Chapter 2: Grammar
As previously stated, there is no conjugation like in French or in Spanish. This means that Creole marks the change of tense through tense markers. These tense markers help determine whether an action is taking place in the present, past, or future. For the simple present, a marker is not necessary. The one-stem verb will stay the same whereas the two-stem verb changes from long to short form.
Mo parl I speak
Mo wa I see
One situation that you might find yourself in when speaking to some Creoles is the use of the long form of a two-stem verb to represent the simple present. Some speakers prefer to exclusively use the long form, and others prefer to use the short form.
For the present progressive, which is the equivalent to English’s ‘verb + ing,’ another marker is introduced. Apé/ap. This marker is placed after the subject and before the verb. An important note to remember is that when one word ends with a vowel and another one starts with a vowel, they tend to contract.
Mo + apé + di I am saying
M’ap di I am saying
The past tense is marked by the marker té. This marker, like the progressive, is placed after the subject and before the verb.
Mo té parlé I spoke
Mo té wa I saw
For static verbs, this marker also goes before the verb and is always used to render the verb past tense. However, In the Teche region and for other speakers, the past tense marker is not the only way to mark past tense. For these speakers, they can mark past tense using context and, for long-stem verbs, the long form of a verb. It also helps to create a distinction between the simple past and the past anterior (‘had’ in English).
Mo parlé I spoke
Mo té parlé I had spoke
Mo wa I saw
Mo té wa I had seen
Té is also used to create the past progressive, which is the equivalent to English’s ‘was verb + ing.’ In this case, té is placed in front of apé/ap. This gives you the equation subject+té+apé+verb. As stated before, since these two end and begin with a vowel, they contract to make t’apé/t’ap.
Mo t’ap di I was saying
To t’ap fé You were doing
| Creole | English |
|---|---|
| Té | past tense marker |
| Apé / Ap | present progressive |