Patois makes negatives with a word placed before the verb, and the word you pick depends on the meaning: nuh for "don't" or "not", neva for "didn't", naw (also spelled nah) for "isn't doing" or "won't", and cyaan for "can't". Questions are even simpler, because the word order never changes. Yuh alright becomes a question when you raise your tone at the end, and Weh yuh a go? is just "where" plus the statement "you're going".
The four negators
| Negator | Meaning | Example | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| nuh | don't, doesn't, not | Shi nuh like mango | She doesn't like mangoes |
| neva | didn't (past) | Dem neva come a di wedding | They didn't come to the wedding |
| naw / nah | isn't ...-ing, won't | Shi naw come a di party | She isn't coming to the party |
| cyaan | can't | Mi cyaan hear yuh | I can't hear you |
nuh: the basic "not"
Nuh negates the present, habits, adjectives and commands:
Mi nuh know.
I don't know.
Wi nuh nyam pork.
We don't eat pork.
Di food nuh ready yet.
The food isn't ready yet.
For negative commands, start with nuh: Nuh do dat! ("Don't do that!"), Nuh fret ("Don't worry"). Nuh badda ("don't bother") is a phrase you'll hear daily. You'll also see nuh written no, especially before nouns: Im nuh have nuh money ("He has no money").
neva: "didn't"
Neva combines past and negative in one word, and the verb stays bare:
Mi neva si im.
I didn't see him.
Shi neva finish school.
She never finished school.
English speakers often misread neva as "never ever". In Im neva pay mi, the usual meaning is "He didn't pay me", on one occasion. Context and tone tell you when it's the stronger "never".
naw / nah: "isn't doing", "won't"
Naw is nuh + a fused. It negates something in progress or about to happen, and it carries a sense of refusal:
Mi naw eat dat.
I'm not eating that.
Mi naw go do dat again.
I won't do that again.
The app's grammar lessons spell it naw, and elsewhere you'll often see nah. They're the same word.
cyaan: "can't"
Mi cyaan swim.
I can't swim.
Yuh cyaan park deh so.
You can't park there.
Like English "can't", cyaan covers both inability and prohibition. In speech, cyaan and can are told apart mainly by the long "aa" vowel, not by a final t. See the pronunciation guide.
Double negatives are correct
Patois uses negative concord: once a sentence is negative, words like "anything", "anybody" and "anywhere" also go negative. The negatives agree with each other and make a single, firmer "no".
Mi nuh have nutn.
I don't have anything.
Nuh tell nobady.
Don't tell anybody.
Nobady neva tell mi nutn.
Nobody told me anything.
Mi cyaan find mi glasses nuh weh.
I can't find my glasses anywhere.
A negative subject also takes a negative verb: Nobady nuh live deh again ("Nobody lives there anymore"). After a negative, again means "anymore". The word for "nothing" is spelled nutten or nutn.
Denying with a: "it's not me"
To deny a focused sentence, put nuh right after the a:
A nuh mi do it!
It wasn't me who did it!
Asking questions
Yes/no questions: just change your tone
Patois doesn't invert the subject and verb or add "do". The statement becomes a question through rising intonation:
Yuh hungry?
Are you hungry?
Yuh deh wid smaddy?
Are you seeing anybody?
Unnu hear mi?
Do you all hear me?
Question words
Put the question word first and keep the rest as a plain statement.
| Patois | English | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| wah / wha | what | Wah yuh want? | What do you want? |
| weh | where | Weh yuh a go? | Where are you going? |
| which paat | where (which part) | Which paat yuh deh? | Where are you? |
| a who | who | A who tell yuh dat? | Who told you that? |
| a who fah | whose | A who fah pickney dat? | Whose child is that? |
| wah mek / fi wah | why | Wah mek yuh so faas? | Why are you so nosy? |
| when / wah time | when, what time | Wha time mi fi come fi yuh? | What time should I come for you? |
| how / how much / how far | how | How much fi guh a beach? | How much to go to the beach? |
Where questions use weh … deh
Because location needs deh, "where is…?" puts weh at the front and deh at the end:
Weh yuh madda deh?
Where is your mother?
Weh yuh did deh las night?
Where were you last night?
See weh yuh deh? for the everyday version.
Notes on weh and wah
- weh in fixed phrases. Weh is mainly "where", but it also appears where English uses "what": the app teaches Weh yuh name? for "What's your name?" and Weh yuh a seh? as a casual "What's up?" (also wah yuh a seh).
- weh as "who/that". Inside a sentence, weh also links a description to a noun: Mi like a man weh nuh waste time ("I like a man who doesn't waste time").
- wah and wha are spelling variants of the same word. You'll see both, as in wah gwaan and wha gwaan.
- a wah as a short question: a wah? means "what is it?" or "what's that?", and fi wah? means "what for?"
Tags: "right?", "you know?", "understand?"
Patois has a set of short tags that go at the end of a statement:
- nuh true? asks for agreement, like "isn't it?": Di food good, nuh true?
- ee? / eeh invites agreement or adds emphasis: Di party did nice, ee?
- zeen? and yuh zimi? check that you understood: Wi a lef early, zeen?
- enuh ("you know") adds weight: Mi serious enuh.
- nuh after a command softens it or makes it more pressing, depending on tone: Cool nuh ("Calm down, will you").
Common mistakes
- Mi don't know → Mi nuh know.
- Mi nuh did see im → Mi neva si im. Past negative is neva.
- Reading Mi nuh have nutn as "I have something": it means "I have nothing". Double negatives don't cancel out in Patois.
- Weh yuh are going? → Weh yuh a go? Keep statement order and use the Patois marker.
Questions people ask
Are double negatives wrong in Patois?
No. Negative concord is normal Patois grammar. Mi nuh have nutn means 'I don't have anything', and Nobady neva tell mi nutn means 'Nobody told me anything'. The negatives reinforce each other instead of cancelling out.
Does neva mean 'never'?
Often it just means 'didn't'. Im neva pay mi is usually 'He didn't pay me' about one occasion. It can also mean 'never' in the English sense; context tells you which.
What's the difference between cyaan and can?
Cyaan is 'can't' and can is 'can'. In speech they're distinguished mainly by the vowel: cyaan has a long 'aa' sound, while can is short. Listen for vowel length rather than a final t.
How do you say 'why' in Patois?
The common ways are wah mek (literally 'what makes') and fi wah ('what for'). Wah mek yuh vex? means 'Why are you angry?'