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.

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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.