Friday, 27 January 2012

Lesson 19 - Reflexive Pronouns

A reflexive pronoun is a pronoun that is placed after the noun, adjective adverb or pronoun to which it refers. In Trinidadian French Creole, when forming the reflexive pronoun, the appropriate pronoun is added to which represents self. There are six personal pronouns; therefore there are also six reflexive pronouns. Each one of these corresponds to a personal pronoun.


Example


myself - -mwen


yourself --ou or 'w


himself, herself, itself - -y


ourselves - -nou


themselves --yo


yourselves - -zòt


Example


1. Mwen té ka palé ba-mwen.
I was talking to myself.


2. Ou enmen -ou?
Do you love yourself?


3. Fòk li wéspékté 'y.
She must respect herself.


4. Nou ka gadé -nou nan glo-a.
We are looking at ourselves in the water.


5. Ès yo té tjwé -yo?
Did they kill themselves?


6. Zòt ké blésé -zòt!
You will hurt yourselves!


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Whenever there is a need to place emphasis on self, "menm" is placed after the pronoun. This construction also appears in six forms, one for each personal pronoun. When self is emphatic, "menm" represents self.


Example


myself - mwen-menm


yourself - ou-menm


himself, herself, itself - li-menm, i-menm


ourselves - nou-menm


themselves - yo-menm


yourselves - zòt-menm




1. Mwen té fè bonbon-an, mwen-menm!
I made the cake myself!


2. Ou ké di papa'w sa, ou-menm.
You will tell your father this yourself.


3. Vèw-la li-menm ké koupé 'w.
The glass itself will cut you.


4. Nou genyen match-la nou-menm
We won the match ourselves .


5. Sété yo-menm ki té chanté mal.
It was they themselves who sang badly.


6. É, sé zòt-menm ki ka woti poulé-a
Hey, it is yourselves who is roasting the chicken.

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