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Monday, February 17, 2014

Hey! I love how useful and real your answers are, or well seem to be baha. Can you please give me the translations to these phrases or the best way to get the point across.Thanks!....

“Hey! I love how useful and real your answers are, or well seem to be baha. Can you please give me the translations to these phrases or the best way to get the point across.Thanks!....
This is yours (like if I was giving them something to keep)
Do you like it? (like if I was giving them a new food to try)
And lastly this phrase...
We appreciate all that you do for us, I hope one day we will be able to speak to
you in kreyol.”

 This is yours – Sa se pou ou or Sa se pa’w la.
Do you like it? – Eske ou renmen li?

We appreciate all that you do for us, I hope one day we will be able to speak to
you in kreyol. – Nou apresye tout sa ou fè pou nou, m’espere yon jou nou va kapab pale avèk ou an Kreyòl.

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

in the expression koupe m sa sek, can you say kase instead of koupe?

I think that this expression is what it is.  It will not sound the same with "kase".

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I know you can use "se" to mean "it is." Like "Se yon bèl jounen." I know that you can make it past tense by saying, "Se te yon bèl jounen." Can you put "se" with other tenses? Se pral... or Se ap...?? Thanks!


Yes we can, Men kèk egzanp:

Se pral yon gran jou.

Se va yon gran jou.

Se ta pral yon bèl sipriz pou tout moun, men malerezman  yo te aprann nouvèl la. 

Se dwe te papa l ki ba l machin nan

Se ka yon move nouvèl li resevwa ki ba l gwo sezisman sa a.

 --As far as progressive is concerned, it can’t be done because it’s a passive voice.

It’s being washed. – Se lave y’ap lave’l

It’s being done right now. – Se fè y’ap fè’l kounye a.

Saturday, February 15, 2014

How do you ask someone to bring you something or get you something? "Please get me a loaf of bread from the store.

We use “pote” , “mennen”, and sometimes “pran
Examples:
1. Mennen l ban mwen. or Pote l ban mwen. - Bring it to me.
2. Pran l pou mwen tanpri. - Get it for me please.
3. Bring me the baby. - Pote bebe a ban mwen.
4. Get me a cold glass of water please. - Pote yon vè dlo glase pou mwen tanpri.
5. Can you get this bag for m? I can reach it. - Eske w kapab pran valiz sa a pou mwen,? M pa ka rive pran l.

6. Please get me a loaf of bread from the store. - Tanpri achte yon pen pou mwen nan magazen an.

7. Please get me a loaf of bread while you’re at the store. - Tanpri pran yon pen pou mwen pandan w nan magazen an.

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Thursday, February 13, 2014

How do you say "Happy Birthday, my precious daughter"?

Happy Birthday, my precious daughter.
Bòn fèt, pitit fi presye mwen an

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m tonbe pale koze m pa gen biznis pale sou tab la. Tout moun blije met tèt atè – m te mare kon krab. Can you plz explain HOW the way you translated ?

"m tonbe pale koze m pa gen biznis pale sou tab la.  Tout moun blije met tèt atè – m te mare kon krab"

1.
 tonbe, here, is translated as to start, to begin
example:
M tonbe kouri - I started to run.
Nou tonbe danse - we started to dance

2.
koze is translated as things, conversations, dialogue, chats
 
3.
M | tonbe | pale | koze                  | m |  pa | gen   | bizinis     | pale     | sou | tab la
I    |started | talk  |  conversation I  I    |not | have | business | to talk | on   | the table
I started talking about things I had no business talking about at a dinner table.

 
4.
Tout moun  | blije (or oblije) | met (or mete) | tèt atè.
Everyone      | obligated          | put                   |  head down
Everyone was forced  to put their head down.

 
5.
M te mare kon krab
I was tied like crab
I was uncoordinated

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Mandaly. An "E nou va (na) fe konesans ak bokou(anpil) moun demen maten." Yo se "bokou" ak "anpil pi ranplase nan moman an? M konnen sa "bokou"

Bonjou Rachal :)
Haitians don’t generally use “bokou” when they want to say “a lot (anpil)” unless it is to say “mèsi bokou”.  It might be a term that’s used more in other Creole cultures.

In that sentence it’s best to use “anpil”.
Dakò.

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Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Madanm. When writing down "in Haiti" in Creole and "in the plane", should it be: "ann Ayiti" and "ann avyon", instead of "an Ayiti" and "an avyon"? The reason I ask is because in spoken form, there is a liaison between these two expressions. Am I right on this? Mesi bokou.


Yes you are right.  It comes from French articulation…. The liaison between “en” and the word that follows if it begins with a vowel or silent “h”.

We do say

“an Ayiti”  (from French “en Haiti) - in Haiti

 “an avyon” (from French “en avion”) - by plane

 

Other places you’ll see A French preposition being used are:

An Chin (from French “en Chine”) – in China

An Afrik (from French “en Afrique”) – In Africa

Also

A Pari (from French “Á Paris”) – in Paris

O Kanada (from French “Au Canada”) – in Canada

 

Also

Bak annaryè (from French “faire back en arrière”) – to step back

Etc…

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What would "lap chachem kont" vle di an kreyol. Mesi! Also what does "kwake" vle di? I always hear that word but I can never really understand its meaning.

Chache kont – to tick off sb,  to push sb’s button, to ask for it, to provoke
Adding the subject between “chache” and “kont” indicates “who” is being ticked off.
example:

1.
L’ap chache m kont.
Li ap chache mwen kont (not contracted)
He’s ticking me off.

 2.
Poukisa w’ap chache l kont?
Why are you teasing him?

 3.
Si w chache chen an kont, l’ap mode w.
If you provoke the dog, he’ll bite you.

 

Kwake or kwakalthough

 example:
4.
Kwake nou te fatige nou te ale nan fèt la kanmenm
Although we were tired we went to the party anyway.
 
5.
Nou te kondui apeprè 8 km ak machin nan kwake kawoutyou devan an te pete
We drove approximately 5 miles with the car although the front tire blew.
 
6.
Kwake prezidan an pa’t kenbe pawòl li sou pwomès li te fè, moun yo vote pou li kanmenm.
Even though the president didn’t keep his words on the promises that he made the people voted for him anyway

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Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Does adding konsa after di "di konsa" mean something other than "said"? I want to say Jezi di konsa.

"di konsa" basically mean "to say".  "konsa", here, literally means "like that"

egzanp:
1.  Jezi di konsa, "Vin jwen mwen".
     or
     Jezi di, "Vin jwenn mwen".
     Jesus says, "Come to me."


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"Fouye zo nan kalalou"? kisa vle di?

fouye zo nan kalalou - to investigate, to nose around, to dig

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Where can I find the correct terms for the different parts of the face and body in Haitian Creole? Thank you for your help!

 
 
Hair - cheve, chive
Face – figi, vizaj
facial creases – pli nan figi
forehead -  fwon or fontèn
eyebrow – sousi
eyelashes – plim je
eyelid – po je or do je
eyeball – boul je
eye– je or zye
eye socket – twou je
cheek – bò figi
cheek bone – zo figi
jaw – machwa,  machwè
jawbone -  zo machwa, zo machwè
chin - manton
dimple – twou bote
mouth - bouch
teeth - dan
nose - nen
nostrils – twou nen
profile view – depwofil 
Parts of the face / Diferan pati nan figi a
Kreyol

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Would you say that tchuipe (spelling right I hope) is trait only found in Haitian?

A trait? I thought it was a way of expressing ourselves.
No, other cultures do it too.  Haitians just do it better :)

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What does the word "kalanber" mean, I might have spelled it wrong, thanks!


It’s kalanbè -  smegma, sebum

Haitian sometimes curse you out and they say Kalanbè! Or Kalanbè manman w! meaning  you are something revolting or disgusting”.

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Monday, February 10, 2014

Lapoula m te dwe fè bak tounen lakay men. Hi, can you explain 'lapoula' and 'bak' ? here. Mesi anpil (kamsa hamnida)-that's in Korean

Lapoulaimmediately, right then and there,  right away, right on the spot

Example:
1. Jezi te poze men l sou malad la e lapoula l te geri. - Jesus laid his hand on the sick and immediately he was healed.

 

Regarding ‘bak’, the expression actually is “fè bak

fè bak – to back away, to step back, to walk back, to back down
sometimes you will hear “fè bak annaryè  to go backwards, to recede, to  retreat

Example:
2. Lè moun yo te wè mesye a te gen yon zam nan men l yo tout te fè bak. – When the people saw that the man had a weapon they all stepped back.

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