Chapter 3: Grammar
To be or not to be. Ça çé kèstyon-la.
In standard English, ‘to be’ can be used as a linking verb, which is a verb that links a subject to a noun. For example: ‘You are a teacher’ or ‘He is a dog.’ It can also see usage as a main verb. A main verb describes the state of being as the subject relates to nouns and adjectives. For example, take the phrase ‘We are happy.’ In this phrase, the state of the subject ‘We’ is being related to the adjective ‘happy.’ The verb ‘to be’ is conjugated to relate these two words.
In Creole, ‘to be’ is dèt. Like English, it is used as both a linking verb and a main verb, but it is used less frequently than standard English. It is used more frequently as a linking verb between the subject and a noun. Such as in the examples below.
Li çé in nonm He is a man
Li çé in shyin She is a dog
Notice that dèt changes form once placed in the sentences. Dèt is an irregular verb that has several forms. Çé is one of the most common forms employed in everyday speech. When one is relating two nouns or a subject and a noun, it is necessary to use çé.
Like some dialects of English, dèt is not always used to relate a noun to an adjective. Take the sentence ‘He is happy’ for example. In some English dialects, the verb ‘to be’ is dropped which gives the result: ‘He happy’. This also occurs in Creole.
Li konten He is happy
Li malad He is sick
In the past tense, çé is paired with the past tense marker té. When there is no explicit subject (a noun or pronoun that clearly functions as the subject), it is necessary to employ the pair çé + té.
Çé té vayan It was great
Çé té gran It was big
Çé does not always have to be paired with té. Té can be used as a standalone when relating two nouns or a subject and a noun.
Li té fashé He was upset
Nou té byin We were alright
Another form of dèt appears with the interrogative and relative clause. For this form dèt changes to yê. It is generally placed at the end of a sentence.
Éyou to yê? Where are you?
Ki li yê? Who is he?
Kom nou yê. Like we are
| Creole | English |
|---|---|
| Dèt | to be |
| Çé | links two nouns |
| Çé té | combined with past tense marker |
| Té | past tense marker |
| Yê | used with questions and relative clauses |