What You Will Learn
The Creole verb bay means to give. It also appears as ba and ban in certain combinations.
Here's what you need to know to use bay, ba, and ban correctly:
1. Say ban mwen to say give me.
Say ban nou to say give us.
2. Say ba ou to say give you.
3. Say bay li or ba li to say give him, give her, or give it.
4. Say bay yo or ba yo to say give them.
1 - Give Me and Give Us
- Say ban mwen to say give me.
- Say ban nou to say give us.
- You can shorten mwen to m and nou to n. This gives you ban m and ban n.
Example
Give me a box of chocolate.
Ban mwen yon bwat chokola.
Ban m yon bwat chokola.
2 - Give You
- Say ba ou to say give you.
- You can shorten ou to w and say ba w.
Example
I will give you a box of chocolate.
M ap ba ou yon bwat chokola.
M ap ba w yon bwat chokola.
3 - Give Him, Give Her, and Give It
- Say bay li or ba li to say give him, give her, or give it.
- You can shorten li to l after ba and say ba l.
Example 1
He will give her a box of chocolate.
Li pral bay li yon bwat chokola.
Li pral ba li yon bwat chokola.
Li pral ba l yon bwat chokola.
Example 2
Give Roseline a box of chocolate.
Bay Roseline yon bwat chokola.
Ba Roseline yon bwat chokola.
4 - Give Them
- Say bay yo or ba yo to say give them.
Example 1
He told me to give them chocolate.
Li te di pou m bay yo chokola.
Li te di pou m ba yo chokola.
Example 2
He told me to give the children chocolate.
Li te di m bay timoun yo chokola.
Li te di m ba timoun yo chokola.