In Creole, there is no conjugation like in French or in Spanish. This means that Creole marks the change of tense through different means. Before we introduce you to the tense markers, we must first present the two main verb groups of Creole. One-stem verbs are verbs that have only one form. Below are several examples.

ékri to write

lir to read

wa to see

The two-stem verbs are verbs that have two forms. These forms consist of the long and short form. Due to the two forms, the forms can determine the tense in which the action is happening. In order to change from the long to short form, the stem is dropped. Take the verb manjé (to eat) for example, it is currently in the long form, but to render it in the short form you have to drop the é. That gives manj as the result. Here are a couple examples of two-stem verbs.

Parlé to speak

Dansé to dance

Here are some verbs that you will need in the next section. Don’t be afraid to use them!

  
    Creole
    English
  
    Parlé
    to speak
  
    Manjé
    to eat
  
    Di
    to say / to tell
  
    Bwa
    to drink
  
    Lir/li
    to read
  
    Dansé
    to dance
  
    Wa
    to see

Stem verbs

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