Language/Haitian/Grammar/Object-Pronouns
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As a Haitian language teacher with 20 years of experience, I am excited to introduce you to the object pronouns in Haitian. Object pronouns are used to replace the object of a sentence, and they can make your conversations in Haitian more concise and efficient. By the end of this lesson, you will be able to use object pronouns confidently and correctly in Haitian sentences.
Take a moment to explore these relevant pages as you conclude this lesson: How to Use Have & Agreement of Adjectives.
Object Pronouns
In Haitian, object pronouns replace the direct object of a sentence. Here is a list of object pronouns in Haitian:
| Haitian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| mwen | /mwɛn/ | me |
| ou | /u/ | you (singular) |
| li | /li/ | him/her/it |
| nou | /nu/ | us |
| nou menm | /nu mɛnm/ | ourselves |
| yo | /jo/ | them |
It's important to note that object pronouns come BEFORE the verb in Haitian sentences. Here's an example:
- Li te manje pen an. (He ate the pen.)
- Li te manje-l. (He ate it.)
In the second sentence, the object pronoun "l" (which means "it") is used to replace "pen."
Here are some more examples of object pronouns in sentences:
- Ou pote liv la? (Did you bring the book?)
- Mwen pa pote-l. (I didn't bring it.)
- Yo te wè mwen nan lari. (They saw me on the street.)
- Yo te wè-m. (They saw me.)
Notice how the object pronoun is used to replace the direct object of the sentence (in these examples, "liv," "l," "mwen," and "m").
Placement of Object Pronouns
As mentioned earlier, object pronouns in Haitian come BEFORE the verb in a sentence. However, there are some exceptions to this rule:
1. If the verb is in the infinitive form, the object pronoun comes AFTER the verb.
- Mwen vle wè-l. (I want to see him.)
- Li renmen manje-l. (He likes to eat it.)
2. If the verb is in the imperative form, the object pronoun comes AFTER the verb.
- Kouri ale! (Run away!)
- Mache-l. (Walk it.)
3. If the verb is in the gerund form, the object pronoun can come either BEFORE or AFTER the verb.
- Mwen ap manje-l. / Mwen ap-l manje. (I am eating it.)
- Yo te koute-n gadèz. / Yo te koute gadèz-n. (They listened to us carefully.)
It's important to note that when the object pronoun comes AFTER the verb, a hyphen is used to connect the verb and the pronoun.
Practice
Let's practice using object pronouns in sentences. Translate the following sentences into Haitian using object pronouns.
1. She likes the banana. 2. They saw the movie last night. 3. I am reading the book now. 4. He doesn't want to watch the TV program.
Answers:
1. Li renmen-l. 2. Yo te wè-l fim nan yè swa. 3. Mwen ap li-l kounye-a. 4. Li pa vle gade-l emisyon-an.
Conclusion
In this lesson, we've covered the basics of object pronouns in Haitian. Now that you understand how and where to use them correctly in sentences, you're one step closer to being conversational in Haitian Creole. Keep practicing and you'll be speaking like a native in no time!
Now that you've completed this lesson, don't stop learning! Check out these related topics: Questions & Past Tense Completed Actions.
Other Lessons
- Word Order in Simple Sentences
- Negation
- Interrogative Form of Verbs
- Adjectives
- 0 to A1 Course
- Comparative and Superlative Forms of Adjectives
- Pronouns
- Progressive Tense Ongoing Actions
- Conditional Mood
- Questions
Sources
- Haitian Creole - Wikipedia
- Lesson 15 - Object Pronouns / Possessive Pronouns - Haitian Creole
- Haitian Pronouns
| ◀️ Subject Pronouns — Previous Lesson | Next Lesson — Possessive Pronouns ▶️ |