In this post, you will learn how to say ‘how are you?’ in Jamaican Patois. You’ll also learn common responses so you can respond if you’re asked this question. This can be really useful if you’re speaking with someone from Jamaica or if you’re travelling there.
Jamaican Patois, known locally as just Patois, is an English-based creole language spoken primarily in Jamaica. It is the native language of Jamaicans and is spoken by approximately 3.2 million people.
Although it is English-based, the Jamaican pronunciation and vocabulary are very different from English despite heavy use of English words.
Table of Contents
How To Say ‘How Are You?’ In Jamaican Patois
There are a few different ways to ask ‘how are you?’. Here are the most common:
| How are you doing? | Weh yuh ah seh? |
| How are you? | How yuh stay? |
| Are you good? | Yuh gud? |
Informally you can say:
| What’s up? | Wah gwaan? |
| What’s up? | Wadup? |
Check out the below video to hear the pronunciation of these phrases:
How To Respond To ‘How Are You?’ In Jamaican Patois
There are many different ways that you can reply to this question. Below are the most common responses to this question. I’ve also included how to say ‘thank you’ as it’s polite to thank someone if they ask how you are.
| Thank you | Tanks |
| I’m fine | Mi irie |
| I’m doing well | Mi deh yah yuh know |
| I’m great | Mi criss |
| All is well | Everyting is everyting |
| Everything’s good | Everyting criss |
| I’m doing ok | Mi de yah |
| Excellent | Wicked |
| I’m okay | Ya man |
| I’m sick | Mi sick |
Check out this video to hear the pronunciation of some of these phrases:
Example Conversation:
Person 1: Wah gwaan? (What’s up?)
Person 2: Mi criss, tanks. Wah gwaan? (I’m great, thanks. What’s up?)
Person 1: Mi de yah (I’m doing ok)
Thanks for reading this post.
You should now know how to say ‘how are you?’ in Jamaican Patois and you should also be able to respond if you’re asked!
You can’t go wrong with these simple phrases.
If you’re speaking to someone special then you’ll want to know how to say I love you in Jamaican Patois.