More Pronouns and examples...
Below are the pronouns in Hmong and their equivalent pronouns in English.
| Hmoob/Hmong |
Askiv / English |
| Kuv
|
I
|
Me
|
My
|
Mine
|
| Koj
|
You (1 person)
|
You
|
Your
|
Yours
|
| Nej (mej*)
|
You (many people)
|
You
|
Your
|
Yours
|
| Neb (meb*)
|
You (2 persons)
|
You
|
Your
|
Yours
|
| Lawv (puab*)
|
They
|
Them
|
Their
|
Theirs
|
| Nws (nwg*)
|
He
|
Him
|
His
|
His
|
| Nws (nwg*)
|
She
|
Her
|
Her
|
Hers
|
| Nws (nwg*)
|
It
|
It
|
Its
|
Its
|
| Wb
|
We (2 persons)
|
Us
|
Our
|
Ours
|
| Peb
|
We (many people)
|
Us
|
Our
|
Ours
|
| Yus
|
One
|
one
|
oneself
|
oneself
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
* Pronouns in Hmong Leng.
Let's take a look at the Hmong pronoun Kuv and the equivalent English pronoun I, me, my, mine
| Hmoob / Hmong |
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 examples:
| Hmoob/Hmong | Askiv/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.
| Hmoob/Hmong | Askiv/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 we use
them in the past, present or future, just like the verbs in the Hmong language, and I believe
this is how language should have been spoken. And not like, "I do, did, done, go, goes,
went, gone 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 it is in the past, and ate is done. Therefore, this is like
saying, "I did ate my dinner."
Please understand that I am not saying that we should speak English this way, but
I am trying to draw the parallel between the Hmong and English languages
so that you have a broader understanding as to why some foreigners speak English
differently than the native English speakers.
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