nimi - name, word
o - used for vocative and imperative
pona - good, to fix, yay!, cool,

toki - language; hey!
nasin - way, manner, custom, road, etc.

Addressing People

Sometimes you need to get a person's attention before you can talk to him, like when you say something such as : Ellen , a bug is on your shirt !!

Just follow this pattern: jan (name) o (rest of sentence).
jan Ellen o, pipi li lon len sina.

Ellen , a bug is on your shirt !! - jan Ellen o , pipi li lon len sina.

More examples:

   jan Keli o, sina pona lukin. -- Kelly, you are pretty.
   jan Mawen o, sina wile ala wile moku? -- Marvin, are you hungry?
   jan Tepani o, sina ike tawa mi. -- Steffany, I don't like you.

The neat little word a can be used whenever you're addressing people.
jan Anne o a! -- Oh Anne !

Commands

Commands are quite simple in Toki Pona.
Follow this pattern : o and then whatever you want the person to do.

   o pali! -- Work!
   o awen. -- Wait.
   o lukin e ni. -- Watch this.
   o tawa ma tomo poka jan pona sina. -- Go to the city with your friend.

Now , to address people and how to make commands (together)

Suppose you want to address someone and tell them to do something.
John, go to your house

John = jan John o
Go to your house = o tawa tomo sina

 jan John o +  o tawa tomo sina -->  jan John o tawa tomo sina.

One of the o  droppes, as did the comma.

John, go to your house -  jan John o tawa tomo sina.

More examples:

   jan Ta o toki ala tawa mi. -- Todd, don't talk to me.
   jan Sesi o moku e kili ni. -- Jessie, eat this fruit.
   mi mute o tawa. -- Let's go.
   mi mute o musi. -- Let's have fun.