Therefore, Tok Pisin has, like English, a very rigid syntax. In the light of this rule it is obvious that a syntactic conversion would not cause a shift of the focus but rather completely different meanings. From this, it is self-explanatory why another system developed in Tok Pisin. 3.4 number Number is a further category, which we not found expressed in the example sentence 1. The fingernail is white.
Fingernails are white.
Tok Pisin is thus a language, which is number-indifferent. In general predicates, such as record 27, a lexical marking of this kind does not have to be made. Accordingly, no number is expressed with the verb, it remains completely unchanged. Usually, the person and the number are already expressed in other places in the sentence or in the context, so that clarity is given. The question about the morphologic number becomes problematic with the pronoun.