Pronouns

The Louisiana Creole pronouns work as they do in the English language, pronouns take the place of a noun. Below you will find a useful matrix of the most common pronouns. You can click the "Creole" header to listen to the entire category or select an individual word.

Subjective Subjective
Objective
 Objective Possessive Possessive
English Creole English
Creole English Creole
First person I mo
me mò
mine mokin/mochin (masculine)
makènn/mochènn (feminine)
Second person you to you twa yours tokin/tochin
tokènn/tochènn
Third person he, she it
 li, ça him, her, it
 li his, her, hers, its sokin/sochin
sokènn/sochènn
1st Plural we
 no, nou, nouzòt us
 nouzòt, nou, zòt our, ours nokin/nochin
nokènn/nochènn
2nd Plural you
 vos, vouzòt you
 vou, vouzòt your, yours
 vokin/vochin
vokènn/vochènn
3rd Plural they
 yé them
 yé their, theirs
 yékin/yéchin
yékènn/yéchènn


  Reflexive Reflexive Possessive
Adjective		 Possessive
Adjective
English Creole English Creole
First person myself mo-mèmm my mô (masculine)
mâ (feminine)
Second person yourself to-mèmm your tô
tâ
Third person    thyself li-mèmm his, her, its sô/nô/zòt
1st Plural ourselves nou-mèmm our nô/nouzôt/zòt
2nd Plural yourselves vou-mèmm your, yall's vô/vôt/zòt
3rd Plural themselves yé-mèmm their
 yê

Demonstrative Pronouns

You need to be careful when using demonstrative pronouns. Sometimes they are pronominal, used before a noun, and other times they are hyphenated-postnominal, used after the noun. Please refer to Louisiana Creole Learning Channel for more information.

Near Far
English
Creole
Singular This çe, -çilá
Singular That -ça, lá
  Plural These -çê, -ca-yé
Plural Those -çála, -lála

Conjunctions

Conjunctions are those words conjoining or, combining sentences, phrases and/or words (http://eslus.com). Below you will find a list of the most common conjunctions in Louisiana Creole.

  Louisiana Creole Example Translation
and É, épi Épi çé fou, tou ça And, all that is just crazy.
or Ou T’olé fettuccine ou chop-koshon aswar? Do you want fettuccine or pork chops tonight?
but, well Mé Mé, çé pa bon tou ça Well, that’s not good, all that.
when Kan, ékan Ékan li mourí, tou kékin viní a lamézon When he died, everybody came to the house.
if Si Si mo té smat, mo sé gin un djob If I were smart, I’d have a job.
because Paske, parske Mo pa ka jwènn vouzòt paske mo bizé I can’t join yall because I’m busy.
anyways, although Kanmèmm, Kamèmm Sô pap dí li pa fé ça, mé, li té fé ça kamèmm His father told him not to do it, but he did it, anyways.

Prepositions

A preposition is a word which shows relationships among other words in the sentence. The relationships include direction, place, time, cause, manner and amount. A preposition always goes with a noun or pronoun which is called the object of the preposition (http://eslus.com). The following chart shows the most common preposition used in Louisiana Creole.

  Louisiana Creole Example Translation
Before Avan, envan Li té rivé avan mò He arrived before me.
After Apré Li té rivé apré mò He arrived after me.
Until Jishká, Ishká, Shká Li va rèsté isit ishká démin. He’s going to stay here until tomorrow.
From, Since, For Dépi, dipi Mo já mariyé dépi 25 nan. I’ve been married for 25 years, already.
Through Atravèr Li pasé atravèr labarriyèr. He passed/entered through the gate/fence.
Under Sou L’apé kashé li-mèmm sou latab-la. He’s hiding under the table.
Underneath Ennsou L’apé kashé sô kado ennsou latab-la. He’s hiding her present underneath the table.
On Sî, su Li pa kapab kashé li-mèmm sî latab. She can’t hide on the table
thereon, on there, thereupon Ladsu, ladsi Li pa kapab kashé sô kado ladsu. She can’t hide his gift on there.
on top, on top of Désu, dési Li pa kapab kashé sô dipin désu laglasyèr. He can’t hide his bread on top of the refrigerator.
at someone’s place
of residence,
near someone’s
residence/business		 Koté, shé Yé gone koté Élisyá. They’ve gone to Alicia’s place.
near, almost, nearby Pròsh, pròsh de Yé rès pròsh de lamézon.
To pròsh finí tô léçon-la? 		They stay nearby
Have you almost finished your work?
in the vicinity of,
around a place,
close to		 Orá de, alentour, ozalentour Wé, yé batí un magazin orá de légliz.
Zozo-yé rès tout alentour isit en avril. 		Yes, they built a store close to the church.
Birds stay all around here in April.

Question Words

*who, what and which are special pronouns.

  Louisiana Creole Example Translation
Who* Ki, Ki-ça Ki çé ki vwayé twa ça?
Ki çé ci-là? 		Who is it that sent you that?
Who’s that one over there?
What* Ça, Ki, Konmen Ça ça di, nèg?
Ki t’alé manjé? 		What’s up, dude?
What are you going to eat?
Where Aou/Ayou, Éou/Éyou Aou zòt va aswar?
Éyou yé sorti ?		 Where are y’all going tonight?
Where are they from?
Why Kwafèr, Poukwa Kwafèr to pa kourí wa Nonk Jil?
Poukwa l’ap kouri à Ibéry touletem? 		Why aren’t you going see uncle Jules?
Why’s she going to New Iberia so often?
When Ékan, kan Ékan to va fini l’ékòl? So when are you going to finish school?
Which* Ékèl, Kèl Ékèl liv to préfèr? Which book do you prefer?
How Konmen Komen yé pèl twa? What’s your name?/What do people call you?
How many Kombyin Kombyin li payé pou ça? How much did he pay for this?