Definite article
Singular nouns
Haitian Creole has a definite article, roughly corresponding to English "the" and French le/la. It is placed after the noun, and the sound varies by the last sound of the previous word. If the last sound is an oral consonant and is preceded by an oral vowel, it becomes la. Recall that in Haitian Creole, y is always a consonant.
| Haitian Creole | English |
|---|---|
| kravat la | the tie |
| liv la | the book |
| kay la | the house |
If the last sound is an oral consonant and is preceded by a nasal vowel, it becomes lan:
| Haitian Creole | English |
|---|---|
| lanp lan | the lamp |
| bank lan | the bank |
If the last sound is an oral vowel and is preceded by an oral consonant, it becomes a:
| Haitian Creole | English |
|---|---|
| kouto a | the knife |
| peyi a | the country |
If the last sound is an oral vowel and is preceded by a nasal consonant, it becomes an:
| Haitian Creole | English |
|---|---|
| fanmi an | the family |
| mi an | the wall |
If the last sound is a nasal vowel, it becomes an:
| Haitian Creole | English |
|---|---|
| chien an | the dog |
| pon an | the bridge |
If the last sound is a nasal consonant, it becomes nan:
| Haitian Creole | English |
|---|---|
| machin nan | the car |
| telefòn nan | the telephone |
| madanm nan | the woman |
Plural nouns
The definite article for any plural noun is yo. Recall that yo can also mean "they", "them" or "their".
Placement
The definite article goes after the noun, and also after anything that modifies the noun, including relative clauses.
| Haitian Creole | English |
|---|---|
| zanmi mwen an | my friend |
| fè mwen konnen an | the fact [that] I know |
| bagay ki nan bwat li a | The thing that is in his/her/its box |
Usage
The usage of the definite article is slightly different in Haitian Creole. It can be used to indicate singular vs. plural if the word sa is used with the same noun, or if there is a possessor indicated.
| Haitian Creole | English |
|---|---|
| moun sa yo | these/those people |
| moun sa a | this/that person |
Indefinite article
Recall that the indefinite article is yon. It means "a" or "an". It goes before the noun it modifies.
| Extra Practice |
|---|
| A worksheet covering this material is available at Wikiversity. |