English is Nigerian Pidgin’s superstrate language. The vast majority of vocabulary in Nigerian Pidgin originates from English. However, there are a number of English-origin words that cannot be used in Nigerian Pidgin because it would be grammatically incorrect to use them. In essence, these words don’t exist in Nigerian Pidgin. We’ll be examining some of them in this article.
Verb inflections
When forming tenses in Nigerian Pidgin, we only use the bare infinitive/base form of verbs. This means many verb inflections cannot be used in Nigerian Pidgin, unless they have other meanings/functions such as participles.
Examples:
- eats, ate (from the verb to eat)
- knows, knew (from the verb to know)
- begins, began (from the verb to begin)
Modal verbs
Nigerian Pidgin has its own set of modal verbs. English modal verbs cannot be used in Nigerian Pidgin unless the word means something else, for example, can (container), might (power), will (mental power, or document), and may (month).
Examples:
- could
- should
- would
- cannot
Auxiliary verbs
Nigerian Pidgin has its own set of tense markers. English tense markers/inflections cannot be used in Nigerian Pidgin.
Examples:
- am, are, is, was, were, been (from the verb to be)
- have, has, had (from the verb to have)
- does, did (from the verb to do)
Interrogative pronouns
Several interrogative pronouns in English cannot be used in Nigerian Pidgin.
Examples:
- whom, whose (hu is used instead)
- whatever
- whichever
- whoever
- whomever