Thursday, July 12, 2012

Are okenn, nenpòt, and pyès as "any" interchangeable or are there specific use cases for each?

No. They are not interchangeable. (at least not with nenpòt)
Nenpòt basically translates any
Okenn and Pyès basically translate not any


Nènpòt (any, whichever)
Okenn (not any, no, none, no one) and Pyès (not any, none, not at all) are mostly used with negative sentences in H. Creole.

Nenpòt → any; and that includes:  nenpòt kisa (anything, whatever), nenpòt kilès (anyone, whoever), nenpòt kote (anywhere), nenpòt jan (anyway, anyhow), nenpòt fason (anyway, any manner, whichever way), etc..

1. Nenpòt kote ou deside ale, mwen va ale tou.
    Whereever you decide to go, I'll go too.

2.  Nenpòt jan ou vle li, w'ap jwenn li..
     Anyway you want it, you'll get it.
     Whichever way you want it, you'll get it.

3. Nenpòt moun kapab li liv sa.
    Anyone can read this book.

4.  Nenpòt moun pa kapab vin prezidan Etazini.
     Not everyone can become president of the USA.

Okenn and PyèsNo, No one, Not any, None, none at all 

5. Pa gen pyès moun ki ka di'l sa pou'l fè.
    No one can tell him what to do.


6.  Pyès moun pa't kwè'l.
    No one believed her.


7.  Mwen p'ap deplase pyès.
     I will not move at all
     I will not move a muscle.

8. Nou pa gen okenn lajan.
    We have no money.


9.  Okenn moun pa vini.
    No one came.


10.  Yo pa't ban nou okenn avètisman.
       They gave us no warning at all.


Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words

No comments:

Post a Comment