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Friday, August 3, 2012

What does chuchu mean? He said "morning chuchu".

It's written as chouchou, but I like your spelling too :)
Chouchou is an endearing name like sweetie, honey, cutie pie..


See link to  endearing names
Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words

My sweet brother / my (adj) ...person (in Creole)

Remember, some adjectives go before the noun and some don't.


my sweet brother
dou frè mwen


my older brother
gran frè mwen


my dear brother
frè cheri  mwen


my good Haitian brother
bon frè Ayisyen mwen




my best friend
pi bon zanmi mwen


my one and only friend
sèl zanmi mwen


my dear love
lanmou cheri mwen
Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words

"W'ap vini nan Kreyòl la." I'm reading it as "You're becoming Creole" Is that correct?

I am reading it as: You're getting there (as in you're getting better or proficient)

W'ap vini nan Kreyòl la.
You're getting better with the Creole.
Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words

Thursday, August 2, 2012

How do you say "Poor people entertain with the heart" in Kreyol?

do you mean entertain as to welcome guests, to show hospitality?
Poor people entertain with the heart.
Moun pòv akeyi moun ak tout kè.
or
Do you mean entertain as to amuse themselves?
Poor people entertain with the heart.
Moun pòv pran plezi yo ak tout kè yo.
Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words

how would you say "even if the world will end tomorrow, I will plant a tree today

Even if the world will end tomorrow, I will plant a tree today.
Menm si fen monn nan t'ap rive demen, m'ap plante yon pyebwa jodi a.
Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words

Mandalay, do kids in Haiti believe in the tooth fairy? How do you say tooth fairy in Creole? Thanks!

Well, the Haitian tooth fairy is actually a rat.
In Haiti, when children lose a tooth, they throw the tooth on the roof of their house and say, 'Rat, rat, rat! I am throwing you a beautiful tooth, send me a bad tooth'. Rat, rat, rat! Men yon bèl dan m voye pou ou, voye yon move dan pou mwen.

The belief is if to trick the tooth-hungry rat into accepting the bad tooth so that the child may grow the tooth back.  If the child doesn't grow a tooth, then the rat didn't buy into the lie :)
Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words

Congratulations to Evy and Ben on the birth of your beautiful girl.

Felisitasyon a Evy e Ben nan okazyon nesans bèl pitit fi ou.
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How do you feel (Creole)

no question for me yet, but i wanted to let you know that i just discovered your site and it is GREAT, thank you!

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Tèt chaje! Mwen pa konnen kisa 'pedi fey' vle di :)

kisa yon fridodoy la se ye?

Fridòdòy se manje ki pa fin twò bon pou lasante.  Se manje fri.  Se fritay.  Se 'snacks' tankou potato chips ak  fast foods.  Se tyanpan.  Se pa manje ou manje sou tab ak kiyè e fouchèt :)
Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words

I translated 'Nan ki koze m tonbe la?' as 'in what I fall?' makes no sense.

No, It won't make any sense if you translate it literally :)
Koze, in Creole, can translate any number of things.

Nan ki koze mwen tonbe la?
What mess did I fall into?
What did I get myself into.

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

Rete! ...Rete! ...Rete!

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Bonjou tout moun! kouman nou ye?
RETE
RETE to live, to dwell, to stay with
RETE to keep up, to be left over, to remain
RETE to stop, to cease, to pause


Rete (abite, demere, viv) → live, dwell, stay or stay with

1.  Mwen rete New York kounye a.
     I live in New York now.

2. Li bezwen yon kote pou li rete.
    She needs a place to live.

Rete → remain, be left, continue, keep up

3.  Li rete yon semèn pou li etidye pou egzamen yo.
     It remains one week for him to study for the exams. (literally)
     He has one week left to study for the exams.

4. Nou rete de jou anvan fèt la.
    We have two days remaining before the party.

When saying, "There remain.../There remains..." or "There's ... left over", Haitians may begin a sentence with Rete.... and not the subject.
5.  Li rete yon lòt timoun anndan kay la. ...
     Rete yon lòt timoun anndan kay la.  
     There remains another child inside the house. 
     There's another child left inside the house.

6.  Rete kat pen sèlman nan panye a.
     There's only four pieces of bread remaining in the basket

Rete → to keep up, to stay, to continue to be...

7.  Rete jan ou ye a.  Pa chanje.
     Stay the way you are.  Don't change.

8.  Rete kote ou ye a.  M'ap vin chache ou.
     Stay where you are.  I'll come to pick you up.  

9.  Rete konsa. Pa bouje.
     Stay like that.  Don't move.

10.  Rete fèm nan lafwa.
       Remain firm in the faith.
       Keep the faith
     
11. Rete trankil.
      Remain calm. 
      Stay calm.

12.  Rete nan volonte Bondye
       Remain in God's will.


Rete → pause, stop

13. Rete taksi a pou mwen.
      Stop the taxi cab for me.

14. An nou fè yon ti rete la pou yon moman.
      Let's rest here for a moment.

15.  Depi li koumanse, nanpwen anyen ki ka rete'l.
       Once it starts, there's nothing that can stop it.

16.  Li te mouri paske kè li te rete.
       He died because his heart stopped.

Enben zanmi mwen yo, se te tout pou jodi a.  M'ap di nou yon gran mèsi.  Pase yon bon jounen e orevwa!

****ONE other use for rete.  People might use it to express impatience or eagerness or show a little surprise when something unexpected happens when they say WAIT!  or GEEZ! Where the hell are you? Here are some examples:

1.  Rete! Kote ti fanm nan?! Mwen te voye l nan magazen an depi lontan.
     Geez! where's that girl?!  I sent her o the store ages ago.

2. Rete! kote you ye?  M'ap tann ou toujou!
    Man! Where are you?  I'm still waiting!

3. Rete! Sa k'ap pase la?
    Wait! What's going on here?

4. Rete! sa w'ap fout di konsa?!
    Oh man! What baloney are you talking about?!

5.  Rete! Apa s'on moun fou ou te ye?
     Geez!  I didn't realize you were insane!

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

what is beni swani tenel

I speak creole, but I still don't understand why machann kann or machann pwason are insults. Can you go more in depth lol?

Unfortunately to some Haitians, if you're not behind a desk crunching numbers, if you're not a doctor, engineer, or architect, then you're in the wrong profession.  Machann, especially, take a beating along with other considered lowly professions in Haiti.

If you've ever been to Haiti and browsed through the fish section of a market where flies, maggots and the smell of fish are hard to ignore then you'll know why machann pwason is an easy target for insults.

If you've ever been to Haiti and seen a machann kann struggling to push his heavy wooden cart around so he can sell a peeled kann for just two pennies, then you'll know why machann kann is used as insult.

People tend to forget that any professions where you make an honest living is an honorable profession.  So please do remind people of that the next time you hear them use a profession as an insult.  I know I certainly will.
Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words