Showing posts with label pronouns. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pronouns. Show all posts

Saturday, 4 January 2014

Possessive Adjectives

Possessive Adjectives.

In the previous post, we learned how to demonstrate possession when speaking Trinidad French Creole.  Possessive adjectives are the words used in place of articles to indicate to whom or to what something belongs. Today we will learn more about Possessive Adjectives, these adjectives always follow the noun, and most of the time a definite article will follow the possessive adjective.

Possessive Adjectives


My - mwen (mweh)

Your (singular) - ou (oo)

His, hers, its - li (lee)

Our - nou (noo)

Your (plural) - zòt (zaut)

Their - yo (yoh)

Important! - Sometimes a definite article is added after the possessive adjective like this:

My car - motoka mwen an

The definite article can be omitted when using demonstratives (this is, that is, these are, those are).
The definite article can be omitted when using nouns  in such a specific way that there is no way of having more than one: father, mother, grandpa, grandma, husband, wife, heart, etc...

My darling - Doudou mwen instead of Doudou mwen an
My heart - Tjè mwen instead of Tjè mwen an
My head - Tèt mwen instead of Tèt mwen an
This is my chair - sa sé chèz mwen instead of sa sé chèz mwen an
Those are my books  Sé sala sé liv mwen


Very Important - You know that Trinidad French Creole has up to five definite articles: a, an, la, lan, nan.  Just follow the rules before you place them in a sentence.

Examples:
His chant - chan li a
My cocoa - kako mwen an
Your book - liv ou a
Their friend - zanmi yo a
Our family - fanmi nou a
Your (plural) priest - pwèt zòt la

Sunday, 29 December 2013

Demonstrative Pronouns 2




Demonstrative pronouns stand in for a person, place or thing that must be pointed to. They may function as subjects, objects or objects of the preposition. Trinidad French Creole has two demonstrative pronouns sala (sah-lah) is the most common form while sa-a (sah-ah) is less commonly used. Both forms are completely interchangeable.


Sa-a = demonstrative indicator (sa) +  the definite article (a)


Sala = demonstrative indicator (sa) fused with the definite article (la)

 
We say sa a or sala when it's used as a demonstrative adjective or a pronoun to identify a specific person or thing.  It may very well be translated as this one or that one.


Sa-a or Sala is used for singular demonstrative adjectives


This/that chick (girl) - djal sala or djal sa-a
This/that star - zétwal sala or zétwal sa-a
This/that cloud - niyaj sala or niyaj sa-a
This/that cup - tas sala or tas sa-a


In the plural form, the plural marker (say) is placed BEFORE the noun with the demonstrative indicator placed AFTER the noun


These/those days - jou sala or jou sa-a
These/those dresses - wòb sala or wòb sa-a
These/those snacks - kolasyon sala or kolasyon sa-a
These/ those people - moun sala or moun sa-a


Sa-a and sala can also be used for singular demonstrative pronouns, in these cases the demonstrative indicator stands by itself.


sa-a/sala pli bon - This one/that one is better
sa-a/sala pli mal - This one/that one is worse
sa-a/sala kasé - This one/ that one is broken 


In the plural form, the plural marker (say) is placed BEFORE the noun with the demonstrative indicator placed directly after it.

sé sa-a/sé sala pli bon - These/those are better
sé sa-a/sé sala pli mal - These/those are worse
sé sa-a/sé sala kasé - These/those are broken
pa touché sé sa-a, yo mouyé - Don't touch those, they're wet.


Sa-a and sala can also be used as singular demonstrative pronouns.

Mwen vlé sa-a/sala - I want this one
Kité sa-a/sala pou mwen  Leave that one for me
Mwen enmen sa-a/sala - I like that one.


Wednesday, 27 March 2013

Lesson 35 - Demonstrative Pronouns

Pronouns: Demonstrative

Demonstrative pronouns stand in for a person, place or thing that must be pointed to. They may function as subjects, objects or objects of the preposition.



Today we will be looking at the following demonstrative pronouns


This is

That is 

These are 

Those are 

 

Affirmative sentences.

This is - sé sala

That is - sé sa-a or sé sala

These are - sé sala

Those are - sé sala

 

Negative sentences. These are formed by adding the negative marker "pa"

 This is not - sa spa

That is not - sa pa

These are not - sé sala pa

Those are not -  sé sala pa


1. That is my computer - Sa sé konpita-mwen.


2. This is his girl - Sa sé djal-li


3.This is not good omen - Sa sé pa yon bon òm


4.These things are not yours - bagay-sala sé pa sla'w
 

5. These dogs  are not theirs - chyen-sala sé pa sla-zòt.


6. Those dresses are not mine - wòb-sala sé pa sla-mwen
 
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Let's practice. Please translate the following sentences.


1. This is your ring.

2. That is not my house.

3. That is your car.

4. This is funny!

5. That is not a boat.

 Find answer key at the bottom of this page.

1. Sa sé bag-ou. 

2. Sa sé lakay-mwen.

3. Sa sé pa motoka-ou. 

4. Sa sé konmik.

5. Sa sé pa yon bato.


Saturday, 3 March 2012

Lesson 30 - Possessive pronouns

Possessive pronouns are the words which replace nouns modified by possessive adjectives.We use the Possessive Pronouns when we want to substitute a group of words that are indicating a possession relation. In English, the possessive pronouns are: mine, yours [sing.], his hers, its, ours, yours [plur.] theirs.




In Trinidadian French Creole, Possessive Pronouns are formed by prefixing sla (slah) to the personal pronoun. There are 6 possessive pronouns in total, one for each personal pronoun.


1. Mine : sla-mwen or contracted form : sla'm

2. Yours [singular] : sla-mwen or contracted form : sla'w

3. His / hers / its : sla-li or contracted form : sla-y

4. Ours : sla-nou

5. Yours [plural] : sla-zòt

6. Theirs : sla-yo

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Examples : sla-mwen / sla'm [mine]

1. Sé djaman-sala sé sla-mwen. - Those diamonds are mine.

2. Tout kò'w sé sla-mwen! - You're all mine!

3. San-an asou chimiz-la sé sla'm. - The blood on the shirt is mine.


Note: 'w is a contraction of the pronoun ou, and it appears after a vowel sound.

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Examples : sla-ou / sla'w [yours] singular

1. Dé liv diwi sé sla-ou. - Two pounds of rice are yours.

2. Lajan-mwen sé pa sla-ou! - My money is not yours!

3. Pwan sla'm, pas mwen vlé sla'w. - Take mine, because I want yours.

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Examples : sla-li / sla-y [his, hers, its]

1. Chato-a sé sla-li. - The castle is his.

2. Bougèt-la sé sla-y. The coin purse is hers.

Note y is pronounced <ee>

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Examples : sla-nou [ours]

1. Twézò-a sé sla-nou, déga!.- The treasure is ours, go away!

2. Pou lé pwézan, péyi-a sé sla-nou. - For now, the country is ours.

3. Nou ni sla'w, ès ou tini sla-nou? - We have yours, do you have ours?

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Examples : sla-zòt [ yours] plural.

1. Sé sak-la, yo pèd sla-zòt. - The bags, they lost yours.

2. Yo vòlè byen-li; yo vòlè -sla-zòt tou? - They stole his things; did they steal yours too?

3. Mé, éti sla-zòt yé? - But, where is yours?

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Examples : sla-yo [theirs]

1. Bisiklèt-la sé sla-yo. - The bicycle is theirs.

2. Bitasyon-an sété sla-yo. - The estate was theirs.

3. Sé pa sla-zòt menm! - It is not even theirs!