O le ā lau mea o fai?
O le ā lau mea o fai? is the Samoan way to say "what are you doing?"
This phrase is a question used to ask someone about their current activity.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase literally translates to "What is your thing being done?", where mea means thing and fai means to do.
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase uses the possessive pronoun lau (your) to refer to the activity being performed by the listener.
Did you know?
- The word fai used in this phrase shares an ancient linguistic ancestor with the word for 'stingray'.
- Samoan has different words for 'your' depending on whether the object being possessed is shared by the speaker or not.
- The phrase structures the activity as a 'thing' belonging to the person, treating an action as a tangible possession.
Example conversation
Sione walks into the kitchen and sees Sina cooking.
- SioneSina, o le ā lau mea o fai?Sina, what are you doing?
- SinaO lo'o ou sauniia le meaai.I am preparing the food.
- SioneE manaia le mana'o.It smells wonderful.
- SinaFa'afetai, Sione.Thank you, Sione.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries fai, lau, mea, CC BY-SA 4.0.
