Haitian Grammar
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 |
Preposition Grammar Rules
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 '? |
Negation in Haitian
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 |
Questions in Haitian
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? |
Adverbs in Haitian
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? |
Pronouns in Haitian
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. If you have any question about this lesson please contact me here. The next lesson is below, have fun!
| Haitian Vocabulary |
Inspirational Quote: First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do. Epictetus |