My question concerns the use of yo as a plural. If you say: I saw three boys .....

“My question concerns the use of yo as a

plural.

If you say:

I saw three boys in the courtyard yesterday. Two boys

were arguing and the third was trying to stop them.

How woud you translate

the part: Two boys were arguing there ?

'De timoun yo' te dispite or simply

without the yo

De timoun te dispite.

Thank you very much.”

mandaly says:

Hi,

Yes, using “yo” sometimes is complicated for foreigners because we use it as 1) definite plural article (the), 2) personal pronouns (they, them), and 3) possessives (their). If you have all these elements in one sentence, that can get tricky. I think it might be helpful to not translate word for word then. If you do translate word for word, try to rephrase the sentence after translation.

“I saw three boys in the courtyard yesterday. Two boys

were arguing and the third was trying to stop them.”

Translation:

Mwen te wè twa (3) ti gason nan lakou an yè. De (2) ladan yo t ap diskite, e twazyèm nan t ap eseye mete lòd.

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