Sunday, March 2, 2014

I've had some Haitian friends ask me "Kouman blan fè fè fè?" It took a while to figure out, but after they explained it to me I'm still a little confused. Do you really need the first "fè" in there for "do"?


 You may use up to two “fè” in that sentence; the third one will indeed make it confusing.

 

Kouman w fè l?

How do you do it?

 

Kouman ou fè fè l?

How did you succeed in doing it?

 

Do you think they were trying to say something other than what I have above?

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

4 comments:

  1. N. TonyMarch 2, 2014 at 9:20 PM

    Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't make it clear that they were TRYING to confuse me, it's one of the ways the mess with Americans (along with "Kouman blan fè blan"). I know it's supposed to mean "How do blans make metal?" but for some reason it feels grammatically incorrect to my (admittedly tiny) Creole experience.

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    Replies
    1. MandalyMarch 2, 2014 at 9:43 PM

      Yeah, they ARE trying to confuse you. Shame on them :)

      I would read this sentence, Kouman blan fè blan? as How come whites are white?

      I think what they might have said, if they were trying to confuse you, was:
      1. kouman blan fè fèblan? - How do whites make metal?
      or
      2. Kouman fè blan fè fèblan?" - How come whites make metal?

      kouman fè means how come
      fè means to make
      fèblan (one word) means tin metal

      But I think you should try to confuse them in return :)
      Tell them that:
      Blan fè fèblan paske fèblan pa kab fè blan. Si blan pa't fè fèblan, se fèblan ki ta fè blan.
      Memorize it real well before you say it,and watch their jaw drop :)

      Delete
  2. N. TonyMarch 2, 2014 at 9:42 PM

    Thanks! The "Kouman blan fè blan?" question was referring to making babies... and began some interesting conversations about who you need to make x-sort of baby...

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