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Saturday, January 28, 2012

"pito" means "rather"?

Pito (v.), also Pi pito  → to prefer

Mwen pito mache pase pou m kondwi.
I rather walk than to drive.

Nou pito mouri pase pou n viv kou esklav.
We rather die than to live as slaves.

Nou pi pito ale nan lekòl sa.
We  prefer to go to this school.


Pito at the end of a sentence could mean instead.

Li pa't anvi fè manje.  Li mennen nou nan yon restoran pito.
He did not want to cook.  He took us to a restaurant instead.

Nou te ale Nou Yòk pito.
We went to New York instead.

Mwen te manje yon ponm pito.
I ate an apple instead.


When pito begins a sentence, it means it's better that.

Pito mwen ale kounye a.
It's better that I go now.

Pito w retounen lajan an tande!
It's better that you give the money back.

Pito ou pale ak pitit gason ou la sou koze a.
It's better that you talk to your son on the subject.


When pa pito begins a sentence, it means why don't...

Pa pito nou kòmanse travay la.
Why don't we start the job.

Pa pito n'al nan magazen an anvan yo fèmen.
Why don't we go to the store before they close.

Pa pito nou tann apre vwayaj la pou nou ta marye.
Why don't we wait after the trip to get married.

Li gentan fè nwa.  Pa pito nou retounen lakay.
It's already dark.  Why don't we get back home.

Ou vle "chanèl" pito :)

Ou vle "chanèl" pito?
Would you rather have "chanèl"?

you know better than that :)

HOW DO YOU SAY I DONT WANT NO PROBLEMS

I don't want any problems!
Mwen pa vle traka non!
Mwen pa vle tèt chaje non!

bann kalite?

bann kalite →a diverse group, a diversified assortment, a bunch of different

Li te gen yon bann kalite fwi nan men l.
She had an assortment of fruits.

Lè m rive nan magazen an, mwen wè yon bann kalite bèl rad.
When I got to the store, I saw different types of beautiful clothes.

how do you say, "Do you want to go out tonight?" in creole?

Would you like to go out tonight?
Eske ou ta renmen sòti aswè a?

Do you want to go out tonight?
Eske ou vle sòti aswè a?

Se gwo zafè papa!

gwo zafèpakèt afè or gwo koze - big deal

Se gwo zafè papa!
Se gwo koze papa!
or
Se yon pakèt afè papa!
It's a big deal!

antan (in English)?

antan, etan, pandan  while

Antan l'ap lapriyè, li tonbe kriye.
While she was praying, she started crying.

Antan y'ap pale konsa, polis la parèt sou yo.
While they were talking, the police came to them.

Antan ou tou deyò a, pa pito ou pase achte yon galon lèt pou mwen.
While you're out, why don't you buy me a gallon of milk.

Antan nou la a, pa pito nou koumanse travay.
While we here, why don't we start working.

mwen men tou

Mwen menm tou → me too, me also
Ou menm tou → you too
Nou menm tou → us too
Li menm tou → him too

Kisa yon 'Kè sere' ye?

Kè sere → heavy heart, sadness, melancholia

Menaj li kite l. Li pa ka manje, li pa ka bwè.  Kè l sere.
His girlfriend left him.  He can't eat, he can't drink.  He's sad.

Kè m sere.  Tristès anpare m.
My heart hurts.  I'm overcome with sadness.

anpare - to plunder, to pillage, to storm
Examples: 
Lajwa anpare m – I was overcome with joy
Tristès anpare m – I was overcome with sadness
Pa kite dezespwa anpare w – Do not be depressed
Grangou anpare l – He was very hungry
Lapè anpare nou – We were overcome by fear


Lè li di m l'ap kite'm nan, mwen gen yon sèl kè sere ki pran m.
When she said she was leaving me, I was taken by grief.

each other, one and the other

each other → youn lòt
one and the other → youn ak lòt

1. They held each other's hand.
    Youn kenbe men lòt.

2. They're criticising each other.
    Youn ap kritike lòt.

3. They don't respect each other.
    Youn pa respekte lòt.

4. We love each other.  We respect each other.
    Nou youn renmen lòt.  Nou youn respekte lòt.

5. De fim sa yo se menm bagay la.  Si ou gade youn, ou pa bezwen gade lòt la.
    These two movies are one in the same.  If you watch one, you don't need to watch the other.

6. They were walking together.  Then one said to the other,  "Let us rest here for the night."
    Yo t'ap mache ansanm.  Epi youn di lòt la, "An nou repoze la a aswè a."

If the haitian Creole "fè" means "to do", what is 'refè'? to redo?

Refè has two different meanings.

1st:  Refè → to redo or to do again, to redesign, to remake, to start over

1. Mwen refè manje a ankò.
    I cooked the food over again.

2. Bòs la  mande m peye si (6) mil dola pou refè kwizin mwen an.
    The foreman asked me to pay $6,000 in order to redesign my kitchen.
    
3. Pwofesè a mande m refè devwa a.
    The teacher asked me to redo the homework.

4. Lè m reyalize mwen te pèdi, mwen refè wout la ankò.
    When I realized I was lost, I took the path over again.

5.  Si ou vle nou refè travay la, fòk ou peye nou doub.
     If you want us to do the work over again, you must pay us double.

2nd: Refè → to recover, to be restored to health, to be healthy again

1.  Mwen te fèb anpil.  Men apre m bwè soup la, mwen te refè.
     I was very weak.  But after I drank the soup, I felt better.

2.  Celia te malad.  Men apre de (2) jou lopital, li te refè.
     Celia was ill.  But after two days in the hospital, she recovered.

3.  Ou pa ka al travay paske ou poko refè.
      You can't go to work because you haven't recovered yet.

4.  Si ou pa pran remèd la ou p'ap refè non!
     If you don't take the medicine you will not get better!

5.  Loulou te malad prèt pou mouri lè menaj li a te kite l.  Men kou menaj li a retounen vin jwenn ni, li refè nèt!  Genlè se maladi damou li te genyen.
     Loulou was close to dying when his girlfriend left him.  But when his girlfriend came back to him he completely recovered!  I seems that he was lovesick.

Friday, January 27, 2012

RUDE

rude → malelve, frekan, radi, enpètinan

how do you say little in haitian creole?

small / little ti (goes before the noun), piti

1. 
a small car
yon ti machin

2.
a small orange
yon ti zoranj

3.
They have a small house.
Yo gen yon ti kay.

4.
She chose the little car.
Li chwazi ti machin nan.

5.
Don't worry. It's just a little rain.
Pa ennkyete w. Se sèlman yon ti lapli.

6.
A little love is all I need.
Yon ti lanmou, se tout sa m bezwen.



Small → Piti

7.
That car is small.
Machin sa piti.

8.
That orange is small.
Zoranj sa piti.

9.
What I have is little.
Sa mwen genyen an piti.

10.
That room is too small.
Chanm sa twò piti.

11.
All my kids were small at birth.
Tout timoun mwen yo te piti lè yo te fèt.


A small piece yon ti kal, yon ti kras, yon ti moso, yon ti kraze

12.
Let me have a small piece of bread.
Ban'm yon ti kal pen.

13.
He only gave me a small piece.
Li te sèlman ban mwen yon ti moso.


a few → enpe
a small amount → enpe, yon ti kraze, yon ti ke

14.
Only a few people showed up last night.
Sèlman enpe moun ki te vin yèswa.

15
I need a few plates for the table.
Mwen bezwen enpe asyèt pou tab la.

16.
I gave her a little bit of money.
Mwen te ba li enpe lajan.

17.
Give me some water, please.
Ban m enpe dlo tanpri.

Mesi anpil

What is "bondye fè"?

Bondye fè → luckily, fortunately

Reyinyon an anile. Bondye fè mwen patko deplase.
The meeting is cancelled.  Luckily I had not left yet.

Machin mwen manke pran pàn gaz.  Bondye fè te gen yon estasyon gazolin tou pre a.
My car almost ran out of gas.  Fortunately there was a gas station nearby.

Other Haitian Creole words for FORTUNATELY are:  erezman, bon chans pou