Welcome to the 8th lesson about Haitian grammar. We will first learn about prepositions, negation, questions, adverbs, and pronouns including: personal, object and possessive pronouns.
We will start with prepositions. In general, they are used to link words to other words. For example: I speak Haitian and English the preposition is [and] because it connects both words Haitian and English. The following is a list of the most used prepositions in Haitian.
| Prepositions - Haitian |
|---|
| and epi |
| above anwo'l |
| under anba'l |
| before anvan'l |
| after apre'l |
| in front of devan'l |
| behind dèyè'l |
| far from lwen |
| near tou pre |
| in nan |
| inside andedan |
| outside deyò |
| with ak |
| without san |
| about sou |
| between ant |
| but men |
| for pou |
| from nan |
| to |
The following examples use prepositions in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.
| Prepositions + Rules - Haitian |
|---|
| I eat without a knife [preposition + noun] m 'manje san yon kouto |
| she lives near the church [verb + preposition] li rete tou pre legliz la |
| he is taller than her [adjective + preposition] li ki pi wo pase l ' |
| he came with his small dog [preposition + pronoun] li vini avèk ti chen'l |
| can you come with me? [preposition + pronoun] ou ka vin avè m '? |
Now let's learn how to make a negative sentence (negation). For example: Saying no, I can't, I don't ... The following examples use negation in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.
| Negation + Rules - Haitian |
|---|
| I understand you [affirmative form] mwen konprann ou |
| I don't understand you [negation + verb] mwen pa konprann ou |
| this is not the correct word [negation + adjective] sa a se pa pawòl ki kòrèk la |
| don't leave me [imperative negation] pa kite'm |
| no problem [negation + noun] pa gen okenn pwoblèm |
| Negative Sentences - Haitian |
|---|
| I don't speak French [negation + present tense] mwen pa pale franse |
| she didn't visit Germany [negation + past tense] li pa't ale nan almay |
| he cannot see us [negative modal verb] li pa ka wè nou |
| can't she play chess? [interrogative negation] li pa ka jwe echèk? |
| we will not come late [negation + future tense] nou p'ap vini an reta |
Now let's learn how to ask questions (interrogative). Such as: what, why, can you ...? Here are some common examples:
| English - Haitian |
|---|
| how? ki jan? |
| what? ki sa? |
| who? ki moun? |
| why? poukisa? |
| where? ki kote? |
More of the interrogative form, now in a sentence:
| Questions + Rules - Haitian |
|---|
| where do you live? [interrogative + verb] kote w ap viv? |
| does she speak Chinese? [interrogative verb] èske li pale chinwa? |
| how much is this? [interrogative preposition] konbyen lajan sa a se? |
| can I help you? [interrogative modal verb] mwen kapab ede ou? |
| what is your name? [interrogative preposition] ki gen ou rele? |
It's time to learn the adverbs in Haitian. But what is an adverb? In general, adverbs modify verbs and adjectives. For example: You speak fast. The adverb is [fast] because it describes the verb and answers the question how do you speak?. Here is a list of the most common ones:
| Adverbs - Haitian |
|---|
| now kounye a |
| yesterday yè |
| today jodi a |
| tonight aswè a |
| tomorrow demen |
| soon byento |
| quickly byen vit |
| slowly tou dousman |
| together ansanm |
| very anpil |
| almost prèske |
| always toujou |
| usually anjeneral |
| sometimes pafwa |
| rarely rarman |
| never pa janm |
The following examples use the adverbs in different ways and places to demonstrate how it behaves in a sentence.
| Adverbs + Rules - Haitian |
|---|
| do you understand me now? [pronoun + adverb] èske ou konprann mwen kounye a? |
| I need help immediately [noun + adverb] mwen bezwen èd kounye'a |
| she is very intelligent [adverb + adjective] li trè entèlijan |
| I will always love you [verb + adverb] m'ap toujou renmen'w |
| can we learn German together? [adverb in a question] nou ka aprann alman ansanm? |
We're almost done! This time we will learn the pronouns in Haitian. In general, a pronoun can be used instead of a noun. For example instead of saying my teacher speaks 3 languages, you can use the pronoun he, and say he speaks 3 languages. Here is a list of the most common ones:
| Personal Pronouns - Haitian |
|---|
| I mwen menm |
| you ou menm |
| he li menm |
| she li menm |
| we nou menm |
| they yo meam |
| Object Pronouns - Haitian |
|---|
| me mwen |
| you ou |
| him li |
| her li |
| us nou |
| them yo |
| Possessive Pronouns - Haitian |
|---|
| my mwen |
| your ou |
| his li |
| her li |
| our nou |
| their yo |
I think it's better to put the above example in a sentence to better assist you. The following examples use pronouns in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence. We will start with the personal pronouns.
| Personal Pronouns - Haitian |
|---|
| I am your friend [1st pronoun + verb] mwen se zanmi'w |
| you speak very fast [2nd pronoun + adverb] ou pale trè vit |
| he has three dogs [3rd pronoun + verb] li gen twa chen |
| she can speak German [3rd pronoun + verb] li ka pale alman |
| we will not come late [1st plural pronoun] nou p'ap vini an reta |
| they bought milk and bread [3rd plural pronoun] yo te achte lèt ak pen |
The object pronoun is used as a target by a verb, and usually come after that verb. For example: I gave him my book. The object pronoun here is him. Here are more examples:
| Object Pronouns - Haitian |
|---|
| can you tell me your name? [1st object pronoun] ou ka di'm non'w? |
| I will give you money [2nd object pronoun] mwen pral ba ou lajan |
| she wrote him a letter [3rd object pronoun] li te ekri'l yon lèt |
| they visited her yesterday [3rd object pronoun] yo te vizite'l yè |
| can she help us? [1st pl. object pronoun] li ka ede nou? |
| he gave them food [3rd pl. object pronoun] li te bayo manje |
| Possessive Pronouns - Haitian |
|---|
| my name is Maya [1st possessive pronoun] non mwen se maya |
| your brother lives here [2nd possessive pronoun] frè ou viv la |
| her mother cooks for us [3rd possessive pronoun] manman'l fe manje pou nou |
| his hobby is reading books [3rd possessive pronoun] plezi li se li liv |
| our dream is to visit Paris [1st pl. possessive pronoun] rèv nou se pou n'al pari |
| their house is not far [3rd pl. possessive pronoun] lakay yo pa lwen |
One more thing you need to know is the demonstrative pronouns. They're very easy to learn.
| Demonstrative Pronouns - Haitian |
|---|
| this is my house sa'a se kay mwen |
| that restaurant is far restoran sa'a byen lwen |
| these apples are delicious pòm sa yo gen bon gou |
| those stars are shiny zetwal yo klere |
I hope you learned a lot about the Haitian grammar in this lesson. Please check out our main menu here for more lessons: homepage. The next lesson is below, have fun!
Inspirational Quote: First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do. Epictetus |