Friday, October 18, 2013

How do you use ma, wa, na vs map, wap, nap in the future? I found when using ma, wa, or na I was not understood.

You should be understood...  Haitians use that combination of the contracted pronoun and 'a all the time.  Are you using it as in the following?:
m'a (mwen va) → M'a wè ou demen (I'll see you tomorrow).
w'a (ou va) → W'a salye manman w pou mwen (Say hello to your mom for me)
n'a (nou va) → N'a  wè pita. (We will see later or See you later)
l'a (li va) → L'a ba w machandiz la lè w peye l.  (She ll give you the merchandise when you pay her)
y'a (yo va) → Y'a manje ansanm lè tout moun antre lakay(They ll eat together when everyone comes home.)

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

2 comments:

  1. Can you use m'ap, w'ap, and n'ap... etc interchangeably with these?

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    Replies
    1. Don't forget that "ap" is also a determiner for progressive form. Depending on context, "m'ap, w'ap, n'ap, l'ap, y'ap" may indicate future or a progressive form.

      Pa egzanp:
      M'ap vin wè w pita.
      will translate:
      I will come to see you later.

      and

      M pa ka pale avè w kounye a. M'ap manje.
      will translate:
      I can't talk to you now. I am eating.

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