Chapter Two: Connecting Words

In Chapter One, you mastered the foundation, the key pronouns and the action words (verbs). Now we’ll focus on the essential connecting words that fill the gaps, making your simple phrases into complete, meaningful sentences. These are often the small words we use without thinking in English, but they are crucial for clarity in Mauritian Creole.

Articles (A, AN, and THE)

Articles are small words attached to nouns to specify if the noun is general or specific. Creole has only two main articles, which simplifies things greatly!

The Indefinite Article (A / An)

In Kreol, both ‘a’ and ‘an’ are covered by a single word: enn.

Creole Word	English Equivalent	Usage Notes
Enn	A, An	Used before any noun to mean ‘one’ or ‘a single instance’.

Example Noun	With Indefinite Article	Translation
Liv (book)	Enn liv	A book
Tifi (girl)	Enn tifi	A girl
Lakaz (house)	Enn lakaz	A house

Grammar Tip: Enn means One In Kreol, enn literally means ‘one.’ Therefore, saying enn liv is structurally the same as saying ‘one book.’ This consistency means you never have to worry about vowel or consonant rules (like the English ‘a’ vs. ‘an’).

The Definite Article (The)

The definite article is la. Its placement, however, is unique compared to English or French: it always comes after the noun it modifies.

Creole Word	English Equivalent	Usage Notes
La	The	Always attached after the noun.

Example Noun	With Definite Article	Translation
Liv	Liv-la	The book (literally: Book the)
Tifi	Tifi-la	The girl
Banann	Banann-la	The banana

Negation (Just Say No)

To turn a positive statement into a negative one (like ‘I speak’ into ‘I do not speak’), Creole uses a single, indispensable language marker: pa.

The rule is simple: place ‘pa’ directly before the verb or supportive verb.

Positive Statement (Mo kapav get ou)	Negative Statement (Mo pa kapav get ou)
Mo koz Kreol. (I speak Creole.)	Mo pa koz Kreol. (I don’t speak Creole.)
Li tann nou. (He hears us.)	Li pa tann nou. (He doesn’t hear us.)
Nou kapav al. (We can go.)	Nou pa kapav al. (We can’t go.)

Notice that if there is a supportive verb (like kapav) and an action verb (like al), the negation marker pa is placed before both of them.

Existence and Possession (Ena and Pena)

These two powerful words cover concepts of existence (‘there is/are’) and possession (‘to have’). They are two of the most functional words in Kreol.

Creole Word	Meaning	Usage
Ena	There is/are, To have	Used for both existence and possession.
Pena	There is/are not, To not have	This is a contraction of pa ena (not have/exist).

Examples of Ena and Pena:

Creole Sentence	Translation
Ena enn garson.	There is a boy.
Pena lisyen.	There are no dogs.
Mo ena trwa liv.	I have three books.
Zot pena lakle.	They don’t have the key.

Be careful not to confuse ena with the English verb ‘to have.’ Its meaning is broader, covering the idea of existence at its core.

Making Plurals

Creole is very efficient with plurals. You will only use the plural marker bann when the plural context is not obvious.

Plurals by Inference

If a word indicating quantity precedes a noun, the plural is assumed, and you do not need the plural marker.

Creole Sentence	Translation	Usage Note
Li ena boukou soz.	He has lots of things.	Boukou (lots/many) makes the plural obvious.
Nou manz nef banann.	We eat nine bananas.	The number nef (nine) makes the plural obvious.

Plurals with the Marker

When the number isn’t specified, or you want to explicitly mark the plural, use the marker bann placed before the noun.

Creole Marker	Function	Usage Note
Bann	Plural marker	Place before the word to be pluralized.

Example:

• Mo ena bann soz. (I have things.)
• Kot bann tifi-la? (Where are the girls?)

Fused Nouns (The Legacy of French)

As Kreol evolved, a fascinating linguistic quirk occurred: many nouns permanently fused with their original French definite articles (le, la, or l’). This means the article is part of the Creole word itself.

English Meaning	Original French Noun + Article	Creole Fused Noun
Table	la table	Latab
Head	la tête	Latet
Dog	le chien	Lisien
Key	la clé	Lakle
Hand	la main	Lame

How to make Fused Nouns Definite: To say ‘the table’ in Kreol, you must add the Creole definite article la after the already fused word.

• The key: Lakle-la
• The dog: Lisien-la

Essential Everyday Words

To truly connect the building blocks you’ve learned, here are ten essential, high-frequency words you will use every day.

Creole Word	Meaning
Wi	Yes
Non	No
E	And
Ek or Ar	With
Me	But
Si	If
Sa	That (used often as a general demonstrative)
Isi	Here
Lor	On, upon
Dan	In, within

Learning Tip: Visualisation Technique One of the best ways to memorize new vocabulary is through visualisation. It involves creating a simple, exaggerated mental image to link the sound of the Kreol word to its meaning.

For example, for the word laplaz (beach), you could picture the beach (laplaz) on a map and imagine an old man saying, “I’m going to the beach to lap the sun.” The sillier the image, the better!

Try this with a new word: Marto (hammer). How can you link the sound mar-toe to the image of a hammer? Create your mental cartoon and see how quickly you remember it!