Yon
Translation
A. An.
Word order
Yon + Noun
When to use yon?
Yon is used in the same way as the two English words ‘a’ and ‘an’. A noun is a person, place, or thing. Use ‘yon’ before a noun to:
- introduce a noun in a conversation
- show if the specific identity of the noun is not known
- speak of one noun, as opposed to more than one noun
Some examples
1. Introduce a Noun in a conversation
M wè yon bèt nan pakin nan. Bèt la nwa.
I see an animal in the garage. The animal is black.
Since this is the first time that the animal (noun) is being introduced in the conversation, we use ‘yon’. In the 2nd sentence, we do not use ‘yon’ when speaking about the animal.
2. Specific identity of a noun is not known
Li te achte yon kay.
She bought a house.
We don’t know which house specifically was bought. It could be any house. Therefore we use ‘yon’ before the noun (kay).
3. Speak of one noun, as opposed to more than one noun
Li gen yon mango ak twa zoranj.
He has a mango and three oranges.
Because we are counting the number of nouns, one (1) mango, we use ‘yon’ before the noun. We do not use “en”, the number one, in this context. We also do not use “youn” in this context.
Using yon in conversations
Haitians usually do not pronounce the ‘y’ in ‘yon’ in conversations or spoken Creole. They may even combine ‘yon’ and the word before it. For example, they may say:
Mwen se on enfimyè. I am a nurse.
Mwen s on enfimyè. I am a nurse.
Li gen on kay. She has a house.
Li g on kay. She has a house.