Grammar Flashcards
You your
Ou
I my me
Mwen
M
He she it his hers it’s him
Li
L
We our us
Nou
N
They their the
Yo
A/an
Yon
The -if the preceding word ends in a vowel
A
Ex) Dlo a
The - if the preceding word ends in a consonant
La
Ex) soley la
The - if the preceding word ends in a nasal sound (an en on)
An
Ex) lajan an
*also used after the nou or mou or a word ending in nou or mou
The - if the preceding word ends in “n” “m” sounds (an, in, on, en, em, om, oun)
Lan
Nan
Ex) fanm lan
Pom nan
Plural indicator is not expressed for yon
Ex) I see houses
Mwen we kay
Plural of la lan nan
Yo
Ex) mwen we kay yo
The verb to be
Ex) I am tired
Usually not expressed
Ex) mwen bouke
The verb to be with emphasis
Ex) how are you?
Ex) it’s true
Ye
Se
Ex) Kijan ou ye
Ex) se vre
The verb to be special special emphasis
Ex) where is it?
Se ki kote li ye
Present tense
Ex) I help you
The verb alone
Ex) mwen ede ou
Present progressive tense - being form
Ex) I am helping you
Marker + ap
Ex) m ap ede ou
Past tense
Ex) I helped you
Te + verb
Ex) mwen te ede ou
Past progressive tense -wasing
Ex) I was helping you
T ap + verb
Ex) m t ap ede ou
The future tense
Ex) Lauren will do that later
A + verb
Ex) Lauren a fe sa pita
Conditional tense - would
Ex) if I had money I would eat
Ta + verb
Ex) si m te gen lajan m ta manje
Commands
Ex) eat!
Ex) won’t you sit down!
Ex) don’t talk like that!
Ou or nou are left out Followed by wi for a strong request non for a less decided request Pa before the verb followed by a strong non for a negative command Ex)manje wi! Ex) Chita non! Ex) pa pale konsa non!
Helping verb
To have just done something
Ex) I have just seen her
Fek
Ex) m fek we li
Helping verb
To have just done something
Ex) he’s someone who has just come into town
Sot
Ex) se moun ki sot rive lavil
Helping verb
To have permission to do something
Ex) you are permitted to eat the orange
Met
Ex) ou met manje zoranj la
Helping verb
To be in the habit of doing something, to know how to do something
Ex) I know how to swim
Konn
Ex) mwen konn naje
Helping verb
Finish doing something
Ex) when they finished eating they went out to see some friends
Fin
Ex) le yo te fin manje yo te soti we zanmi
Helping verb
To be going to do something
Ex) I am going to call my brother
Pral
Ex) m pral rele fre m
Irregular verb
To give
Bay
Bay becomes…when followed by ou li l or yo
Ex) I’ll give it to you tomorrow
Ba
Ex) m ap ba ou li demon
Bay becomes …when followed directly by mwen m or nou n
Ex) give me the little blue book please
Ban
Ex) ban mwen ti liv ble an souple
Bay stays bay when…
Ex) I’ve already given those people a lot of money
Followed directly by a pronoun
Ex) m te bay moun sa yo anpil kob deja
Bay can also be used as a preposition meaning …
Ex)he brought a little glass of rum for me
For, to
Ex) li pote yon ti ve wonm ban mwen
Adjectives
Short commonly used adjectives come before the noun they modify
I like the little house
M renmen ti kay la
The fat man is sitting down
Guo neg la ap chita
