Tenses in Patois

[Tropicana]

Present ..Go
Future... a go
Past ... did go

Is this correct?

Please use in sentences and use other words in sentences too to illustrate.

[missus_vegas]

go is not a patwah word.

[Tropicana]

Mi a go.....of course it is...unless you are being nit picky about spelling.

Mi a goh.

[j-kid]

Yuh too argumentative, das why yuh ah learn soh slow.

Mi a go.....of course it is...unless you are being nit picky about spelling.Mi a goh.

[Tropicana]

Conjugate de sinting fi me noh man cho. By de way, I have been bawling for you for days in Technology.

[j-kid]

Present: Mi deh deh, or mi deh yah.......................Future: Mi ah goh, or Mi wi goh...................Past: Mi did goh deh, or Mi goh deh.....................

Conjugate di sinting fi mi noh man cho. By de way.

[Tropicana]

Mi ah goh practice.

Present: Mi deh deh, or mi deh yah
Future: Mi ah goh, or Mi wi goh...................
Past: Mi did goh deh, or Mi goh deh.....................

OKay let me try another verb

Present: Mi nyam, she nyam, im nyam, you nyam, wi nyam , onoo nyam, dem nyam
Future: Mi ah goh nyam
Past: M did nyam

Past Negative: Me nevah did nyam
Present Negative: No noh nyam
Future Negative: Mi naw go nyam, she naw go nyam, im naw go nyam, wi naw go nyam, onoo naw go nyam, dem noaw go nyam

How's that?

[Wahalla]

Actually the use of guh is a modern additive....

For instance nyam....


Yessidi im nyam bickle.

Mi ah nyam bickle

Tommara mi nyam bickle...

Are all acceptable.....

Yessidey mi shell piementa
Today mi shell piementa
Tomarraw mi shell piementa ova mass mani .....

The use of tense is a moderne adjectice....a post 30s....like the invention of Treasure Beach.....

Patwas gramma like most of patwad is contextual rather than grammatically......

Course u ask u cousin dem fi confirm every ting..

[Xavier]

So are we building a structure for patois

[Wahalla]

So are we building a structure for patois

Absolute stupidity.

[Tropicana]

So are we building a structure for patois

No. Trying to get a handle on the structure. It's like trying to grab Jello without the bowl.

[Tropicana]

Let's see if this helps:



Let us now take a look at some of the grammatical features of Jamaican Patois.

1. SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT

Sentences in Jamaican Patois are built like English sentences in that, there is a subject, a predicate (or verb), and an object. However, there is no subject-verb agreement in Jamaican Patois. The verb does not change with the subject. Let us look at the table below.

Mi run	I run
im run	he runs
shi run	she runs
Wi run	We run
Dem run	They run
Unu run	You all run
eyah run	it runs
Yu run	You run

2. Formation of Plurals

One common method of forming plurals in standard English is by adding 's' or; 'es' to the end of a word. (e.g. toy-toys, class- classes etc..)

However, in Jamaican Patois a word can be pluralized by adding 'dem' to the end word or, inserting 'nuff' or a number at the beginning of the word.

Plate dem	Plates
Baby dem	Babies
Pen dem	Pens
Teacha dem	Teachers
Book dem	Books
Nuff banana	Many bananas
Ten bwoy	Ten boys

NOTE: In Jamaican Patois, the letters '-s' or '-es' do not necessarily denote plurality as is shown in the examples below:

Waan shoes	A shoe
Waan drinks	A drink

3. USE OF PRONOUNS

In Jamaican Patois:

• There is no differentiation in the use of pronouns to show gender. The pronoun 'im' can mean both or either 'he' or 'she'.
• There is no distinction between subject and object.

Female - im frack look gud	Her frock (dress) looks good
Male - im fada gaan	His father is gone
Subject - mi a guh	I am going
Object - come fi mi	Come for me

Denoting a 'person' in Jamaican Patois differs from Standard English in the following ways:

Person Speaking (first person)	‘Mi’ or 'wi’	'I' or 'we'
Person being spoken to (second person)	'yu' or'unu'	'you' or 'you all'
Person being spoken about (third person)	‘im’ or ‘dem’	“he /she” or “them”

There are no possessive pronouns in the Jamaican Patois such as your, her, his, its, ours and theirs, for example:

Fi mi backle	My bottle
Fi yu backle	Your bottle
Fi dem backle	Their bottle

4. USE OF THE COPULA

The copula is a connecting word; for example, in Jamaican Patois the copula is the letter 'a' which is used for the particle as well as for the continuous tense.

For example:

Im a run	He is running
Im a guh fi it	He is going for it
Mi a teacha	I am a teacher

5. USE OF REPETITION/REDUPLICATION

In Jamaican Patois:

Repetition is used for degrees of comparison as well as emphasis; for example, using Jamaican Patois to talk about how big a child has become:

Di bwoy big, eeh!	The boy has grown
Fi real, im big-big!	For real, he is very big
A true! Him get big-big	It is true, he has gotten big

Repetition is also used for emphasis or to increase intensity or number; for example:

A tru tru	It’s true true	It is very true
Yuh mus cum tideh-tideh	You must come today today	It is important that you come today

Some words form by reduplication show character traits, for example:

nyami-nyami	greedy
Chakka-chakka	Untidy
fenkeh-fenkeh	Weak, poor

6. USE OF DOUBLE NEGATIVES

In Standard English it is never acceptable to use double negatives such as 'nobody does not'. However, in• Jamaican Patois double negatives are accepted.

Mi nuh have nun	I don’t have none	I don't have any
Shi don't have nothing	She doesn’t have nothing	She doesn't have anything
Dem don't live dere nuh more	They don’t live there no more	They don't live there any more
Mi nah guh.nuh weh	I am not going no where	I am not going anywhere
Nobady neva see’m	Nobody never saw him	Nobody saw him
Nobady nuh live ova deh	Nobody doesn’t lives over there	Nobody lives over there

7. COMPOUND WORDS

Compound words are commonly used in Jamaican Creole; for example:

Han miggle	Hand middle	The palm (of your hand)
Hiez-ole	Ear hole	The ear or the auditory passage
Bwoy Pickney	Boy Child	A Young boy
Foot battam	Foot bottom	The sole (of your foot)
Nose-ole	Nose hole	Nostril
Yeye-Wata	Eye Water	Tears
Yeye-ball	Eye ball	Eye

8. Tense

Unlike Standard English, in the Jamaican Creole, the verb does not change. Instead a new word is introduced and placed in front of the verb; for example:


Present Tense:

Mi guh	I am going
Di ooman a guh a town	The woman is going to town
Im a cum	He is coming
Mi a cum	I am coming

Past Tense:

Mi did guh	I went
Di ooman did guh a town	The woman went to town
Im did cum	He came
Mi did cum	I came

In Jamaican Creole, past tense is formed by using one of the following three words: 'en', 'ben' and 'did', whereas in Standard English the verb is changed or "e" or "ed" is added ; for example, collect-collected, run-ran, buy-bought, etc…


By now you probably have a basic understanding on the differences between Jamaican Patois and Standard English, for a more detailed guide, you can check out our how to speak Jamaican Patois series.

http://jamaicanpatwah.com/b/how-to-s...amaican-patois

[Tropicana]

Oh gosh....some a dis noh sound rite.

[Tropicana]

Here is another from the shoutbox:

Future: It a go rain.

Present: It a rain - Is that correct?

Past: It did rain

Negative: I nevah did rain - Is that correct?