Hmong Pronouns
The Hmong language has only one form of pronouns. Meaning there
are no such things like I, me, my and mine that is. However,
when use properly, the single pronoun is similar to English
which it has subject, object and possesive forms, too.
For example: Koj nyiam kuv is similar to the English You like me.
The Hmong pronoun kuv acts as an objective pronoun.
Another example: Kuv nyiam koj which means I like you.
Now Kuv is a subjective pronoun instead. Kuv lub tsev
which means My house. Yog kuv li is similar to it is mine.
Click on the line to hear the audios.
|
| Hmong |
English |
| Subject |
Subject |
Object |
Possessive |
Possessive |
| Kuv |
I |
Me |
My |
Mine |
| Koj |
You (1 person) |
You |
Your |
Yours |
| Nej |
You (more than two persons) |
You |
Your |
Yours |
| Neb |
You (2 person -- you two)) |
You |
Your |
Yours |
| Lawv |
They |
Them |
Their |
Theirs |
| Nws |
He |
Him |
His |
His |
| Nws |
She |
Her |
Her |
Hers |
| Nws |
It |
It |
Its |
Its |
| Wb |
We (2 persons -- we two) |
Us |
Our |
Ours |
| Peb |
We (more than 2 persons) |
Us |
Our |
Ours |
| Yus |
One |
one |
oneself |
oneself |
|
Let's take a look at the Hmong pronoun Kuv and the equivalent English pronoun I, me, my, mine
|
| Hmong Click the Hmong line to listen. |
Askiv / English |
| Kuv yog ib tus neeg zoo. |
I am a good person. |
| Lub tsev yog kuv li. |
The house is mine. |
| Kuv niam yog Xis. |
My mother is See. |
| Kuv nyob deb heev. |
I live very far. |
| Koj pab kuv. |
You help me. |
| Below are examples of the Hmong pronoun Koj and the equivalent English pronoun You, your, yours |
| Hmoob / Hmong |
Askiv / English |
| Koj yog ib tus neeg zoo. |
You are a good person. |
| Lub tsev yog koj li. |
The house is yours. |
| Koj niam yog Xis. |
Your mother is See. |
| Koj nyob deb heev. |
You live very far. |
| Kuv pab koj. |
I help you. |
| Here are some more examples |
| Hmoob/Hmong |
Piv Txwv/Example |
Askiv/English |
Example |
| Kuv |
Kuv mus tsev. |
I |
I go home. |
| Kuv |
Kuv lub tsev. |
My |
My house. |
| Kuv |
Koj pom kuv. |
Me |
You see me. |
| Kuv |
Lub tsev yog kuv li. |
Mine |
The house is mine. |
| |
| Koj |
Koj mus tsev. |
You (1 person) |
You go home. |
| Koj |
Koj lub tsev. |
Your |
Your house. |
| Koj |
Kuv pom koj. |
You |
I see you. |
| Koj |
Lub tsev yog koj li. |
Yours |
The house is yours. |
| |
| Peb |
Peb mus tsev. |
We (many people) |
We go home. |
| Peb |
Peb lub tsev. |
Our |
Our house. |
| Peb |
Koj pom peb. |
Us |
You see us. |
| Peb |
Lub tsev yog peb li. |
Ours |
The house is ours. |
| |
| Nej |
Nej mus tsev. |
You (many people) |
You go home. |
| Nej |
Nej lub tsev. |
Your |
Your house. |
| Nej |
Kuv pom nej. |
You |
I see you. |
| Nej |
Lub tsev yog nej li. |
Yours |
The house is yours. |
|
Now you understand why some foreigners speak like "You give to I."
Other differences worthy to mention are the verbs. In the Hmong language, verbs also stay
the same no matter who, where and when. For example:
|
| Hmong | English |
| Nag hmo kuv mus pw ntxov. |
Last night I went to sleep early.
However, the exact translation for the Hmong sentence on the left should have been:
Last night I go sleep early. |
| Nag hmo kuv pw ntxov. |
Last night I slept early.
However, the exact translation for the Hmong sentence on the left should have been:
Last night I sleep early. |
|
At first, you might think it is wrong to speak like that, but then again, you were
taught to learn too many exceptions in the first place. To make you understand
what I meant, let us look at the following examples.
|
| Hmong | English |
| Nag hmo kuv txiav kuv cov nyom. | Last night I cut my grass.
Now the translation is exactly the same except for the English possessive pronoun my.
The other difference in the Hmong sentence is the possessive word cov before the word
nyom.
|
| Nag hmo kuv muab kuv cov me nyuam pw ntxov. | Last night I put my kids to sleep early.
The Hmong words "kuv cov me nyuam" means "my kids", and the word "muab" means "put."
|
I hope you remember that the English words "cut and put" never change no matter whether we use
them in the past, present or in the future which is exactly how the Hmong verbs work. I believe
this is how all languages should have been spoken. And not like, "do, does, did, done etc..."
I mean if I say, "Yesterday I eat my dinner" we know that it was done and/or it happened already.
So, I should not have to say, "Yesterday I ate my dinner" because yesterday means in the past,
and ate is also in the past - done. Therefore, this is like saying, "I did ate my dinner -- double past."
Another crazy thing about English is the singular and plural forms, but you can go read
a lengthy discussion in my book called Learn Hmong the Jay Way.
With this information, I hope you now understand why many foreigners, mostly Asian, who are used to
their tonal and monosyllabic languages (Thai, Lao, Hmong and Vietnamese) speak English incorrectly.
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