Part 6
Common errors
Coordination has one deep rule, equals only, and a small family of relation mix-ups. These seven cover the errors that actually occur.
Error 1unlike elements joined
Wrong: *mia peloru nela thia theo nila. intended as "I see the flower and you read."
nela joins comparable structure, and an object noun cannot pair with a clause. Give each thought its full clause and join those: mia peloru nila nela thia theo. Two verbs, two complete sides, one level join.
Error 2the single nela in a list
Wrong: *shiro nela peloru whelina. intended as "trees, flowers, and grass."
English drops its and until the last boundary; Phi sounds every joint: shiro nela peloru nela whelina. A missing nela is not a lighter list but a different structure, peloru whelina collapsing into one phrase, grass of the flowers, and the list quietly loses a member.
Error 3thona stretched over a redirect
Wrong for the shape: a paragraph of assertions forced into one sentence so that thona can carry the turn.
thona marks a local contrast between two coordinated elements. When the turn redirects a whole line of thought, end the sentence and open the next with whekai. The conjunction and the marker split one job by scope, exactly as lao and thelao split reason, and choosing the period is often the stronger contrast.
Error 4we asked to build a pair
Wrong: *shiro we peloru intended as "trees and flowers."
we reaches back to an established alternative; it does not stand between two elements named now. The pair belongs to nela: shiro nela peloru. Save we for the second sentence, where the newcomer joins what the first has set up.
Error 5we on the wrong edge
Wrong for the meaning: lohau we wile. intended as "the dog joins the players."
Grammatical, and it adds the playing to what the dog already does. To add the dog to the players, the participant is the news, and we stands before the subject: we lohau wile. The particle's position names what is being added; put it at the edge of exactly that.
Error 6sola read as a command to choose
Wrong for the meaning: treating mia so theo sola mia so thalo. as a vow to do exactly one.
The fork leaves both paths open. Exclusivity is a further claim, and when it matters, a sentence of its own states that one path excludes the other. sola presents; it does not choose for anyone.
Error 7nela asked to carry cause
Wrong for the meaning: mia to theo nela to shelomu. offered as "I read, and so I understood."
The sentence is grammatical and says less than the intent: two past facts, level, unrelated. Cause has its own grammar: lao mia to theo mia to shelomu. inside one sentence, or the conclusion drawn across two with thelao. English lets and smuggle therefore; Phi asks the claim to wear its own word.