Describing People, Places, And Things
Word order
Noun + Description of Noun
Noun + Adjectives
How to describe people, places, and things?
A person, place or thing is called a noun. A description of a noun is called an adjective. For example, the color (red), size (big), or quality (beautiful) of the noun is an adjective. In English, adjectives come before nouns, for example, ‘a red car’.
In Haitian Creole, adjectives generally come after the noun they are describing. For example, the sentence above becomes ‘yon machin wouj’. Remembering the word order will help you use adjectives correctly.
Examples
David se yon gason vanyan. David is a courageous man.
Noun = gason
Adjective = vanyan
Pase yon twal mouye sou li. Wipe a damp cloth on it.
Noun = twal
Adjective = mouye
Mwen gen yon wòb long wouj vyolèt. I have a long, red-violet robe.
Noun = wòb
Adjectives = long, wouj, vyolèt
Do not use "se" (to be) before Adjectives
When we want to describe a noun in English, we generally use the verb “to be”. For example:
The car is red. ‘Is’ is a form of the verb “to be”.
I am hungry and tired. ‘Am’ is a form of the verb “to be”.
They are very tall. ‘Are’ is a form of the verb “to be”.
In Haitian Creole, we do not use the verb “se” before adjectives. Let’s use the examples from above:
Machin nan wouj. The car is red.
Mwen grangou e fatige. I am hungry and tired.
Building yo wo anpil. The buildings are very tall. Here ‘wo’ is describing the buildings. ‘Anpil’ is describing buildings’s height.
Exceptions to the rule
A few Adjectives go before the Noun. For example, bèl (beautiful), bon (good), gran (big), gwo (big), and ti (small). Play close attention to when natives use these adjectives.
Mwen gen yon bèl machin ble. I have a beautiful blue car.
Li se yon bon timoun. He’s a good child.
Sa se yon gran nouvèl. That’s a big news.
Pitit mwen vle yon ti kado. My child wants a small gift.
Ba l yon gwo bizou. Give him a big kiss.
List of descriptive words / Adjectives
Using the words below, create your own sentences and use them during the week.