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Monday, July 2, 2012

What is the order of using superlatives in a sentence?: "You are the sweetest woman." Ou se fanm pi dous nan or Ou se pi dous fanm nan In other words, would the order follow the rule for that particular adjective? mesi! mesi!

You are the sweetest woman.
Ou se fanm ki pi dous lan.

For superlatives, the order goes like this:  pi + modifier + article
When the superlative adjectives modify a noun in H. Creole, if that adjective is of the group which usually come after the noun, then the best way to translate that sentence is to add the relative pronoun 'ki' before 'pi'.  See the following examples.

Examples made with adjectives that usually come before the noun in H. Creole
the most beautiful → pi bèl la
the most beautiful flower → pi bèl flè a
the most beautiful flower → flè ki pi bèl la

the oldest → pi gran an
the oldest girl → pi gran fi a
the oldest girl → fi ki pi gran an

the tiniest → pi piti a
the tiniest seed → pi piti grenn nan
the tiniest seed → grenn ki pi piti a

Examples made with adjectives that usually come after the noun in H. Creole.
the whitest → blan an
the whitest teethpi blan dan an  (can't translate it like that)
the whitest teeth → dan ki pi blan an

the sweetest → pi dous la
the sweetest moment pi dous moman an (can't translate it like that)
the sweetest moment → moman ki pi dous la

the tastiest → pi gou a
the tastiest foods pi gou manje a (can't translate it like that)
the tastiest foods → manje ki pi gou yo

the tallest → pi wo a
the tallest man pi wo mesye a (can't translate it like that)
the tallest man →mesye ki pi wo a

the most wicked → pi mechan an
the most wicked actspi mechan zak la (can't translate it like that)
the most wicked acts → zak ki pi mechan an

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

6 comments:

  1. Mesi anpil! Sa se yon esplikasyon ekselan!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Although I thought "bèl" was one of the adjectives that came before the noun.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, you are right.
      "bèl" IS one of the adjectives that come before the noun.
      EX:
      Bèl kay, bèl madanm, bèl jounen, etc....

      Delete
  3. I also noticed you are using the article that matches the adjective and not the noun. Important to note.

    ReplyDelete