photo credit: http://lunionsuite.com/2013/08/12/haitian-food-break-ke-bef-lalo-ak-sirik/
Verbs:
Similar to the rules of plurality in Haitian Creole, Verbs are not conjugated nor are they inflected for tense. Most Verbs in Haitian Creole are simply the infinitive version of the verb in French. Usually the spelling is slightly different in Haitian Creole as, for the most part, their words are spelled exactly how they sound.
Verbs and Different Subjects:
The verb 'to be' for example demonstrates lexical borrowing and the lack of inflection based on subject, simultaneously.
In French 'to be' is conjugated thusly:
I am: Je suis
You (singular) are: tu es
He/she is: il/elle est
We are: Nous Sommes
You (plural) are: Vous êtes
They are: Ils/Elles sont
'to be' in Haitian Creole:
I am:Mwen se
you are: Ou se
he/she is: Li se
We are: nou se
you are (plural): nou/ou se
They are: Yo se
We can see that verbs are not inflected depending on the subjects as se is used for all instances. This is also another good example of lexical borrowing as se sounds the same as c'est in French which translates to 'this is.' C'est when pronounced doesn't sound like sest but instead sounds like sə.
Verbs and Different Tenses:
Verb tenses in Haitian Creole are denoted by tense markers in the sentence and not by conjugation of the verb. For this example we'll look at manger: to eat, in French. (Pronounced mãƷə.) Knowing that the verb doesn't change based on the subject we can use the same subject for each example. Haitian Creole has six tense markers:
simple past: te - I ate
past progressive:t ap - I was eating
present progressive: ap - I am eating
future: a - I will eat
near future: pral - I am going to eat
Conditional future: ta - I would eat
Examples in Haitian Creole: Examples in French:
Mwen te manje: I ate J'ai mangé
Mwen t ap manje: I was eating Je mangeais
M ap Manje: I am eating Je mange
Mwen a manje: I will eat Je mangerai
Mwen pral manje: I am going to eat Je vais manger
Mwen ta manje: I would eat Je mangerais
The way absence of conjugation and inflection for tense and subject seems to be indicative of syntactical structures created out of necessity during the creole or pidgin stages of Haitian Creole. While higher education was denied to mono linguistic speakers of Haitian Creole the majority of the population is likely not aware of the 'lack of conjugation' and to them this system of noting tense and subject is completely normal and conversational.
While the similarities between Haitian Creole and French, on the surface, appear to be solely lexical, there is a lot more borrowing than one might first expect. While possession follows a syntactical order similar to the Fon language of West Africa, verbs, tenses and conjugations all follow a similar SVO (subject, verb, object) order, similar to French.
Pronouns:
In french there are direct and indirect object pronouns and subjects. I for instance in French is Je while the indirect and direct object pronoun is me (mø) and simply saying "me," is moi in French .
This is not the case in Haitian Creole where there is one word for I or me: Mwen. In French if you wanted to say He talks to me, me is the indirect object pronoun and thus comes before the verb: Il me parle. In Haitian Creole they only use Mwen or the short form m' so in Haitian Creole, He talks to me is li chita pale mwen or li chita pale m'. In French the order of the indirect object pronoun and the verb is switched (il/he me/me parle/speaks (to)) but the SVO order remains intact in Haitian Creole. (Li/he chita pale/speaks to mwen/me))
Below is a list of all the pronouns in Haitian Creole:
I/me: Mwen short form: M'
You (singular): Ou short form: W'
He/She: Li short form: L'
We: Nou short form: N'
You (Plural): Nou or Ou Short form: none
Them: Yo short form: Y'
Source: Wikipedia Article on Haitian Creole, About.com/French Language and Pindziak
Similar to the rules of plurality in Haitian Creole, Verbs are not conjugated nor are they inflected for tense. Most Verbs in Haitian Creole are simply the infinitive version of the verb in French. Usually the spelling is slightly different in Haitian Creole as, for the most part, their words are spelled exactly how they sound.
Verbs and Different Subjects:
The verb 'to be' for example demonstrates lexical borrowing and the lack of inflection based on subject, simultaneously.
In French 'to be' is conjugated thusly:
I am: Je suis
You (singular) are: tu es
He/she is: il/elle est
We are: Nous Sommes
You (plural) are: Vous êtes
They are: Ils/Elles sont
'to be' in Haitian Creole:
I am:Mwen se
you are: Ou se
he/she is: Li se
We are: nou se
you are (plural): nou/ou se
They are: Yo se
We can see that verbs are not inflected depending on the subjects as se is used for all instances. This is also another good example of lexical borrowing as se sounds the same as c'est in French which translates to 'this is.' C'est when pronounced doesn't sound like sest but instead sounds like sə.
Verbs and Different Tenses:
Verb tenses in Haitian Creole are denoted by tense markers in the sentence and not by conjugation of the verb. For this example we'll look at manger: to eat, in French. (Pronounced mãƷə.) Knowing that the verb doesn't change based on the subject we can use the same subject for each example. Haitian Creole has six tense markers:
simple past: te - I ate
past progressive:t ap - I was eating
present progressive: ap - I am eating
future: a - I will eat
near future: pral - I am going to eat
Conditional future: ta - I would eat
Examples in Haitian Creole: Examples in French:
Mwen te manje: I ate J'ai mangé
Mwen t ap manje: I was eating Je mangeais
M ap Manje: I am eating Je mange
Mwen a manje: I will eat Je mangerai
Mwen pral manje: I am going to eat Je vais manger
Mwen ta manje: I would eat Je mangerais
The way absence of conjugation and inflection for tense and subject seems to be indicative of syntactical structures created out of necessity during the creole or pidgin stages of Haitian Creole. While higher education was denied to mono linguistic speakers of Haitian Creole the majority of the population is likely not aware of the 'lack of conjugation' and to them this system of noting tense and subject is completely normal and conversational.
While the similarities between Haitian Creole and French, on the surface, appear to be solely lexical, there is a lot more borrowing than one might first expect. While possession follows a syntactical order similar to the Fon language of West Africa, verbs, tenses and conjugations all follow a similar SVO (subject, verb, object) order, similar to French.
Pronouns:
In french there are direct and indirect object pronouns and subjects. I for instance in French is Je while the indirect and direct object pronoun is me (mø) and simply saying "me," is moi in French .
This is not the case in Haitian Creole where there is one word for I or me: Mwen. In French if you wanted to say He talks to me, me is the indirect object pronoun and thus comes before the verb: Il me parle. In Haitian Creole they only use Mwen or the short form m' so in Haitian Creole, He talks to me is li chita pale mwen or li chita pale m'. In French the order of the indirect object pronoun and the verb is switched (il/he me/me parle/speaks (to)) but the SVO order remains intact in Haitian Creole. (Li/he chita pale/speaks to mwen/me))
Below is a list of all the pronouns in Haitian Creole:
I/me: Mwen short form: M'
You (singular): Ou short form: W'
He/She: Li short form: L'
We: Nou short form: N'
You (Plural): Nou or Ou Short form: none
Them: Yo short form: Y'
Source: Wikipedia Article on Haitian Creole, About.com/French Language and Pindziak