about → osijè, sou or sou ki sijè
about also have other meanings: almost, around, approximately...
Tell me about Jeremie.
Pale m osijè Jeremie. (grammatically correct)
(Sometimes, you'll hear: Pale m de jeremie.)
(Sometimes, you'll hear: Pale m de jeremie.)
Tell me about you.
Pale m osijè ou menm. (grammatically correct)
Pale m osijè ou menm. (grammatically correct)
(Sometimes, you'll hear: Pale m de ou.)
It's a story about my family.
Se yon istwa sou fanmi m.
The book is about burial in Haiti.
Liv la pale sou antèman Haiti.
What is the movie about?
Sou kisa fim nan ye?
What are you talking about?
Sou kisa w'ap pale?
What is your book about?
Sou ki sijè liv ou a pale?
Ask me anything
What is the movie about?
Sou kisa fim nan ye?
What are you talking about?
Sou kisa w'ap pale?
What is your book about?
Sou ki sijè liv ou a pale?
Ask me anything
Is preposition "de" gramatically correct? It usually isn't mentioned in books fro learning haitian creole.
ReplyDeleteYou are correct.
ReplyDelete"de" is not used as a preposition in Haitian Creole.
It's considered French.
But you will continue to find it in a few Creole expressions.
Se yon zafè de... → It's a question of
Se yon seri de...→ It's a bunch of
Pale m de ... → Tell me about
"de" can be replaced by the Haitian Creole preposition "sou", "osijè", "sou sijè" when translating "about".
men le m pale de (oh,oh :) Jeremi eske m ka di "pale m sou Jeremi oubyen pale m osije Jeremi"
ReplyDeletehmmm that doesn't sound right?
Correct me if I am wrong, please
Thank you so much for bringing that up :)
ReplyDeletePale sou (yon moun) → is usually considered "to gossip about the person" (in Creole).
You can say:
N'ap pale sou sa. → We'll talk about that.
Nou te pale sou zafè liv yo. → We talked about the books.
But:
Y'ap pale sou mwen. → They're gossiping about me.
"Pale m osijè Jeremi." is actually grammatically correct.
Permission to confess my faults here: In the above case I usually say "de" by force of habit. I must start using "osijè" more often :)
FYI: "Osijè" is from French "au sujet" which means "about subject"
Thanks again for bringing up such an important point.
You're welcome, Manda!
ReplyDeleteThank you on such elaborate explanation!
One more question!
In croatian as well as in english language prepositions are very important part of sentence structure, that way i am very accustomed on them and always try to apply similar pattern on kreyol language.
Maybe that's wrong, maybe it isn't (that's on you to tell me).
Frankly, I have some "problems" with that and I
want to clear that up.
I will bring up another example.."from 1900 to 1910"
From-depi, de, soti (depends on context, of course), but what bothers me here is another preposition, preposition "to".
This is piece of cake for you and i am looking forward to your explanation. :)
Enjoy, Manda!
Zanmi m,
ReplyDeleteRale yon chèz (ak yon byè tou!) pou nou koze.
Paske… “Koze mande chèz.”
You bring such valid points.
Haitian Creole maybe in a category all by itself in this point.
In Haitian Creole, we should not use the prepositions “a” and “de”.
WITH "FROM...to...":
From → depi, soti, koumanse
To → jiska, rive, fini
From A to Z → Depi A jiska Z
From Monday to Friday → Depi lendi jiska vandredi
or
From Monday to Friday → Sòti lendi rive vandredi
From nine to five → Depi nevè jiska senkè.
From Miami to New York → Sòti Miami rive New York.
From sunrise to sunset → Depi solèy leve jiska solèy kouche.
From here to there → Sòti isi rive laba.
Here’s a question for you zanmi m: How would you say “From me to you” without using “de” or “a”? Just a question to ponder :)
TO can be translated as NAN or not translated at all.
Hint: if you have “to a”, “to the”, “to that” go ahead and put NAN.
I’ll go to the school. → Mwen prale nan lekòl la.
I’ll go to a store. → Mwen prale nan yon magazen.
But if it’s just “to” by itself, chances are it doesn’t need to be translated:
I’ll go to school. → Mwen prale lekòl.
I’ll go to Michigan → Mwen prale Michigan.
In other instances, “TO”(not as preposition) is translated as POU when it means “in order to”, “So that”, etc…
Use this pen to write. → Itilize plim sa pou w ekri.
You need a passport to travel. → Ou bezwen yon paspò pou vwayaje.
Sometimes “TO” (not as preposition) can be translated as “BA, BAN, or BAY” :-|
Bring it to me. → Pote l ban mwen.
Send it to her. → Voye l ba li
Explain it to me. → Explike l ban mwen.
Dakò, se tout. Mwen ekri twòp.
Mwen panse ou gen ase pou kounye a :)
Anmize w.
How would I say “From me to you”.... mmmmmmmmmm, I know exactly how ☺, but allow me to keep that answer for myself.
ReplyDeleteWhat can i say, you cannot find anything similar in any book. Thank you again on your detailed answer. Preposition de, to are solved now.
There is also another preposition "of" which sometimes bothers me, but that's more because of my inability to use right words and lack of language fund and I don't want to bring that subject up here :) (sometimes is the easiest way to translate preposition "of" with "de" but that's another story, ha ha
Another thing bothers me now.
"you would be good doctor"
"you will be good doctor"
"you are going to be good doctor"
How to translate these sentences on kreyol, and especially that verb be? How to make difference between them?
I have asked few haitians accidentally and every of them gave me different answer...
I guess it's your turn now, if can be so free to speak like that
Stay positive Manda and enjoy in this beautiful evening.
I guess you get so many different answers because there are so many ways to conjugate the FUTURE form in Creole (PRAL, VA, AP & A. Chances are most of these answers are correct :)
ReplyDeleteFirst of all:
PRESENT:
You ARE a good doctor.
Ou SE yon bon doktè.
FUTURE: (You are actually saying that the person will "become" or will "make" a good doctor.
You WILL be a good doctor. (FUTURE)
You ARE GOING TO BE a good doctor. (also FUTURE)
Ou VA FÈ yon bon doktè.
or
Ou VA VIN yon bon doktè.
or
Ou VA yon bon doktè.
The followings are a variations of the above, but with A, AP, or PRAL. (the combinations are many!)
Ou PRAL VIN yon bon doktè.
W'AP VIN yon bon doktè.
WA VIN yon bon doktè.
W'AP yon bon doktè.
etc...
These are also correct :)
You WOULD be a good doctor.
You're actually saying: You would MAKE a good doctor. Non?
You WOULD be a good doctor.
Ou TA fè yon bon doktè.
Dòmi byen aswè a zanmi :)