Proverb Of The Day

Question:Is there an expression in Creole equivalent to "counting your chickens before they hatched"?

Yes there is a Creole equivalent, in Trinidad we say

Fò pa konté zé an bonda poul.

(faw pah con-tay zay uh bon-dah pool)

Question: I'm fine, how about you?

I'm fine, how about you?
Mwen byen é ou menm
(mweh byeh ay oo mem)

Superlatives (part 2)

Part 2

In grammar, the superlative is the form of an adverb or adjective that expresses a degree of the adverb or adjective being used that is greater than any other possible degree of the given descriptor.

The absolute superlative is expressed by byen, twòp or tout before the adjective.

Ex 1. Wi monchè, bal maské-a té byen bèl!
     Yes my dear, the masked ball was very beautiful!

Ex 2. Pa di'y zafè'w, nonm-sala ka palé twòp.
         Don't tell him your business, he talks too much.

 Ex 3. Bato-yo tou piti, mwen pa ké achté'y.
          Their boat is too small, I will not buy it.

Sometimes a doubling of the adjective adds force to the superlative.

Ex 1. Yè oswè mwen bité anlè yon bèl bèl fanm.

          Last night I came upon an exceedingly beautiful woman.

Ex 2. Viktò vlé bati yon gwo gwo kay.

         Victor wants to build a huge house.

Ex. 3 Pinèz sé bèt ki piti piti.

        Bedbugs are very small insects.

Superlatives (Part 1)

Part 1

In grammar, the superlative is the form of an adverb or adjective that expresses a degree of the adverb or adjective being used that is greater than any other possible degree of the given descriptor.

The determiner for Trinidad French Creole superlative is 'pli'.

The ten Trinidad French Creole superlatives that you must memorize are:

1. pli gwo - biggest

2. pli bon - best

3. pli bèl - most beautiful

4. pli piti - smallest

5. pli fò - strongest

6. pi fasil - easiest

7. pli dous - sweetest

8. pli bon - best

9. pli mové - worst


10. pli cho - hottest (has nothing to do with the word 'sexy hot')

The superlative is formed in the same way as the comparative, and must be deduced from the context of the sentence.

e.g. Pli bèl wòb mwen pa janmen wè. 

      The prettiest dress I've ever seen.

Often the superlative is expressed by a relative phrase containing the comparative with the phrase "pasé tout" added.

e.g. Doudou, ou  jòlòt pasé tout lézòt-la.

      Honey, you're cuter than all the others.

 For superlatives, the order usually goes like this:  pli + modifier + article

When the superlative adjectives modify a noun in Trinidad French Creole, if that adjective is of the group which usually come after the noun, then the best way to translate that sentence is to add the relative pronoun 'ki' before 'pli'.


Examples with adjectives that usually come BEFORE the noun in Trinidad French Creole.

The most beautiful - pli bèl la.
The most beautiful gem - pli bèl bijou a.
The most beautiful gem - bijou ki pli bèl la.

The eldest - pli gwan an.
The eldest boy - pli gwan gason an.
The eldest boy - gason ki pli gwan an.

The tiniest - pli piti a.
The tiniest atom - pli piti atonm lan.
The tiniest atom - atonm ki pli piti a.


Examples with adjectives that usually come AFTER the noun in Trinidad French Creole.

The white teeth - dan blan an.
The whitest teeth - dan ki pli blan an.

The sweetest - pli dous la.
The sweetest kiss - bo ki pli dous la

The shortest - pli kout la
The shortest class - klas ki pli kout-la.

The most wicked - pli méchan an.
The most wicked devil - djab ki pli méchan an.

Gospel according to John 1 chapter, verses 1-9

Liv Bon Nouvèl Jan té ékwi a

The Gospel According to John

First chapter, verses 1-9

Pwèmyé chapit, vèwsé 1-9 

1 Avan Bondyé té fè ayen, pawòl-la té ja la. Pawòl-la té èvè Bondyé, épi pawòl-la sé té Bondyé 

2 Pawòl-la té la èvè Bondyé dépi nan koumansman-an. 

3 Bondyé fè tout bagay èvè pawòl-la, adan tout sa ki té fèt, pa ni ayen ki fèt san pawòl-la. 

4 Lavi-a sé nan li té yé, sé lavi-sala ki bay tout moun limyè. 

5 Limyè té kléwé adan fenwè-a mé fenwè-a pa té wékonnèt li.

6 Bondyé té voyé an nonm yo ka kwiyé Jan, 

7 li sé té yon témwen pou palé asou limyè-a, li té vini pou palé ba tout moun, pou yo tann mésaj-li épi kwè an mésaj-la i té ka palé a. 

8 Sé pa li menm ki té limyè-a, li té vini pou sèvi kon an témwen pou palé asou limyè-a.

9 Limyè sala, sé li ki limyè toubon an. Sé li menm ki vini asou latè-a ka kléwé ba tout moun.

First chapter, verses 1-9

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 

2 The same was in the beginning with God. 

3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 

4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. 

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 

7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.

8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

9 That was the true light, which lighteth every man which cometh into the world.

Speaking about the day

Speaking about the day

Day
Jou
zhoo

Today 

Jòdi-a

zhau-dee ah

All day.  

Tout lajouné.

toot lah-zhoo-nay

Every day.
Chak jou / Toulé jou.
shak zhou / too-lay zhou

Broad daylight.  

Gwan lajouné. 

gwah lah-zhoo-nay

During the day.

Pandan jouné-a. 

pahn-dahn zhoo-nay-a

How is you day going? 

Kouman jouné ou yé? 

coo-mah zhoo-nay oo yay

How was your day? 

Kouman jouné ou té yé? 

coo-mah zhoo-nay oo tay yay

I had a bad day.

Mwen pasé yon mové jou / jouné.

mweh pah-say yoh moh-vay zhoo / zhoo-nay

I had a good day.
Mwen pasé yon bon jou.
mwen pasé yoh bon zhoo

What day is today?
Ki jou jòdi-a yé?
kee zhoo zhau-dee ah yay

Today is Thursday.
Jòdi-a sé Jédi.
zhau ah say  zhay-dee

This present day.
Jouné jòdi-a / jòdijou.
zhoo-nay zhau-dee ah / zhau-dee-zhoo

How to speak in the Past Tense [It's very Easy]

Past Perfect tense

The PAST PERFECT TENSE indicates that an action was completed (finished or "perfected") at some point in the past before something else happened. This tense is formed with the past tense form of "to have" (HAD) plus the past participle of the verb (which can be either regular or irregular in form):

I had walked two miles by lunchtime.
I had run three other marathons before entering the Boston Marathon


If you ever took Spanish or French in school, you're more than likely hate the word conjugation. Right?

GOOD NEWS, the beautiful language of Patois (also known as Trinidadian French Creole) does not conjugate its verbs, or in other words the verbs don't change depending on time or condition. Even English conjugates its verbs.

Example: I talk / Yesterday I talked

So how does one speak using the past perfect tense in Trinidadian French Creole / Patois?

It’s as EASY as “Té” (sounds like tay)

Yes, just those 2 letters!

By SIMPLY adding this word “té” before any verb, it makes the sentence past tense.

Even though in English we typically speak in the past tense by adding “ed” at the end of a word, the creole word “té” is easier to remember by relating it to the English word “had”.

Examples:

1. Mwen té palé = I had talked / I talked
2. Mwen té wè = I had seen / I saw
3. Mwen té manjé = I had eaten / I ate
4. Mwen té kouté = I had listened / I listened 
5. Ou té kwéyé = You [singular] had created / you created


So my friends, now you know how to speak in the Past Perfect Tense.

If you enjoy the Free Creole Lessons on my blog, please SUBSCRIBE to this blog so you get updates with more free and FUN Creole Lessons. 

Word of the day - Mo pou jòdi-a

Di papa'w an ti miyèt lay byen bon pou santé'y.

(dee pa-paw ahn tee mee-yet lai byeh bon poo san-tay ee)

Tell you father that a little garlic is good for his health.

Saying there is / there are

There is / there are

i ni
(ee nee)
==
or you can also say:
 la ni
(la nee) <-- I usually say "i ni"
===

There was: 

i té ni
(ee tay nee)
==
or you can also say:
 la té ni (la tay nee)
===
There will be:
la ké ni
(la kai nee)
or you can also say:
 i ké ni (la kay nee)

In Order To
Pou (poo)

In order to = pou (poo)

Example using There is / there are : LA NI OR I NI

I ni anpil moun ki pa enmen manjé vyann
There are many people who don't like to eat meat. 

Example using There was: LA TÉ NI OR I TÉ NI

La té ni an gwo bitasyon anlè mòn-lan 
There was a big estate on the hill.

Example using there will be: LA KÉ NI OR I KÉ NI

Boug, la ké ni bon bèl fanm adan fèt-sala! 
There will be lots of beautiful women in that party, man!

Example using "in order to": Pou

An tan lontan, moun té ka pwan bato pou wivé Toko.
 Long ago people used to take boats in order to reach Toco (Trinidad).

I have to (must) buy a NEW BED, IN ORDER TO sleep well:
Mwen ni pou achté yon KABANN NÈF, POU mwen sa dòmi byen.

I am covering the food, in order to prevent the dog from eating it.
Mwen ka kouvè manjé-a, pou anpéché chyen-an manjé'y.

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)
=========

Note in the last 2 sentences, the article (la) meaning "the" is placed after the noun.