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Tuesday, July 3, 2012

bonjou eske w gen yon paj avek proveb yo tanpri? mesi anpil

Malerezman non, mwen  pa genyen.
Mwen gen kèk "posts" ki pale sou pwovèb Ayisyen, men yo pa anpil.
Ou kapab jwenn kèk pwovèb sou http://creolelingo.com/,
oubyen
Ou kapab tcheke sit entènèt sa: http://www.haitianproverbs.com/
Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words

Help (best way to say?)


help (n.) → èd, sipò, asistans, kout men, bra fò
help (v.) → ede, sipòte, bay kput men, bay jarèt, depane
Help! (interj.) → Ede'm!,  Sekoure'm!, Anmwey!

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

What are the uses for "ou menm" (and nou menm by extension)? I know it can mean "yourself?" Such as in "byen e ou menm?", but I've heard it in a lot of statements in videos on RTG Haiti.

Ou menm does not only translate a reflexive pronoun. Sometimes it may act as a subject pronoun, sometimes it  puts emphasis on the pronoun (as in Ou menm menm), sometimes it could mean your own (as in Se fòt ou menm It's your own fault), and sometimes it could mean as for you (as in Ou menm menm as for you)

See the following examples:
mwen menm →  I, me, myself, my own, as for me
ou menm → yourself, your own, as for you
li menm → him, himself,  she, her herself
nou menm → us, ourselves, our own, as for us
yo menm  → them, themselves, their own, as for them


1. Ou menm avè'm va kondi machin nan.
    You and I will drive the car.

2. Ou achte yon sèl kola?!  E mwen menm?  Kisa'm va bwè?
    Did you buy just one soda?!  What about me?  What will I drink?

3. Mwen byen.  E ou menm?
    I'm fine.  How about you?

4. Se mwen menm ki nan pòt la!  Kite'm antre.
    It's me at the door!  Let me in.

5. Se  ou menm menm ki te di sa.
    It was none other but you that said that.

6. Se ou menm menm ki dwe chwazi moun ou vle marye a.
    It's none other but you that must choose the person you want to marry.

7. Se nou menm menm ki dwe chanje sitiyasyon peyi a.
    It is none other but us that must change the country's condition.

8. Nou menm menm, kisa nou vle?
    As for you, what do you want?

9. Yo menm menm, kilè yo va aprann ede tèt yo?
    As for them, when will the learn to support themselves?

10. Se kay mwen menm ki te boule a.
      It is my own house that got burned.

11. Se pitit mwen menm yo te arete a.
      It was my own child that got arrested.

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

How do I say "I have hope" in Haitian Creole?

I have hope.
Mwen gen espwa (optimism, aspiration)
Mwen gen esperans (faith, hope, certitude, belief)
Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words

very little stress (in Creole)

stress → tansyon, estrès,  kriz, twoub, presyon, or kè sou biskèt

very little stress
ti tansyon tou piti


FYI: sometimes, I translate sentence fragments a little differently than  if I had the whole sentence before me :)


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

Baby, I love you. You are the love of my life. I will forever cherish and adore you. Forever and always, my love. (in Creole)

Wololoy, se bèl bagay!  ...Bagay moun de byen :)

Cheri, mwen renmen'w.  Ou se lanmou lavi'm.  Mwen va toujou ancheri'w e adore'w.  Pou tout tan e toujou, lanmou mwen.
Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words

We are happy to see you and to worship with you tonight in Creole?

We are happy to see you and to worship with you tonight.
Nou kontan wè'w.  E nou kontan adore avèk ou aswè a.
Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words

Glwaradye!

Monday, July 2, 2012

...pou pa fè sa mwen

It's very hard to translate a fragment of a sentence like this one without seeing the context....

...pou pa fè sa pou mwen
...to not do it for me
...in order not to do this for me
...for you not to have done this for me
this could be many different things ... :)

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

"You will have a room of your own" Maybe: Ou pral gen yon chanm selman pou ou ?

Your translation is perfect :)  Let me just give more ways to translate this...

You will have you own room.
Ou pral gen pwòp chanm pa'w.


You have a room all to yourself.
"Ou pral gen yon chanm sèlman pou ou." (your translation... perfect!)
or
Ou pral gen yon chanm pou ou sèl. 


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


Ou sou deja?

"Lesson 1..."

Are you trying to call the lessons in a class ...?

Lesson 1 - you could say leson En or leson nimewo EN
Lesson 2 - you could say leson De or leson nimewo De
Lesson 3 - you could say leson Twa or leson nimewo Twa
etc...
Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words

"When you yell it doesn't help the children to listen." Mesi anpil!

When you yell it doesn't help the children to listen.
When you raise your voice like that, that doesn't help the children to listen to you.( literally)
Lè ou leve vwa'w konsa, sa pa ede timoun yo koute'w.

When you yell it doesn't help the children to hear you.
Lè ou rele konsa, sa pa ede timoun yo tande'w.
Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words

"When you yell it doesn't help the children to listen." Mesi anpil!


M- I asked you about the lyrics to Ti Ca. I was in Haiti this weekend, and found out that they are filthy. I am mortified. Mwen regret! I am very sorry. I love your blog, though. It is helping me learn Creole. Thanks!!!

Pa gen pwoblèm :)
I thought that you probably didn't know.
Yes, this song will make even the most unscrupulous womanizer blush...

Hope you had a nice time in Haiti :)
Keep up with the Creole.
Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words


What is the order of using superlatives in a sentence?: "You are the sweetest woman." Ou se fanm pi dous nan or Ou se pi dous fanm nan In other words, would the order follow the rule for that particular adjective? mesi! mesi!

You are the sweetest woman.
Ou se fanm ki pi dous lan.

For superlatives, the order goes like this:  pi + modifier + article
When the superlative adjectives modify a noun in H. Creole, if that adjective is of the group which usually come after the noun, then the best way to translate that sentence is to add the relative pronoun 'ki' before 'pi'.  See the following examples.

Examples made with adjectives that usually come before the noun in H. Creole
the most beautiful → pi bèl la
the most beautiful flower → pi bèl flè a
the most beautiful flower → flè ki pi bèl la

the oldest → pi gran an
the oldest girl → pi gran fi a
the oldest girl → fi ki pi gran an

the tiniest → pi piti a
the tiniest seed → pi piti grenn nan
the tiniest seed → grenn ki pi piti a

Examples made with adjectives that usually come after the noun in H. Creole.
the whitest → blan an
the whitest teethpi blan dan an  (can't translate it like that)
the whitest teeth → dan ki pi blan an

the sweetest → pi dous la
the sweetest moment pi dous moman an (can't translate it like that)
the sweetest moment → moman ki pi dous la

the tastiest → pi gou a
the tastiest foods pi gou manje a (can't translate it like that)
the tastiest foods → manje ki pi gou yo

the tallest → pi wo a
the tallest man pi wo mesye a (can't translate it like that)
the tallest man →mesye ki pi wo a

the most wicked → pi mechan an
the most wicked actspi mechan zak la (can't translate it like that)
the most wicked acts → zak ki pi mechan an

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