Weh Wi Ga Fi Seh Kriol Lesson: Plurals and Singulars

Tudeh wi di taak bowt how sohn nongz werk eena Kriol ahn eena Inglish. Inglish kaal sohn nongz “collective nouns,” laik food ahn advais [food and advice]. Soh yu noh fu add “s” or “es” pahn dehnya werd wen yu meen moa dan wan er dat da lat. Wid ada naamal nongz eena Inglish, yu hafu add “s” or “es” fu mek it moa dan wan (waterfall > waterfalls). Wahn neks kaina “collective noun” eena Inglish da joori [jury]. Dis da wahn “collective noun” aalso eena Kriol. Yu ku seh “Di joori di mek op ih main” er “Di joori di mek op dehn main.” [The jury is making up its mind OR The jury are making up their minds.] Noatis: eena di sekan eksampl, fu di Inglish way bikaaz yu yooz di plooral verb “are,” yu aalso hafu chaynj “is”>“are,” “its”>their, ahn “mind”>“minds.” Eena di Kriol verzhan, yu oanli hafu chaynj... mek op ih main> mek op dehn main.” Sayka Kriol noh hafu yooz di “is/are” verb, yu neva hafu wori bowt dat eena di Kriol.
 

Notice: Normally in English you would have to add an “s” or “es” if you say a lot of dishes/places/villages. But because food is a collective noun, you do not say “foods.”

Notice: In the Kriol, no need to add “s” to waterfall; instead, you use the plural marker “dehn” after the noun to indicate the plural. So, behind a noun, “dehn” in Kriol makes it plural, but in front of a noun, like in “Di joori di mek op dehn main,” then “dehn” > their. In English, because “waterfall” is not a collective noun like “food,” you need to add “s” or”es” to make it plural/more than one. And, because “waterfall ends in a consonant “l” you add only “s.”

Pleez noa seh dat yu ku laan gud ahn prapa Inglish widowtn di stamp owt yu priti priti Kriol langwij.
= Please understand that you can learn fluent English without stamping out your very pretty Kriol language

Silvaana Udz, Ed.D. da fahn Bileez. If yu waahn tel shee bowt sohnting speshal fu put eena dis Kriol aatikl, eemayl: [email protected] and Vizit: www.nationalkriolcouncil.org