Creole Possessives Part 1

Possessive adjectives are the words used in place of articles to indicate to whom or to what something belongs. In Trinidad French Creole, the possessive adjectives are identical to personal pronouns. There are 6 of them in total. The possessive is always placed after the noun, there are no exceptions to this rule.

1. mwen - my
2. ou, w - your (singular)
3. li, y - his, her, its (y is pronounced "ee")
4. nou - our
5. zòt, zò - your (plural)
6. yo - their

When the possessive ou appears after a noun ending in a vowel, it is shortened to (-w)

When the possessive li appears after a noun ending in a vowel. it is shortened to (-y)

Examples:

Bato mwen.
bah-toh mweh
my boat.

Bato papa mwen.
 bah-toh pah-pah mweh
My father's boat.

Bisiklèt ou.
bee-seek-let oo
Your bicycle.

Bisiklèt maman'w.
bee-seek-let mah-mahnw
Your mother's bicycle.

note:the word maman ends in a nasalised vowel (-an) pronoun shortened to (-w)

Amanda ka palé bay yich-li.
ah-man-dah kah pah-lay bai yeesh lee
Amanda is speaking to her child.

Chapo'y nwè.
sha-poh ee nweh
His hat is black.

Fanm-lan kité chat nou déwò.
fam lahn kee-tay shat noo day-wuh
The woman left our chat outside.

Mwen vlé achté mango zòt apwézan.
mweh vlay ash-tay mango zaut ap-way-zahn.
I want to buy your (plural) mangoes now.

Nou té wè zanmi yo lòt jou-a.
noo tay weh zah-mee yoh lot joo ah
We saw their friend recently.
 

Lesson 8 - Subject Pronouns

There are six pronouns: one pronoun for each person/number combination. There is no difference between direct and indirect pronouns. Subject pronouns function as the subject of the sentence. Simply put, the subject pronoun tell us who or what is being spoken of in any sentence. The six Subject Pronouns are as follows:


Click the link below to hear all of the subject pronouns

Creole Personal Pronouns

1. MWEN (mweh) - I, me, my
2. OU (oo) - you, your (singular)
3. LI or I (lee/ee) - he, she, it [li becomes i after a vowel]
4. NOU (noo) - we, us, our
5. ZÒT (zoht) - you, your (plural)
6. YO (yo) - they, them, their

E.g.


MWEN - I, ME, MY

• Mwen tini yon madanm. - I have a wife.
• Ou ka palé ban mwen? - Are you speaking to me?
• Kawolin sé matant-mwen. - Caroline is my aunt.

OU - YOU, YOUR (singular)

• Kisa ou vlé manjé? - What do you want to eat?
• Kwiyé fwè-ou ban nou. - Call your brother for us.

LI - HE, SHE, IT

• Li ka alé Fòdfwans. - He is going to Fort-de-France.
• Monik, li kontan dansé. - Monique, she likes to dance.
• Kité zwézo-a; i ké déviwé. - Leave the bird alone; it will come back.

NOU - WE, US, OUR

• Nou ké touvé chyen-an. - We will find the dog.
• Vini épi nou souplé. - Come with us please.
• Twinidad épi Tobago sé péyi-nou. - Trinidad & Tobago is our country.

ZÒT - YOU, YOUR (plural)

• Mwen kontan wè zòt - I am happy to see you all.
• Zòt sé fanmi - Jan sé papa-zòt? - You all are family - is Jean your father?

YO - THEY, THEM, THEIR

• Yo ké wivé pli ta. - They will arrive later.
• Ba yo lajan-an. - Give them the money.
• Maman-yo sé yon dòktè. - Their mother is a doctor.

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Let's practise. Please translate the following:

1. She's very pretty.

2. I don't want fish.

3. They are fighting.

4. It is dead.

5. We are walking.

6. You're not ugly.

You'll find the answers directly below:

1. Li joli joli. 2. Mwen pa vlé pwéson. 3. Yo ka goumen. 4. I mò. 5. Nou ka maché. 6. Ou pa lèd.