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…īy 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. Instead a new word is introduced and placed in front of the verb for example: Unlike Standard English, in the Jamaican Creole, the verb does not change. Jamaican Patois double negatives are accepted.Ĭompound words are commonly used in Jamaican Creole for example:.In Standard English it is never acceptable to use double negatives such as 'nobody does not'. Some words form by reduplication show character traits, for example: Jamaican Creole Repetition is also used for emphasis or to increase intensity or number for example: Jamaican Creole 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: 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.
There are no possessive pronouns in the Jamaican Patois such as your, her, his, its, ours and theirs, for example: Jamaican Creole There is no distinction between subject and object.ĭenoting a 'person' in Jamaican Patois differs from Standard English in the following ways:.The pronoun 'im' can mean both or either 'he' or 'she'. Why use a Jamacian translator With this patois translator/patwa translator you will be able to learn Jamaican phrases by translating phrase such as how are you or hello and in due time you will be able to create your own jamaica pharses. There is no differentiation in the use of pronouns to show gender. This is an english based creole langauge or some may even call it a slang.NOTE: In Jamaican Patois, the letters '-s' or '-es' do not necessarily denote plurality as is shown in the examples below: 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. One common method of forming plurals in standard English is by adding 's' or 'es' to the end of a word. The verb does not change with the subject. However, there is no subject-verb agreement in Jamaican Patois. Sentences in Jamaican Patois are built like English sentences in that, there is a subject, a predicate (or verb), and an object.
Let us now take a look at some of the grammatical features of Jamaican Patois. But with a little practice, you will be able to have at least a basic understanding of Jamaican Patois. Language adds into all that to make Jamaica one of the best in the Caribbean and the world.It's actually quite difficult to acquire the accent of a Jamaican, unless you've lived in Jamaica for many years, and even then, speaking patois fluently is not guaranteed. The country is filled with so much diversity and such a rich historical culture. Just writing them makes me feel like I’m cursing at you, haha but for the purpose of this article, it was important that I highlight them.īy now you should have a somewhat better understanding of Jamaican creole. It’s a deeply offensive insult however to hear any of the terms. Personally, I haven’t derived an exact meaning for them (and I’m sure many people don’t know the precise meaning). The Jamaican bad words are also far and many. Waste man – suggesting the other person is useless / of no useīooguyaga – also suggesting the other person is worthlessĭunce bat – used to imply the other person is stupid The dialect also has it’s own set of insults and curse words which you’re like to hear during a heated arguement. Of course, there’s also the more sexually suggestive remarks which I won’t include here but which you can fully expect to hear on the island too. Translation: Miss, I like the way you look It can be quite amusing (depending on how receptive you are and what’s said). If you’re a woman walking the streets of Jamaica, be prepared to hear some pickup lines thrown your way. If two people that know each other are walking past one another, you’ll probably see a typical example of this.
If you ever get the chance to observe Jamaicans interacting you’ll hear these exchanges often. Here are some other standard greetings which you may encounter: There’s also a difference in the way one Jamaican greets another using Jamaican Patwa.įor example, to say Good Morning, you say “Mawnin.” To say What’s Up, you say “Whe Yu Deh Pon?” or older folks would say “Yuh Alright?” Or you can also watch this video which offers a good idea.
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