1: the verb "to be" (i.e., am, are, is, was, and were)
2: "to exist"
3: "they" (i.e., pretty much like same usage in AAVE)
Example sentences
Dem dey insait ous.
They are inside the house.
Jane Q. Public shi no dey like Joe Blow but Max Mustermann.
Jane Q. Public does not like Joe Blow but Max Mustermann.
Wetin u don de dey correct. Jos leave am laik dat bikos e no dey rang.
What you did there is correct. Just leave it like that because it is not wrong.
Pipul have to know sey Jiizas Krais dey.
People have to know that Jesus Christ exists.
How you dey?
How are you?
Every day dey tok relationship matta for social media. Nothing else dey una head.
Every day they talk about relationships on social media. Nothing else exists in people's heads.
I dey mek muzik rait nau an I need taim to wok for am. Mek wi tok abaut dem tins lieta.
I am making (or producing) music right now and I need time to work on it. Let's talk about that stuff later on.
I love her muzik so much, dat lady dey sing wel wel u know.
I love her music so much, that lady can sing really well you know.
Note: Yup, this is probably the most used word in pretty much any
NPE convo. It is also used in
JC. But either as
de,
day,
dey, or
deh. For example, you can say
mi deh or
mi dey which both mean "I am... [something, something]".
Pronunciation
The same way you say "day" in standard English. The only difference is in the accent I suppose.
