WORD ORDER

(Basic)

The word order in Kwéyòl (Patois) sentences is generally similar to English, following a subject, verb, object pattern.

An indefinite article like "yon" (a) is placed before the noun, but definite articles like "la" (the); possessive pronouns like "nou" (our) and "yo" (their) are placed after the noun.

The following sentences can be translated, by simply substituting Kwéyòl words for English on a one to one basis.


1. I can stay there. 

   Mwen sa wèsté la.
  (mweh sah wes-tay lah)
==

2. We don't want to speak French. 

    Nou pa vlé palé Fwansé.
    (noo pa vlay pa-lay fwahn-say)
==

3. They want to speak Creole.

    Yo vlé palé Kwéyòl.
   (yo vlay pa-lay kway-yuhl)

==

4. He wants to eat. 

    Li vlé manjé.
   (lee vlay mahn-zhay)
==

5. Give Jean a cup. 

    Bay Jan yon tas.
  (bai zhahn yohn tas)
==

6. Do you want coffee? 

    Ès Ou vlé kafé?
   (es oo vlay cah-fay)
==

7. The house caught fire. 

    Kay-la pwi difé.
  (kai la pwee dee-fay)
==

8. The watch is beautiful. 

    Mont-la bèl.
  (mohnt la behl)
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Note in the last 2 sentences, the article (la) meaning "the" is placed after the noun.

Proverb of the day - Ti pawòl pou jòdi-a

Kwéyòl Nouns & Articles

Review (Part 1)

In the Kwéyòl language, nouns function differently from English and French. Generally speaking, Kwéyòl nouns do not have gender and although there are some gender specific nouns for human beings and some animals; the number of these nouns is so small that they can be memorised in a short space of time.
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When speaking English or French, the definite article (''the'' in English) will always appear before the noun.
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la guerre = (the) war
le basket = (the) basketball
la voiture = (the) car
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The exact opposite happens in Kwéyòl, with the definite being placed AFTER the noun. When written the noun is attached to its definite article by a hyphen. There are several definite articles, but for now, I will only use examples requiring the most common article (la) which is used with nouns ending in regular consonants.
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liv-la = the book
kay-la = the house
papay-la = the papaya (paw-paw fruit)
tab-la = the table
sik-la = the sugar
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There is only one form of the noun, it will never change form to reflect the singular or plural. There are 2 ways to pluralise a noun in Kwéyòl.
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1) When a noun appears alone without the singular indefinite article, or a quantitative number this represents a collective.
Flè = flowers.
Yon flè = A flower.
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2) When speaking of a specific plural number, the number is placed before the noun in order to quantify it.
Yon montay = A/one mountain.
Kat montay = four mountains.

The plural is also indicated by the plural marker (sé) which is placed before the noun with the definite article being placed after the noun.

Word of the day - Mo pou jòdi-a

Mwen ka pwan kafè-mwen san sik.

(mweh cah pwahn cah-feh mweh sahn seek)

I have my coffee without sugar.

Song of the day - Chanté pou jòdi-a

Song of the day - Chanté pou jòdi-a 

Koté ou yé? - Where are you?

Proverb of the day - Pawòl pou jòdi-a

Word of the day

Mwen pito manjé wézen wouj pasé wézen blan.

   (mweh pee-toh mah-zhay way-zeh woozh pah-say way-zeh bla) 

I prefer to eat red grapes more than white grapes.