointing and saying "dispela" (this one) works fine

   Grammar Note

   Transitive verbs take the suffix "-im": "laik" (to want to) is intransitive, "laikim" (to want something) is transitive

3. Mi laik dispela wanpela

   I'd like one of these

   Usage

   Say this while pointing. Trade stores often sell snacks and cigarettes by the single unit, so stating the quantity matters

   Grammar Note

   The suffix "-pela" comes from English "fellow" and attaches to numerals and adjectives: wanpela (one), bikpela (big), dispela (this). It is one of Tok Pisin's most distinctive features

4. Hamas long dispela?

   How much is this?

   Usage

   Trade stores rarely label prices, so ask aloud. The currency is the kina (PGK), divided into toea

   Grammar Note

   "Long" is Tok Pisin's most-used preposition, covering place, time, purpose and means. Possession alone takes "bilong" instead

5. Yu gat kolpela wara?

   Do you have cold water?

   Usage

   PNG is hot and humid, but outside the towns the shop generator is often off and the fridge with it — worth adding "kolpela" (cold) when you ask

   Grammar Note

   Questions keep statement word order and are marked by rising intonation alone. "Yu gat …?" is the all-purpose way to ask whether a shop stocks something

6. Inap yu hatim dispela?

   Could you heat this up?

   Usage

   Trade stores have no microwave and do not reheat food. For something hot, look to a market stall selling roast banana or mumu, or a supermarket deli counter in town

   Grammar Note

   Adding transitive "-im" to the adjective "hat" (hot) yields the verb "hatim" (to heat). This derivation is highly productive: bik → bikim, drai → draim

7. Yu laik wanpela plastik bek?

   Do you want a plastic bag?

   Usage

   Said by staff. Bags are usually charged for and some shops have none at all — in rural areas goods are simply handed over. Locals carry a "bilum", the woven string bag of PNG

   Grammar Note

   "Wanpela" is both the numeral "one" and a near-equivalent of the English indefinite article — Tok Pisin has no articles, so it partly fills that gap

8. Putim long bek, plis

   Please put it in a bag

   Usage

   How to ask for a bag. To decline, say "Nogat, tenkyu" (no, thank you)

   Grammar Note

   Commands drop the subject and start with the verb; adding "plis" at the end softens them, and is instantly clear to English speakers too

9. Yu gat senis?

   Do you have change?

   Usage

   Said by staff. Small PNG shops are chronically short of change and may simply refuse a 50 kina note. Ask for plenty of 10s and 20s when you change money

   Grammar Note

   English "change" simplifies to "senis". Tok Pisin regularly replaces English "ch" with "s" — compare church → sios

10. Mi bai peim long kas

    I'll pay in cash

    Usage

    Trade stores are effectively cash-only. Cards work in Port Moresby and Lae supermarkets, hotels and service stations, so carry kina cash when heading out of town

    Grammar Note

    Future is marked by the particle "bai" (from English "by and by"), placed after the subject: "Mi bai go" (I will go)

11. Yupela kisim kat?

    Do you take cards?

    Usage

    How to check whether cards are accepted. Even where they are, network outages regularly take the terminal down — always carry cash as well

    Grammar Note

    Tok Pisin pronouns distinguish singular, dual and plural: yu (you), yutupela (you two), yupela (you all). Addressing a business as a whole naturally takes "yupela"

12. Yu gat Digicel kredit?

    Do you sell Digicel credit?

    Usage

    PNG mobile service is overwhelmingly prepaid and the trade store is the main top-up outlet. Digicel dominates — look for the red signage. You buy a scratch card and dial in the revealed code

    Grammar Note

    Recent English borrowings enter Tok Pisin largely intact, with only the spelling adjusted: credit → kredit

13. Inap mi sasim fon bilong mi long hia?

    Can I charge my phone here?

    Usage

    Many rural settlements have no grid power, and the trade store's generator may be the only electricity in the village. Some shops charge phones for a fee and will usually oblige if asked

    Grammar Note

    Possession is "noun + bilong + owner": "fon bilong mi" (my phone). Possession is the one relation that takes "bilong" rather than "long"

14. Toilet i stap we?

    Where is the toilet?

    Usage

    Trade stores essentially never have a customer toilet. In town, shopping centres, service stations and hotel lobbies are the realistic options

    Grammar Note

    Asking where something is follows the fixed frame "subject + i stap + we?". In rural areas a toilet may also be called "smolhaus" (little house)

15. Givim mi resit, plis

    A receipt, please

    Usage

    Trade stores normally issue no receipt, though you may be handed a handwritten docket. If you need proof of purchase, shop at a town supermarket or hotel

    Grammar Note

    "Givim" takes its indirect object directly: "givim mi" (give me), with no intervening preposition

16. Tenkyu tru

    Thank you very much

    Usage

    Say this as you leave. Over 800 languages are spoken in PNG, but Tok Pisin works nationwide as the lingua franca — this phrase lands everywhere

    Grammar Note

    "Tru" (from English "true") intensifies the preceding word and works broadly: "bikpela tru" (very big)

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