This is our first lesson, I hope you'll enjoy it.
In that first post, I am going to teach you two basic auxiliary verbs you have to know.
The two verbs are "To Be" which is in Creole "Se" ; "e" in Creole is pronounced like "ɪ" in the word "minute". And "To Have" which is in creole "Genyen; or Gen" ; "en" in Creole is pronounced as the English Phonetic symbol "n̩" .
Before I start with the verbs, I must give you the most important tools to conjugate a verb.
These things are the personnal pronouns.
English Haitian Creole
I Mwen
You Ou
He/she/it Li
We Nou
You Nou
They Yo
Now with the verb "To Be" (Se)
English Haitian Creole
I am Mwen se
You are Ou se
He/she/it is Li se
We are Nou se
You are Nou se
They are Yo se
Here are some examples.
I am Stanley Lalanne. ==> Mwen se Stanley Lalanne
She is Haitian. ==> Li se Ayisyen.
Before we continue, let me introduce to you the Haitian Creole alphabet with English phonetic symbols.
Consonants
Haitian orthography IPA Examples nearest English equivalent
b b bagay before
ch ʃ cheve shoe
d d dènye do
f f fig festival
g ɡ gòch gain
h h hinghang hotel
j ʒ jedi vision
k k kle sky
l l lalin clean
m m moun moon
n n nòt note
ng ŋ hinghang feeling
p p pakèt spy
r ɣ rezon ruin
s s sis six
t t tonton telephone
v v vwazen vision
w w wi we
y j pye yes
z z zero zero
The H. Creole consonants are closely similar to the English's. But there are some differences in the vowels. Let us take a look at them.
Vowels
Haitian orthography IPA Examples nearest English equivalent
a(or à before an n) a abako (pàn) apple
an(when not followed by a vowel) ã anpil genre
e e kle clay
è ɛ fèt festival
en(when not followed by a vowel) ɛ̃ mwen doyen
i i lide unique
o o zwazo sole
ò ɔ deyò sort
on(when not followed by a vowel) ɔ̃ tonton bon appétit
ou u kafou you
oun(when not followed by a vowel) ũ youn moon
ui ɥi lannuit huis-clos
Now, let us go for our second auxiliary verb.
To Have (Genyen / Gen)
English H. Creole
I have Mwen genyen (or mwen gen)
You have Ou genyen (or ou gen)
He/she/it has Li genyen (or li gen)
We have Nou genyen (or nou gen)
You have Nou genyen (or nou gen)
They have Yo genyen (or yo gen)
And here are some examples:
I have two dollars. ==> Mwen genyen (gen) de dola.
They have a car. ==> Yo genyen (gen) you machin.
Now, I will introduce to you the numbers (digits) in H. Creole.
Let us begin!
Numbers H. Creole
1 Youn
2 De
3 Twa
4 Kat
5 Senk
6 Sis
7 Sèt
8 Uit
9 Nèf
0 Zero
10 Dis
11 Onz
12 Douz
13 Trèz
14 Katòz
15 Kenz
16 Sèz
17 Disèt
18 Dizuit
19 Diznèf
20 Ven
This is where we leave off for our first lesson, I hope you enjoyed it and we'll be giving more soon.. STICK WITH US!
Our next lesson will be about introducing yourself using the H. Creole language.
