For some, it can man ‘She has eaten the cake,’ while others feel it means that ‘She is eating the cake.’ Some people may feel that She stay eating da cake is also acceptable. This sentence is acceptable, though some Pidgin speakers may debate what it means. Like all languages, Pidgin has variation. Not cannot be used before the verb when it is preceded by stay no is used before stay Alternatives are possible, however, such as Da car stay red (which makes use of stay and indicates a change of state or comment about the speaker’s expectations) as well as Red da car (which follows Hawaiian syntax and may be considered a ‘deeper’ form of Pidgin) Pidgin does not always require the ‘to be’ verb. Pidgin wen acts as a past tense marker, making the past tense marking on seen ungrammatical The purpose of doing this assignment is for students to discover that Pidgin does have a grammar and to consider the implications of this.Ĭorrection (if relevant) and grammar point If they feel a sentence is unacceptable, they have to correct it to acceptable Pidgin (not English!). Note that the students are not supposed to be translating the sentences to English. Lesson 1: Pidgin Grammar Quizĭirections: Distribute the quiz below to groups of 2-4 students and ask them to work together to determine if each of the following sentences is acceptable in Pidgin or not. However, through doing some of these language awareness activities, they should develop a deeper understanding of Pidgin and its role in Hawai‘i as a language of local identification, connection, and even exclusion.

Because many students have not considered Pidgin a ‘real’ language before, it is expected that they will, at first, resist the idea of seeing it as a legitimate language. Objective: The objective of all of the activities in Section 1 is to encourage students to reflect on language as a social force that is directly linked to our history, our culture, and our identities.

Pidgin english hawaiian