Lesson 30 - Possessive pronouns

Possessive pronouns are the words which replace nouns modified by possessive adjectives.We use the Possessive Pronouns when we want to substitute a group of words that are indicating a possession relation. In English, the possessive pronouns are: mine, yours [sing.], his hers, its, ours, yours [plur.] theirs.




In Trinidadian French Creole, Possessive Pronouns are formed by prefixing sla (slah) to the personal pronoun. There are 6 possessive pronouns in total, one for each personal pronoun.


1. Mine : sla-mwen or contracted form : sla'm

2. Yours [singular] : sla-mwen or contracted form : sla'w

3. His / hers / its : sla-li or contracted form : sla-y

4. Ours : sla-nou

5. Yours [plural] : sla-zòt

6. Theirs : sla-yo

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Examples : sla-mwen / sla'm [mine]

1. Sé djaman-sala sé sla-mwen. - Those diamonds are mine.

2. Tout kò'w sé sla-mwen! - You're all mine!

3. San-an asou chimiz-la sé sla'm. - The blood on the shirt is mine.


Note: 'w is a contraction of the pronoun ou, and it appears after a vowel sound.

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Examples : sla-ou / sla'w [yours] singular

1. Dé liv diwi sé sla-ou. - Two pounds of rice are yours.

2. Lajan-mwen sé pa sla-ou! - My money is not yours!

3. Pwan sla'm, pas mwen vlé sla'w. - Take mine, because I want yours.

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Examples : sla-li / sla-y [his, hers, its]

1. Chato-a sé sla-li. - The castle is his.

2. Bougèt-la sé sla-y. The coin purse is hers.

Note y is pronounced <ee>

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Examples : sla-nou [ours]

1. Twézò-a sé sla-nou, déga!.- The treasure is ours, go away!

2. Pou lé pwézan, péyi-a sé sla-nou. - For now, the country is ours.

3. Nou ni sla'w, ès ou tini sla-nou? - We have yours, do you have ours?

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Examples : sla-zòt [ yours] plural.

1. Sé sak-la, yo pèd sla-zòt. - The bags, they lost yours.

2. Yo vòlè byen-li; yo vòlè -sla-zòt tou? - They stole his things; did they steal yours too?

3. Mé, éti sla-zòt yé? - But, where is yours?

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Examples : sla-yo [theirs]

1. Bisiklèt-la sé sla-yo. - The bicycle is theirs.

2. Bitasyon-an sété sla-yo. - The estate was theirs.

3. Sé pa sla-zòt menm! - It is not even theirs!