When using possessive adjectives - Sometimes Haitian Creole speakers do drop the definite article that comes after it. You will see it mostly when they use demontratives (this is, that is, these are, those are). You will see it also when they talk about unique members of the family such as: father, mother, grandpa, grandma.
1. My car broke down.
1.Machin mwen an anpàn.
2. My sons live in Canada.
2.Ti gason mwen yo rete Canada.
3. Your dress is too short.
3.Rad ou a twò kout.
4. That's my dad.
4.Sa se papa mwen.
5. Her shoes are pretty but her car is ugly.
5.Soulye li a bèl men machin li a lèd.
6. Our church is on a small hill.
6.Legliz nou an sou yon ti mòn.
7. Their language is too hard to learn.
7.Lang yo a twò difisil pou aprann.
8. The wheels of my car are big.
8.Kaoutyou machin mwen yo gwo.
9. That is my house.
9.Sa se kay mwen. (Yes, you can also say: Sa se kay mwen an.)
10. His house is kind of small.
10.Kay li a yon ti jan piti.
1. My car broke down.
1.Machin mwen an anpàn.
2. My sons live in Canada.
2.Ti gason mwen yo rete Canada.
3. Your dress is too short.
3.Rad ou a twò kout.
4. That's my dad.
4.Sa se papa mwen.
5. Her shoes are pretty but her car is ugly.
5.Soulye li a bèl men machin li a lèd.
6. Our church is on a small hill.
6.Legliz nou an sou yon ti mòn.
7. Their language is too hard to learn.
7.Lang yo a twò difisil pou aprann.
8. The wheels of my car are big.
8.Kaoutyou machin mwen yo gwo.
9. That is my house.
9.Sa se kay mwen. (Yes, you can also say: Sa se kay mwen an.)
10. His house is kind of small.
10.Kay li a yon ti jan piti.
In #5, why is "her shoes" not: soulyè li yo? Is "shoes" considered singular?
ReplyDeleteCan #9 also be said: Sa se kay m nan AND Sa se kay mwen an?
Mwen renmen apran-n Kreyol e m remèsye w pou sa website!
Ali
I meant to say I thank you FOR this website, not "pou." How do you say FOR in this case?
DeleteAlso, in #8, I expected to see the plural indicator "yo". Why is it not there?
ReplyDeleteHi Allison. Thanks for asking these questions.
ReplyDeleteFOR THE FIRST COMMENT:
"soulye" in Creole is also understood as "one pair of shoes".
So I can say:
Where are your shoes?
Kote soulye ou?
I like your shoes.
Mwen renmen soulye w la.
And it's also ok to say:
How much are these shoes?
Konbyen soulye sa yo koute?
Now, concerning "Kay mwen an";
We could not say "Kay m nan" because the contractions only come after a vowel( nasal or non nasal).
For example, we can say:
papye m nan (my paper)
chapo m nan (my hat)
frè m nan (my brother)
But, we cannot say:
Liv m nan
Kay m nan
pitit m nan
because these three words end with a consonant.
We should say instead:
liv mwen an (my book)
kay mwen an (my house)
pitit mwen an (my child)
Here is a link on rules for using contractions in Haitian Creole: http://sweetcoconuts.blogspot.com/2011/09/some-creole-contractions.html
FOR THE SECOND COMMENT:
In #8, you are ABSOLUTELY CORRECT! Thank you for picking that up. The sentences should read: "Kaoutyou (or kawoutyou) machin mwen yo gwo."
I'll fix it. Thanks :)
FOR THE THIRD COMMENT:
You are again correct when you used "pou" to translate "for".
You only need to put the demonstrative adjective "sa" after the word "website".
So it would read:
"...m remèsye w pou website sa!"
Thank you Allison.