Grammar

Pronouns

The personal pronouns in Creole are as follows:

 

i	mwen/mon
you(singular)	ou
he/she/it	i or li
we	nou
you(plural)	ou
they	yo

Possessive pronouns are the same as personal pronouns except he/she/it follow the noun (e.g. liv mwen).

The possessive pronoun for he/she/it is 'li' and its contracted form is y or'l' which follows nouns ending in a vowel (e.g. liv li, lavi'l, lavi'y).

In the case of 'ou' (you) the possessive pronoun is contracted when it follows a noun ending in a vowel (e.g. manman'w).

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Gender

In Creole there are two genders, male and female, which may be applied to nouns when denoting sex.

The distinction of sex may be shown by:

• Different words:

 

konpè/makoumè	godfather/godmother
kòk/poul	cock/hen
frè/sè	brother/sister
mari/madan'm or	husband/wife

• By use of compound words:

 

mal kabrit/femel kabrit

he goat/she goat

Note: When showing a female has had young, manman is used instead of femèl, especially when the feminine has no clear form:

 

yon manman chyen	a bitch
yon manman bèf	a mother cow

• Gender may also be shown by derivation:

 

kouzen/kouzi'n	male cousin/female cousin
nèg/nègès	negro/negress

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Articles

Creole has a definite article 'la' with a contracted form 'a'. The contracted form is used with nouns ending in a vowel. The definite article, which is translated as the English 'the' and hyphenated, follows the noun e.g.

I ap lavé asyèt-la. He is washing the plate.

timou'n nan-a ap dòmi. The child is sleeping.

However, the English definite article 'the' is not always translated by Creole 'la' e.g.  often it is put after the word instead of before.

Sòlèy kouché. The sun has set.

or      soley la couche.  The sun has set.  La is placed for the.

The indefinite article in Creole, 'yon' (which also means 'one') or 'on' precedes the noun and is translated as the Englsh 'a' or 'an'. E.g.

Genyen on larivyè bo kay-la. There is a river close to the house

 

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Simple Sentences in Creole

Now for the useful stuff!

Koman yo rele ou? or Ki non ou?	What is your name?
Non mwen sé Paul. Yo rele mwen Paul	My name is Paul.
Bon jou, Mesyé.	Good day, Sir.
Bonn apré midi.	Good afternoon
Bon swa.	Good night.
Ki sa ou vlé?	What do you want?
Mon vlé yon bwéson	I want a drink.
Mon swaf.	I am thirsty.
Mon grangou.	I am hungry.
Mon pa grangou.	I am not hungry.
Jodi a sé yon bèl jou.	Today is a beautiful day.
Lapli ap tonbé.	It is raining.
Li fè cho jòdi a.	It is very hot today.
Ki kote ki mwen ka jwen'n yon légliz?	Where can I find a church?