Wednesday, January 2, 2013

How is expression "w'a gentan konnen" used exactly?

It's used as a warning.  It means "Soon, you'll know"  as if to say "you just wait and see" or "you won't know what hit you" or "Soon you'll see how wrong you were."
It is also used with other pronouns, as in "L'a gentan konnen" or "Y'a gentan konnen"
In Case you didn't know this, the ('a) after the pronoun is a contracted form of the future form "va" or "ava"
Examples:
W'a gentan konnen (Ou va gentan konnen or W'ava gentan konnen)
Y'a gentan konnen (Yo va gentan konnen or Y'ava gentan konnen)

Here's an example of the usage.
1.  W'ap pase granmoun nan betiz kòm si ou p'ap janm vyeyi.  W'a gentan konnen.
     You're making fun of the older generation as if you'll never grow old.  You wait and see!

2. Tout lekòl kontan ak nouvo trezorye a.  Yo pa konn si se yon vòlè li ye.  Y'a gentan konnen.
    The whole school is happy with the new treasurer.  They don't know that he's a crook.  Soon they'll know how wrong they were.



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

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