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Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Is there a way to distinguish b/t there are/there will be? I have/I will have?

Yes.

Present tense:
there is/ are - genyen, gen
(gen or genyen are used interchangeably)
examples:
There is a house here. - Gen yon kay la.

There's a woman in the car. - Genyen yon fanm nan machin nan.

There are many cars on the road. - Genyen anpil machin la dou wout la.

Future tense:
For the future tense, use either ap or pral.
there will be - pral genyen, pral gen   or  ap gen, ap genyen
examples
There will be many people here.
Pral gen anpil moun la.

There will be dancing.
Pral gen danse.

There will be a lot food at the party.
Ap genyen anpil manje nan fèt la.


The same form goes for Past Tense:
Use the paste tense determiner te
examples
There was a man here.
Te gen yon mesye la.

There were many people at the party.
Te gen anpil moun nan fèt la.

There was a book on the the table.
Te gen yon liv sou tab la.


Same goes when using would, should, could

would - ta
could - ka
should - ta dwe

example:
There would have been a fight if I wasn't there.
Ta gen yon batay si m pa te la.

There should be enough food for everyone.
Ta dwe gen ase manje pou tout moun

There may be another dog in the backyard.
Ka gen yon lò chyen nan lakou a.

And if you need to put these sentences into the negative form,
place 'pa' in front of the sentence.  'pa' is the determiner for the negative form.
examples:
Another way to say there's no, there are no..., there's nothing (in the present tense) is NANPWEN

Pa gen pèsonn / Pa gen moun
Nanpwen pèsonn / Nanpwen moun  
There's no one

Pa gen lekòl jodi a.
or
Nanpwen lekòl jodi a
There's no school today.

Pa gen manje nan kay la.
or
Nanpwen manje nan kay la.
There's no food in the house


Pa gen anyen la.
or
Nanpwen anyen la.
There's nothing here.

Pa gen pèsonn mwen renmen plis pase w
Nanpwen pèsonn mwen renmen plis pase w.
There's no one I like better than you.

Pa pral gen batay. (un-contracted)
P'ap gen batay. (contracted)
There will not be any fight.

Pa te gen yon kamera la. (un-contracted)
Pa't gen yon kamera la. (contracted)
There was not a camera there.

Pa ta dwe gen ti moun nan fèt sa.
There should not be any kids at this party.


Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Oh my God!!

Oh my God! - Mezanmi!, Oh Bondye!, Woy!, Anmwe!
(what surprised you?)

How do you say someone is the Big Boss or leader of a work site?

the big bòs - patwon an, anplwayè a, gwo bòs la

He is the supervisor of this work site. - Li se patwon dyòb sa.

komoun se di an kreyol....he needs to be potty train?

potty-trained - kite kouchèt

He needs to be potty-trained - Li bezwen kite kouchèt la.

What does 'Pran kè!' mean?

Pran kè (expression) - Be strong.

depending on context it may also mean:

Pran kè (expression) - Be sympathetic

Fòk sa chanje!

Yes, i agree with you. And everyone agrees with you, too, that 'things must change'. Would you mind taking the first step :)

Monday, April 25, 2011

Let's go!


Let's go! - An nou ale!

link to download this audio clip:
http://limanecasimi.audioacrobat.com/download/28b87b7f-71ac-c867-48ef-fc124365425c.mp3
*********************

Click the play button to listen to this audio lesson.
Follow along.  First sentence is in Creole as written here.



Bonswa tout moun! - Good evening everyone!

To go - ale, al*

Let's - an nou  - (contracted*: ann, an'n, an-n)

*Note: Contracted and non-contrated forms are used interchangeably.
1. Ann al dòmi. - Let's go to sleep.

2. Ann al travay. - Let's go to work.

3. Ann ale lavil. - Let's go to town

4. Ann al chache papa m. - Let's go pick up my dad.

5. Ann al legliz. - Let's go to church.

6. An-n al manje. - Let's go  eat.

7. Ann al gade yon fim. - Let's go see a movie.

8. Ann ale promennen. - Let's go strolling.

9. Ann ale lekòl. - Let's go to school.

10. Ann ale Ayiti. - Let's go to Haiti.

Se tou pou jodi a.  Mèsi, orevwa, e an nou pale Kreyòl.
That's all for today.  Thank you, goodbye, and let's speak Creole.

Track: Caraïbes Oh by La Compagnie créole.

this guy is sweet

This guy is sweet - Mesye sa janti.

you can also say,

This guy is sweet (likable) - Mesye sa emab.

a little

a little - yon ti
a little boy - yon ti gason
a little lie - yon ti manti
a little water (some water) - yon ti dlo

rock

rock - wòch

how is 'saltwater and fresh water' translated?

saltwater - dlo sale ( pronounced dlo-sah-lay)
fresh water - dlo dous

What do you think of eternity?

Is this a soul-searching question?

Well, I am living in Adam's, Eve's, and Benjamin Franklin's eternity. And it doesn't look that bad.

Ask me anything

have you come across chante Creole 'ban mwen yon ti bo'?

the old version?


Ban mwen yon ti bo doudou.

Lyrics
Depi twa jou lapli pa ka tonbe            It hasn't rained in 3 days.
Se de zye mwen te ka sèvi an arozwa My eyes have become a watering can
An arozwa pou awoze lari                  a watering can to water the streets
Kon doudou mwen te ka pase           so when my honey would walk by
pou la pousyè pa tonbe nan zye m.    the dust won't get into my eyes

Ban mwen yon ti bo doudou,             Give me a little kiss honey
yon ti bo doudou,                              a little kiss honey
yon ti bo.                                           a little kiss
Ban mwen yon ti bo                          Give me a little kiss
pou soulaje kè an mwen                   to comfort my heart

Ban mwen yon ti bo doudou,             Give me a little kiss honey,
yon ti bo doudou,                                a little kiss honey,
yon ti bo.                                             a little kiss.
Doudou, ban mwen yon ti bo              Honey, give me a little kiss
pou soulaje kè an mwen                      to comfort my heart.





Ask me anything

Haitian creole Alphabet

Haitian Creole alphabet song: http://sweetcoconuts.blogspot.com/2011/10/finally-haitian-creole-alphabet-song.html
Listen to the Haitian Creole alphabet here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_a4MX1SdPk

Haitian Creole alphabet (as officially published in 1979)


a - ah

an - an

b - be

chse ach

d - de

e - e

è - è

en - en

f - èf

g - je

h - ach

i - i

j - ji

k - ka

lèl

mèm

n - èn

ng - èn je

o - o

on -on

ou - ou

oun - oun

p - pe

r - èr

s - ès

t - te

ui - yi

v - ve

w - doubleve

y - igrèg

z - zèd





I haven't seen anything about the Creole alphabet. Where can I find that information?