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.

Lesson 6 - Singular & Plural

In Trinidadian French Creole, the noun has only one form, whether singular or plural. In order to quantify (number) a noun, the number indicated is placed before the noun.


1. Yon zasyèt - One plate


2. Senk zasyèt - Five plates


3. Yon sak - One bag


4. Nèf sak - Nine bags

The Plural marker

There is no plural indefinite article in the Kwéyòl language, and nouns do not have have endings which indicate plurality . In spite of this, there are some rules to consider when speaking of plurality in the Kwéyòl language.

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.




2) When speaking of a specific plural number, the number is placed before the noun in order to quantify it.

Yon pyébwa - A/one tree.

Kat pyébwa - four trees.


The plural is generally indicated by the plural marker (sé) which is placed before the noun with the definite article being placed after the noun. Sé is NOT AN ARTICLE. Remember, Kwéyòl nouns do not have plural endings; there is only one form of the noun.

Trinidadian French Creole	French	English
sé tjè-a	les coeurs	the hearts
sé bato-a	les bateaux	the boats
sé liv-la	les livres	the books
sé bag-la	les bagues	the rings
sé kann-nan	les cannes à sucre	the (sugar) canes
sé pen-an	les pains	the (loaves of) bread
sé fanm-lan	les femmes	the women
sé nonm-lan	les hommes	the men

The maker sé is prefixed to the noun and indicates the collective. As we see in the examples above, the word endings of Creole nouns remain the same in the singular and plural.