Saturday, March 8, 2014

I thought it was interesting that H. Creole word ‘sou’ is used as ‘be in the mood for’. If I say ‘m pa sou manje’ it means ‘I’m not in the mood for food’. Did I get this correctly? Can “sou” be used for other activities?


Yes. I can give you some examples:

1.
M pa sou pale kounye a. – I’m not in the mood for talking right now.

2.
Li pa sou etidye.  Se televizyon ki enterese l. – She’s not interested in studying. She’s interested in watching tv.

3.
Nou pa sou sa. – We’re not in the mood.

4.
M pa sou bò w. – I’m ignoring you.

5.
Misye fè tout sa l te kapab pou atire atansyon ti fi a, men ti fi a pa’t menm sou bò l. – He did all he could to attract the girl’s attention, but the girl was not even interested in him.

Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words

2 comments:

  1. AnonymousMarch 8, 2014 at 9:31 AM

    Is this also used in the positive? Like I'm interested in talking with you. Mwen sou pale avè w? I am paying attention to you now. Mwen sou ou kounyeya?Also could #3 be translated as We're not in the mood for that?

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    Replies
    1. MandalyMarch 8, 2014 at 11:22 AM

      Yes it is.
      People do say:
      M sou sa. - I'm in a good mood
      Ou sou jwèt.jodi a - You're in a playful mood.; You're all about joking around today.
      M sou pale. - I feel like talking.

      Instead of saying "Mwen sou ou kounye a.", you can say "Mwen sou bò w kounye a." - This eliminates confusion.
      But Haitians most commonly use this specific sentence in the negative.

      Yes #3 can be translated as "we're not in the mood for that". It's good.

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