How does one translate the Present Perfect Progressive? Examples, "She has been working at that company for three years.", "She has been watching too much television lately.", and "Lisa has not been practicing her English."

Much like the present continuous form:

1.  "She has been working at that company for three years."
     "L'ap travay nan konpani sa a depi twazan."

2. "I notice that she has been watching too much  television lately."
     "Mwen remake ke l'ap gade twòp televizyon tou dènyeman." 

3. "Lisa has not been practicing her English."
     "Lisa pa ap pratike Angle li."

4. I have been trying to help you all these times.  But it seems that you don't understand that.
    Se eseye m'ap eseye ede w tout tan sa a.  Men sanble ou pa konprann sa.

5. I've been living in this neighborhood for twenty years.  I've never seen anything like this.
    M'ap viv nan katye sa a pou ventan.  Mwen pa janm wè yon bagay parèy.

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

How does one translate the Past Perfect Progressive? Example, "Betty failed the final test because she had not been attending class." Another example, "Jason was tired because he had been jogging."

Use the combination te (past tense indicator) + ap (progressive form indicator)

1.  Betty failed the final test because she had not been attending class.
     Betty te echwe nan dènye egzamen an paske li pa t'ap prale nan klas.

2. "Jason was tired because he had been jogging." 
      Jason te fatige paske li te ap kouri.
     Jason te fatige paske li t'ap kouri.

3. She had been talking to her friends when she collapsed.
     Li te ap pale ak zanmi l yo lè li te pèdi konesans.
    Li t'ap pale ak zanmi l yo lè li te pèdi konesans.

4.  If you had not been crying, they would have never found us.
     Si ou pa t'ap kriye, yo pa ta janm jwenn nou.

5.  If you had been watching the baby instead of talking on the phone, all this would not have happened.
     Si ou t'ap veye bebe a angiz ap pale nan telefòn, tout sa pa ta janm rive.

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

How does one translate the Past Perfect? Is it with Te or not? Are there are ways of expressing this tense? Example, "She only understood the movie because she had read the book." Another example, "We had had that car for ten years before it broke down."

Past perfect is expressed with "te"

1.  "She only understood the movie because she had read the book."
     "Li te konpran fim nan senpleman paske li te li liv la."

2. "We had had that car for ten years before it broke down."
    "Nou te gen machin sa a pou dizan anvan l te vin pran pàn."

3. If you had not been there, I don't know what I would have done.
    Si ou pa te la, m pa konn sa m ta fè.

4. I had waited for about two hours when she finally decided to show up.
    Mwen te tann pou dezèdtan konsa lè li te resi deside pou l parèt.

5.  We had never seen anything like this.
      Nou pa't janm wè yon bagay konsa.

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

I have a question about conjugating the phrase "I give." How do you distinguish between tenses? For example, I give, I gave, I was giving, I have given, I should give, I should have given? (Using ba instead of bay, please.)

Present tense: Mwen ba, ou ba, li ba, nou ba, yo ba
I give you my heart.→ Mwen ba ou kè'm
We give him everything he wants. → Nou ba li tout sa li vle.

Past tense: Mwen te ba, ou te ba, li te ba, nou te ba, yo te ba
He gave the order to demolish the house. → Li te ba lòd pou demoli kay la.
I already gave her the money. → Mwen te deja ba li lajan an.

Past Progressive:
She was giving them the news when the phone rang.
Li t'ap ba yo nouvèl la lè telefòn nan te sonnen.

She was giving a speech when she fainted.
Li t'ap ba yon diskou lè l te endispoze.


Present perfect:
I have given you ten beautiful children, and this is how you treat me!
Mwen ba ou dis bèl piti, e se konsa ou trete'm!

Mwen te ba ou dis bèl piti, e se konsa ou trete'm!

here indicating action that began in the past and continues in the present or the action could have been recently completed.  Thus, you'll sometimes here the Creole present tense or the past tense with indicator "te".

Past perfect:
I had given her key to the house.
Mwen te ba li kle kay la.


Using auxillary "should"
I should give the money to the poorest family.
Mwen ta dwe ba fanmi ki pi pòv la lajan an.
here indicating something that you are strongly advised to do.

We should have given him the car.
Nou te dwe ba li machin nan
here, realizing that you should have done an action that you did not get to do.

Using auxillary "must"
You must give him the medication every night.
Ou dwe ba li medikaman an chak swa.
here indicating an action that you are required to do.

can you touch base on perfect tense verb.

The present perfect tense resembles the simple present tense in Haitian Creole. You may use the past tense indicator “te” to indicate this past action which has conssequences in the present. But you’ll notice that often times Haitians omit “te” altogether.

Examples:

1.I have seen his glory.
    Mwen te wè glwa li.
    You will also hear: Mwen wè glwa li.

2. You have played a good game.
    Ou te jwe yon bon jwèt.
You will also hear: Ou jwe yon bon jwèt.

3. I have found what I was looking for.
    Mwen te jwenn sa m t’ap chache a.
    You will also hear: Mwen jwenn sa m t’ap chache a.

4. We’ve come here to talk to you.
    Nou te vini la pou pale ak ou.
    You will also hear: Nou vini la pou pale ak ou.

5. I have not slept yet.
    Mwen poko dòmi.

Poko (pa ankò) – present tense for “not yet"
Patko (pa te ankò) – past tense for “not yet"


In Haitian Creole there’s no difference between the simple past and the past perfect tenses. We continue to use the past tense indicator “te” for both simple past and past perfect tenses.

Examples:

(simple past tense)

1. I thought you saw her.
    Mwen te panse ou te wè li.

(Past perfect)

2. I had seen it with my own eyes.
    Mwen te wè li ak pwòp je m.

(simple past and past perfect tenses)
3. This morning, in class, we spoke about the book we had read.
    Maten an, nan klas la, nou te pale sou liv nou te li a.

(past perfect)
4. I hadn’t spoken to my brother since that day.
    Mwen pa te pale ak frè mwen an depi jou sa.

(simple past and past perfect tenses)
5. When I arrived this morning, the rain hadn’t fallen yet.
    Lè mwen te rive maten an, lapli a patko* tonbe.

*Patko being the past tense of poko. Which means “not yet"


The simple future perfect tense also resembles the simple future tense in Haitian Creole.

1. By next year, I will have completed all my classes.

    Ane pwochen, m’ap konplete tout klas mwen yo.

2. By the time you turn 30, you will have had one million friends on facebook.

    Distans pou ou gen trant tan, w’ap gen yon milyon zanmi sou Facebook.

3. I bet that, by December, she will have already forgotten me.

    Mwen parye, distans pou Desanm rive, l’ap gentan bliye m.

4. Come and see me at noon. I will have already been home before 11:30.

    Vini wè mwen a midi. M’ap gentan lakay anvan onzè edmi.

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How do you express perfect tenses (have done, had done) in Creole? With 'te'? Adverbial expressions?

In Haitian Creole, we continue to use 'te' in past and perfect tenses.
*It's important to note that it's not uncommon for Haitians to omit the 'te' in past or perfect tenses, and speak of the past as if it was the present.

I have spoken to her. 
Mwen te pale avè l.

We've told her about it.
Nou te di l sa.

I had tried to help them, but they refused my help.
Mwen te eseye ede yo, men yo refize sipò mwen.

I have been here since 6 o'clock. - Mwen la depi sizè. (without "te")
I have been here since 6 o'clock. - Mwen te la depi sizè. (with "te")

He has done a terrible thing. - Li fè yon move bagay.
He has done a terrible thing. - Li te fè yon move bagay.

Thank you for all you've done. - Mèsi pou tout sa ou fè.
Thank you for all you've done. - Mèsi pou tout sa ou te fè.

I have been waiting for you for 2 hours. - M te ap tann ou pou dezè d'tan.

Has she been sleeping all that time. - Eske li te ap dòmi tout tan sa?

We know how you feel, we had been there. - Nou konnen kijan ou santi ou, nou te la tou.

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