All about food (Part one)

Food is one of the necessities of life, so here are some key Kwéyòl words and phrases related to food. In this lesson, you will be introduced to food related vocabulary.

Trinidadian French Creole for "food": manjé (mahn-zhay) or  laboufay (lah-boo-fay)

French for food: nourriture

Example:

I need food.

Mwen bezwen manjé.

Ki kalité manjé sa yé?
What kind of food is that? 

Ki kalité manjé ou enmen?

What kind of food do you like?

 It's important to know that Trinidadian French Creole for "to eat" is also "manjé".

Example:

Nou ké manje ansanm oswè-a.
We'll eat together tonight.

Mwen manjé manjé-a.
I eat the food.

 or

Mwen manjé laboufay-la.

 Food 

food (noun) → manjé

eat (verb) → manjé

I ate the food. → Mwen té manjé manjé-a.

The food is delicious. → Manjé-a bon/goutan.

The food smells good. → Manjé-a ka santi bon.

 

The food needs more pepper  → Manjé-a méwité plis piman.

The food is spicy (hot). → Manjé-a piké.

Have you eaten already? → Èskè'w ja manjé?

Would you like some food? → Èskè'w voudwé yon ti manjé?

No, thank you.  I've already eaten. → Non, mèsi. Mwen ja manjé.

Yes, I would like some food, thank you. → Wi, mwen sé vlé tigwenn manjé, mèsi.
  
Thank you for the food. → Mèsi pou manjé-a.

I need food to eat; I'm hungry. → Mwen bizwen manjé pou manjé; mwen fen.

* Èskè is another form of 'ès' which is used when asking questions that simply require a yes or no answer.

 

Wipa - Meals

 

Breakfast - dité (dee-tay)

Lunch - déjné (deyzh-nay)

Snack - goutni (goot-nee)

Dinner - dinen/soupé (dee-neh)/ (soo-pay)

Food related verbs

To have breakfast - pwan dité (pwahn /dee-tay)

To have lunch - déjnen (deyzh-nehn)    

To have a snack - pwan goutni (pwahn /goot-nee)

To have dinner - dinen (deen-eh)

 

Meal courses 

Appetizers - òdèv (o-dehv)

Soup - soup / lasoup (soop /lah-soop)

Main course - gwan wipa (gwahn /wee-pah)

Salad - (sah-lahd)
Dessert - dézé (day-zay)

Kitchen - tjwizin (chwee-zeen)

Dining room - Chanm-a-manjé (sham-ah-mah-zhay)

Restaurant - kay manjé / wéstowan (kai-mah-zhay)


 Here are the Kwéyòl words for some staples, seasonings, and other miscellaneous foods.  



Jam/Jelly - konfiti (kohn-fee-tee)

Croissant - kwasan (kwah-sahn)

Flour (white) - fawin-fwans (fah-ween/fwahns)
  
Olive oil - lwil dòliv  (lweel dohl-eev)

Mayonnaise - mayonnèz (ma-yohn-nehz)

Mustard - moutad (moo-tahd)

Egg(s) - zè (zeh)

Bread - pen (pehn)

Toast (bread) - pen gwilé (pehn gwee-lay)  

Pasta - pat (paht)

Pepper - piman (pee-mahn)

Rice - diwi (dee-wee)

Salt - sèl (sel)

Sugar - sik (seek)

Introduction to Kwéyòl sentences

A sentence (yon fwaz) is a group of words including at minimum a subject and a verb, and may also include any or all of the parts of speech.

Sentence Parts

Sentences can be separated into a subject (yon sijè), which may be stated or implied, and a predicate (yon pwédika). The subject is the person or thing performing the action, and the predicate is the rest of the sentence, which usually begins with the verb:

Mwen sé yon dòktè.
Je suis médecin.
I am a doctor. 

Subject: Mwen - I
Predicate: sé yon dòktè - am a doctor

Jean èk mwen enmen Lababad.
Jean et moi aimons la Barbade.
Jean and I love Barbados. 

Subject: Jean èk mwen - Jean and I
Predicate: enmen Lababad - love Barbados

Jenn tifi-a joli.
La jeune fille est mignonne.
The young girl is pretty.

Subject: Jenn tifi-a - the young girl
Predicate: joli - is pretty

Sentence Types

 There are four types of sentences: statements, exclamatives, interrogatives, and commands.

 1) Statement - Assertive Phrase

These statements are the most common type of sentence, they state something:

Mwen las.

Je suis fatigué(e).

I am tired.

Mwen kwè mwen enmen'w.

Je pense que j'taime.

I think I love you.

Mwen ké édé'w.

Je vous aiderai.

I will help you.

Mwen ni lèspwa, ou ké la.
J'espère que tu seras là.

I hope you'll be there.

There are two subcategories of statements: affirmative statements as above, and negative statements.

Mwen pa ka alé.

Je n'y vais pas.

I am not going.

Mwen pa las.
Je ne suis pas fatigué.

I am not tired.

  

Mwen pa vlé édé'w.

Je ne veux pas vous aider.

I do not want to help you. 

I pa ké la.
Il ne sera pas là.
He will not be there.

2) Exclamative Phrases

 Exclamatives express a strong reaction such as surprise or indignation. They look just like statements except for the exclamation point, and for this reason are sometimes considered a subcategory of statements, rather than a different type of sentence:

Mwen vlé alé!
Je veux y aller!
I want to go!


 Fout y bèl!
 Il est très beau!
He's really handsome! 


Sa sé an bon lidé!
C'est une bonne idée!
That's a great idea! 

 3) Interrogative

Interrogatives, more commonly known as questions, ask for or about something:


Ès ou ni liv-mwen?
As-tu mon livre ?
Do you have my book?


Ès yo pawé?
Sont-ils prêts?
Are they ready? 


 Ki koté i yé?
Où est-il?
Where is he?

 Ki koté Louv-la yé?
 Où se trouve le Louvre?
Where is the Louvre located? 


 4) Command

Commands are the only kind of sentence without an explicit subject; instead, the subject is implied by the tense markers used with the verb, which is in the imperative:


Fèmé lapòt-la!
Fermez la porte.
Close the door!


Pa palé!
Ne parle pas! 
Don't speak!


Annou manjé atjòlman!
Mangeons maintenant!
Let's eat now!

Dansé!
Danser!
Dance!

 

The verb "ALÉ"

Today, we will be learning all about the Kwéyòl verb "Alé" (ah-lay) This verb is derived directly from the French verb "Aller" and it carries the same meaning. The verb Alé is one of the most commonly used verbs; it is also used in a few idiomatic expressions.

The verb Alé  means "To go", in most senses that the verb is used in English.

Mwen ka alé labank-la toulé lendi.
Je vais à la banque tous les lundis.

I go to the bank every Monday. 

I ka alé épi'w.

Il va avec vous.

He's going with you.

Ki koté'w ka alé?

Où vas-tu?

Where are you going?

Expressions with the verb Alé

Alé chaché.

Aller chercher.

To get, go fetch.

Alé non!

Allons donc!

Go on then!


Annou alé! 
Allons-y!
Let's go! 

The near future.

Alé is used to express any action that will take place in the near or immediate future. This construction is formed by fusing the tense marker "ka" which indicates progressive action, with the verb "alé" which means "To go." The resulting construction is k'alé. K'alé is placed before the verb which indicates the action that is about to occur.

 

Mwen k'alé étidyé.

Je vais étudier. 

I am going to study.

Nou k'alé pati nan senk minit.

Nous allons partir dans cinq minutes.

We are  going to leave in five minutes.

Ès ou k'alé édé nou?

Vas-tu nous aider?

Are you going to help us? 

The verb ALÉ in the simple present tense.

Mwen alé - I go.

Ou alé - You (singular) go.

Li/ i alé - He, she, or it goes.

Nou alé - We go.

 Zòt alé - You (plural) go.

Yo alé - They go.

 

 

Proverb pf the Day:

Wavèt pa ni wézon douvan poul.

wah.veht. pah. nee. way.zoh(n). doo.vah(n). pool.

"Roaches are never right when facing chickens." 

(chickens would pursue any roach in sight.)

Whenever there is disagreement between two parties, the stronger will have its way.

Proverb of the day

"Bèf pa janmen di savann mèsi."

behf. pah. zha.meh(n).dee. sah.vahn. meh.see

"The cow never says thank you to the pasture."

Those who expect gratitude are often disappointed.

(n) means the preceding vowel is nasalised but the itself is not pronounced.

Conditional sentences (continued)

Today, we will continue our study of "If clauses" remember these clauses are used to declare a condition or possibly that is dependant on another condition being met. If.. then clauses are also known as conditionals.


Example :

Si yo wè mwen, zòt ké wi. - If they see me, they will laugh.



The first conditional that we will look at today is formed from the present tense in the si clause, and one of three verb forms; present, future or imperative in the result clause.



Present + Present
This construction is used for things that happen regularly


Example :

Si mononk ou la, nou ka sòti an kay-la.

If your uncle is there, we are going leave the house.


Si mwen pa vlé étidyé, mwen ka gadé télévisyon-an

If I don't want to study, I watch the television.


Si lapli tonbé, nou pa ka jwé déwò-a.

If rain falls, we don't play outside.
----------------------------------------------------

Present + Future

The present + future construction is used for events that are likely to occur. The present tense follows si; it is the situation that is required before the other action will take place.

Example :

Si mwen tiwé boul-la, i ké mò.

If I remove the bullet, he will die.



Si'w fè yon zéfò, mwen ké édé'w.

If you make an effort, I will help you.

Si li lavé sé vasèl-la, ou ké lavé sé wido-a?

If she washes the dishes, will you wash the curtains?


Note : w is a contraction of the pronoun ou which means you.

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Present + Imperative

This construction is used to give an order, assuming that the condition is met. The present tense follows si; it is the situation that is required before the other action becomes a command.

Example :

Si Janette tini tan, di li vini wè mwen.

If Janette has time, tell her come and see me.



Si'w tini lajan-an, péyé nòt-la.

If you have the money, pay the bill.




Si'w jwenn André, bay li koul ban mwen!

If you find André, beat him up for me!

Great Kwéyòl dictionary

For those of you who are looking for a dictionary that will help you learn the vocabulary of the language, I would like to suggest the St Lucian dictionary. St Lucian French Creole is very similar to Trinidadian French Creole. This dictionary contains a pronunciation guide, parts of the human body and a list of numbers from 1-100 listed in the appendix section.

St Lucian French Creole dictionary

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