Is this the use of 'mete men' correct here? tout moun dwe mete men pou pwojè a kapab reyisi.

Li kòrèk wi. Ou byen ekri li.
Mete men se fè konbit, se travay ansanm pou reyisit yon objektif.

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

Michel DeGraff E Inisyativ MIT-Ayiti a Pou Avansman Lang Kreyòl La

Michel DeGraff E Inisyativ MIT-Ayiti a Pou Avansman Lang Kreyòl La

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

Surtab et MIT-Haiti Initiative s'unissent pour la promotion du créole

Surtab et MIT-Haiti Initiative s'unissent pour la promotion du créole

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

let me write this in Creole :) question: is 'rele apre you moun' and 'rele apre ko (body) ou' menm bagay?

Rele apre yon moun vle di repwoche oubyen reprimande moun nan.
Nou p ap ka itilize men kalite vèb repwoche a pou 'kò w'.
Rele apre kò w vle di menm bagay avèk ranmase kò w. Lè ou rele apre kò w se lè ou pran swen kò w pou kapab fè tèt ou pli atiran. Se lè ou gen sousi pou aparans ou. Se lè ou pa kite kò w lage nèt.

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

Does pa chat always mean "an extramarital affair"?

No. Not always. Yon ti pa chat could also be other 'reckless exploits'.

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

What flour or wheat product is used to make akwa or akra? It tastes like potato cakes. thanks

It's 'akra'.
We use the root vegetable 'malanga' or 'taro' to make akra.
To my knowledge, we do not use any type of flour.

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

Jodia se jounen entenasyonal lang kreyol vre? Kiyes ki te chwazi jou sa e poukisa?

Yon gwoup lengwis te mete tèt ansnam nan mwa oktòb, ane 1983 pou rekonèt lang kreyòl ak pou fè plis rechèch pou benefis lang lan. Yo te deside chwazi jou 28 oktòb la pou selebre eritaj kreyòl la chak ane – se te premye selebrasyon jounen entènasyonal kreyòl la. Tout peyi ki pale kreyòl vin patisipe nan selebrasyon sa a. Malgre genyen ki obsève li nan yon diferan dat, yo toujou rezève mwa oktòb la pou sa.

Selebrasyon kreyòl la se pa senpleman fete lang ki ini nou kòm yon ras, ... yon pèp, se ta dwe okazyon ki nan kalandriye nou tout tan pou fè nou sonje li lè pou nou klase lang lan nan plas li, kòm lang prensipal kominikasyon nou nan tout aspè.

M ap mande tèt mwen, nan tout peyi sa yo ki ap selebre lang kreyòl la, konben nan yo ki bay lang kreyòl la premye plas nan kilti yo vrèman?

Konben nan peyi sa yo, lè tan an rive pou prezante yon bagay ofisyèl, se franse onswa yon lòt lang yo chwazi?

Kisa ki gani tab ou? Franse onswa kreyòl?

Si yon moun k ap selebre lang kreyòl la panse kreyòl gen ti mank, pou se lòt lang l ap chwazi pou regle koze ofisyèl, moun sa a nan gwo ipokrizi.

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

Podcastle - The Half Dark Promise: A little Creole in the Fiction makes it real interesting.

This week's work of fiction by Malon Edwards in the Podcastle, The Fantasy Fiction Podcast, is a thrilling story, The Half Dark Promise, narrated by yours truly :)
Be sure to check it out.
Here's the link: The Half Dark Promise

Podcastle: The Half Dark Promise

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

Am I phrasing this correctly? "Jis paske mwen pa konprann tout bagay, sa pa vle di mwen pa konprann anyen." -JC

Yes. it is phrased correctly.
Kenbe la :)

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

Who's maitre jean jacques? 'souer kou maitre jean jacques'?

If I understand this well, I think that mèt Jan Jak is the 'resourceful' one.
If you're going to use 'swe' in this comparison, you should say 'Bouki'.
It goes like: swe kou pitit Bouki (literally: as sweaty as Bouki's child) meaning "very sweaty".

But if you meant to say mèt Jan Jak in your comparison, we say 'degaje kou mèt Jan Jak' which means to be as resourceful as one can, to do everything in your power to take care of things.

It's two different things.

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

How would your translate "it's for for your own good" in Creole==? mesi

It's for your own good. - Se pou byen w.
I'm doing all this for your own good. - M ap fè tout sa pou pwòp byen pa w. / M ap fè tout sa pou byen w.
Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words

Bonjou! Mpral bwe yon tas kafe anme avew! Sa sa vle di?

bwè yon tas kafe anmè ak yon moun - gen yon konfrontasyon, regle yon dispit, twoke kòn nou pou rezoud yon dispit.

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

Mandaly mta renmen konnen si ''joumou pa donnen kalbas'' se tarduction creole ''le fer s'aiguise par le fer''?

Hi.

Joumou pa donnen kalbas, pou mwen vle di paran ak pitit toujou gen menm karaktè, dispozisyon ak mantalite. Si paran yo se move moun, yo gen tandans panse pitit lan se yon move grenn tou.

Kisa w panse?

2 comments:

willeen Jean LouisOctober 25, 2015 at 3:30 PM

Mesii anpil. Se vre se sitou granmou mkonn tande kap di timoun sa le fe on vye bagay tankou on repwoch.

Replies

MandalyOctober 25, 2015 at 3:50 PM

Wi se sa. E, sa w panse de ekspresyon, "Pitit tig se tig"?

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

Can you explain me what is "frè kot papa"? I am refering to the tropicana song.

Frè kot papa - brother on the father's side (same father, but not the same mother)



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

Yet one more questions about yo. Can you have it in the following sentence Jan rayi chat yo (as in the French: Jean déteste les chats)

Grammatically your sentence is correct.
Jan rayi chat yo correctly translates the sentence Jean hates the cats.
In French, it's ok to have 'les' (art.) before 'chats'.
Just remember that it is not necessary to add 'yo' if the noun 'chat' is no specified.

Some examples.
Jan rayi chat. - Jean hates cats.
Betty pa renmen zaboka. - Betty doesn't like avocados.
Li pa renmen gason. - She detests men.
So, there's no need to add yo to know that these nouns are plural.

But you can, of course, add 'yo' if the nouns are specified.
Kilè ou pral mennen chat yo kay veterinè a? - When will you take the cats to the veterinarian?
Mèsi pou tout danre ou pote yo, men mwen pa vle zaboka yo. Ou mèt pran yo. M pa renmen zaboka.
Thanks for all the produce that you brought but I don't want the avocados. You may have them. I don't like avocados.


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

One more question about yo Can you have yo with boku M achte boko liv yo Thank you

You can say, M achte bonkou nan liv yo. - I bought many of the books.
or
M achte bonkou liv. - I bought many books. or I bought a great quantity of books.

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

What is the expression tanbou balan? How can i use it?

Did you mean tanbou batan which means first notice, first call
literally means ...at the first beat of the drum....
at the first call,
at first warning,

egzanp:
Nou p ap pèdi tan, n ap koumanse nan gran maten. Tanbou batan fòk tout moun gen tan la, prèt pou mete men nan travay la.

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

Translation for "shortcut" in different contexts in creole? For example, "We took a shortcut home"

chemen dekoupe, wout altène, altènatif, chemen kout

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

What are words for "networking" and "to network"? For example, "To get a job in today's economy, it is important to have a strong network." and "Many people find it worthwhile to network for jobs and information."

In Haiti we call this moun pa, piston, datou, gen koneksyon :)

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

What are words for "mindful" and "mindless" in creole?

Hi, I appreciate the examples that you gave with this question - I would rather have your own original sentences with your examples, otherwise we would have to cite and give references. Thanks.

According to the example that you gave you may translate mindful as sansib, konsyan, gen konsyans, gen respè or respekte. Depending on the context of the sentence you might have to use different Creole terms for the word mindful.
As far as the word mindless is concerned, a generic term is neglijan or manfouben.

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

Sorry, this is not a language question exactly-- just could not find any information on the topic elsewhere! Is there a specific reason that women who practice vodou wear certain types of headscarves? If they give up their head wrap, what is the significance?

I am not well versed in voodoo terminology or practice.
According to Saint-Lot (2003), The garments that the vodou worshipers wear, "hats, tailcoats, kerchiefs, capes, make-up, knapsacks, canes, jewelry and machetes , among other items" contribute to the elegance of the ceremony.
Clothes color, changing costumes, or lack of clothing, all have meanings - depending on the loa that is represented and depending on the rank of the worshiper.

Check out this book that I'm referencing: Saint-Lot (2003). Vodou a sacred theatre: The African heritage in Haiti. Coconut Creek, FL: Educavision.

ISBN: 1-58432-177-6

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

My question concerns the use of yo as a plural. If you say: I saw three boys .....

“My question concerns the use of yo as a

plural.

If you say:

I saw three boys in the courtyard yesterday. Two boys

were arguing and the third was trying to stop them.

How woud you translate

the part: Two boys were arguing there ?

'De timoun yo' te dispite or simply

without the yo

De timoun te dispite.

Thank you very much.”

mandaly says:

Hi,

Yes, using “yo” sometimes is complicated for foreigners because we use it as 1) definite plural article (the), 2) personal pronouns (they, them), and 3) possessives (their). If you have all these elements in one sentence, that can get tricky. I think it might be helpful to not translate word for word then. If you do translate word for word, try to rephrase the sentence after translation.

“I saw three boys in the courtyard yesterday. Two boys

were arguing and the third was trying to stop them.”

Translation:

Mwen te wè twa (3) ti gason nan lakou an yè. De (2) ladan yo t ap diskite, e twazyèm nan t ap eseye mete lòd.

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

What does “ Samedi jou baissé levé” means? There is also a song of shleu-shleu with that name.

In Haitian Creole we write  bese leve. In that context, it means housework, house chores, work or labor that requires physical efforts,  domestic work like cleaning, laundry (lesiv washing clothes by hand), etc.....

When I was growing up in Akayè our Saturdays was very busy with house chores, shopping at the market, cooking preparation (you know.... netwaye vyann pou semenn nan), cleaning, mopping and getting ready for Sundays. We also washed our hair on Saturdays.  We took our weekly medicine which was a laxative made of castor bean oil and some blended leaves....good stuff :)

Yes, jou bese leve se jou travay nan kay enpi, se jou tou,  pou fè lesiv ak ale nan mache.

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

Hi! Do you know or can you tell me where to find out how many words there are in Haitian Creole? Mesi,

Oh man! This is officially the most interesting question I have ever had on this blog :)
Although Haitian Creole is a full-fledged language, it is impossible to count how many words there are in this language. Here are the reasons why:

1. The Haitian Creole language has not had a comprehensive word-word definition dictionary yet. There are many Haitian Creole dictionaries including language translation dictionaries, but none that are complete.

2. For a Haitian Creole word-definition dictionary to be comprehensive, it would have to also include regional word variations, and no one has tapped into that branch yet. What is the Haitian northerner's way of saying "manmit" for example? How many different ways can you say the word "ede" for example?

3. Do we count "gerizon" and "lagerizon" as two words? How about other words in that category: "delivrans" and "ladelivrans", "lwa" and "lalwa", or "kilbit" and "lakilbit"?

4. Language used voodoo worship may be widely unknown except for a small group of people. For example, is it "andjenikon" or "andyenikon" or "oundjenikon"?  How many variations are there? Do they all count as one word? How about katabou (conga rhythm), it might be known under a different name in other regions in Haiti. We need to know the many variations of terms that are used in this category.

5. We do not yet have standards for many medical terms in Creole yet.

6. Also based on our fast changing world, there are many new terms that become part of the Haitian Creole language every year or so, some are derived from other languages and other are conceived and named after the event that they represent.

There are many more reasons. I think when we have our first comprehensive word-word definition dictionary, we'll have an idea :)

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

ou kap itilize mo brave danje?

Brave danje? nan sans deskripsyon?
Ki kote ou te tande mo sa a? e kijan yo te itilize l?

ex: Mesye sa a se yon brave danje li ye.
Yon moun ki gen gason sou li, ki brav ki pa pè anyen.

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

Elèv nan lekòl Ayiti yo ap chante alfabè kreyòl la.

N ap di yon gran mèsi a tout lekòl ann Ayiti, a direktè ak direktris lekòl ki te onswa chante oubyen pral chante alfabè kreyòl la. Ti moun Ayisyen alèkile pral grandi ak konesans alfabè lang matènèl yo.

Si ou se yon direktè lekòl ann Ayiti ki po ko patisipe nan promosyon lang kreyòl la nan lekòl ann Ayiti, n ap mande w ki lè ou va deside mete men nan pat la?
Plizyè lekòl ann Ayiti, sitou nan klas fondamantal yo, te deside anseye elèv yo alfabè kreyòl la avèk DVD ki genyen 2 ti chante alfabè kreyòl la ke pwofesè DeGraff avè Louis-Charles te pwodui nan yon videyo.

Anplis de sa, n ap ankouraje tout lekòl yo pou yo chache aprann konnen ki sa Inisyativ MIT-Ayiti a ye. Genyen anpil resous sou pwogrè ki ap fèt avèk lang kreyòl la pa rapò ak ledikasyon ann Ayiti. Ou kapab koumanse enfòme w nan sit sa a: http://resourcecenters2015.videohall.com/posters/519

Tout pwofesè lekòl ann Ayiti ta dwe pran yon pozisyon aktif pou pwogram Inisyativ la ka disponib nan tout lekòl yo ....pi bonè se gran maten.  Plis nou aji pi bonè, se mwens tan ti moun yo pase ap aprann ak pwogram demode. Sèvèl ti moun yo pare pou aprann, an nou djigèt li ak bon jan teknoloji pou Ayiti ka koumanse pwodui plis syantis, chimis, matematisyen ak enjenyè ki gen konpetans global.

Jwenn plis enfòmasyon toujou. tcheke lyen sa yo: 

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10160904120868872&type=3&mibextid=ncKXMA 

http://MIT-Ayiti.NET

https://mit-ayiti.net/resous/an-n-konprann-chante-alfabe-kreyol-la/

Institution Mixte Gethsemane ap fè gwo pa annavan - yo pral chante alfabè kreyòl la.

Ti katkat na lekòl Kindergarten ak Collège Said Nan Fontamara 43 ak direktè Marcelin Henson pral chante alfabè kreyòl la.

Institut Mixte Emmanuel de Leogane pral chante alfabè kreyòl la. Gwo kout chapo pou direktè Jules Jean Ladie ki ap fè yon gwo travay nan zòn nan.

Gwo bravo pou elèv collège Leonard Milord nan Leogane, rue St. Laurent avec Direktè Paul Fritz ki pral chante alfabè kreyòl la. Kontinye bon travay la.

Lekòl Kindergarten Joli Minou nan Timo Leogan avèk directrice Mitha Louis Meriser pral chante alfabè kreyòl la.

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