In Creole, the future tense is formed with the use of alé and va. Both of these verbs can be expressed in English as ‘going to’ and ‘will + verb.’ In most cases, va can be shortened to a when expressing the future tense. Just like the past tense marker, the future tense is placed after the subject and before the verb. The two-stem verb, like in the previous section, retains its long-form. Below are some examples.

Mo va di I will say

L’alé lir She is going to read

N’a manjé We will eat

Alé and va are two ways to say the verb ‘to go’ in Creole. Another common way is with the use of kouri, as in Kouri-Vini. Like in English, you can use the verb ‘to go’ to determine the future tense of a sentence. For instance, here are some examples.

Mo kouri o sto I’m going to the store

N’alé wa twa We’ll see you later

Li va kouri manjé He’s going to go eat

While Creole does have the verb dèt to signify ‘to be,’ it is not a regular verb, and it has its own particularities. To express an idea such as ‘I will be,’ one can use a future tense marker and place it before the verb dèt as in the expression Mo va dèt lá (I will be there). Another way is to use a special derivative of dèt which is sa. Sa, however, can be used with verbs to mark the future as well. Here are some examples.

Mo va dèt lá I will be there

Mo sa lá I will be there

Li sa gin ça He will have that

  
    Creole
    English
  
    Alé
    to go / going to
  
    Va / a
    to go / going to
  
    Kouri
    to go
  
    Sa
    will be
  
    Dèt
    to be

Future tense

C.R.E.O.L.E., Inc.