Descriptive adjectives usually follow the noun:
un homber famoso
a famous man
un kas grandi
a big house
Possessives and quantifiers appear before the noun:
mi kas
my house
hopi buki
many apples
Dual Position Adjectives
A few adjectives may appear either before or after the noun. Three of these adjectives have the same meaning regardless of whether they appear before or after the noun: dushi = sweet, bunita = beautiful, bon = good. Others change their meanings depending on their position:
homber grandi
big man
grandi homber
great man
homber pober
poor (impoverished) man
pober homber
poor (pitiful) man
homber malu
sick man or bad man
mal homber
bad man (malu becomes mal when placed before the noun)
Comparison
The comparative is formed with mas. The normal superlative is formed with di mas.
mas fuerti
stronger
di mas fuerti
strongest
mas grandi
bigger
di mas grandi
biggest
Mi ta mas grandi ku bo.
I am bigger than you.
E apel aki ta mas dushi ku e apel ei.
This apple is sweeter than that apple.
Carlos ta e homber di mas fuerti ku mi konose.
Carlos is the strongest man I know.
Irregular Comparisons
Like English, Papiamentu has just a few adjectives with irregular comparative and superlative forms.
bon, mihó, e mihó
good, better, best
(in addition to mihó, the variants mehor and mihor also exist)
malu, pió, di mas pió or di mas malu
bad, worse, worst
(in addition to pió, the variant peor also exists)
poko, menos, di mas menos
not much, less, the least
Mi tin poko plaka, ma é tin menos.
I have little money but he has less.
References:
Blankenburg, Eleanor Basic Papiamentu Grammar for English Speakers 1986
Goilo, E.R. Papaimentu Textbook, ninth edition 1994
Ratzlaff, Betty English-Papiamentu Bilingual Dictionary, first edition 1992
Comments (0)
You don't have permission to comment on this page.