Can you explain to me the differences between "sonje" and "manke"? What are the best contexts with which to use them?

You must be asking this in reference to 'missing' someone?

We do not use 'manke' to translate 'miss' as in to feel sadness due to the absence of someone.
We only use 'sonje' in this case.

M sonje manman m. - I miss my mother.
M sonje ou. - I miss you
Nou te sonje w anpil pandan absans ou. - We missed you a lot during your absence
Nou sonje w anpil anpil. - We miss you terribly.
Mwen sonje lakay. - I miss home.

And of course you can use 'sonje' to say 'recall/remember'. example:

Mwen sonje jan li te konn ap chante tout tan. 
I remember how she used to sing all the time.

Ou pa sonje m non?
Don't you remember me?

Mwen pa sonje.
I don't recall.

Èske ou te sonje klete pòt la?
Did you remember to lock the door?

Concerning 'manke', we use it to translate to be short of or lack of, or come close to being...

Bis la manke frape m.
The bus almost hit me.

Li manke tonbe.
He almost fell.

Manje a manke sèl.
The food is lacking in salt.

Nou manke pran nan magouy kat kredi sa a.
We almost fell for this credit card scam.




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