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Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Exclamatives 1)nouns:"what a relief(mess, disaster)!" or "What a lot of work!" 2)modified nouns:"What a good idea!" or "What a handsome/beautiful man/woman!" 3)Adjective:"How interesting(lovely, tedious)!" 4)Adverbs:"How eloquently he speaks!"

To express these exclamatives, with nouns and / or modified nouns, we may use Haitian Creole interjections ala, ala de -
You may also use se pa ti as noted in #4 and #5.

1. What a pain in the neck !
     Ala yon pongongon!
   
2. What a dilemma!
     Ala tèt chaje!
     Ala traka!
     or you can say:
     Ala de tèt chaje o!
     Ala de traka mezami!

Some people say:
3.   What a nuisance for me!
      Ala de tèt chaje pou mwen!

4. What tight corner I'm in!
     Ala de traka m'ap pase!
    Se pa ti traka m'ap pase non!


5. What an embarassment!
     Ala yon wont!
     Se pa ti wont non!

It's the same for modified nouns.  You may use ala or ala de

6. What strange traditions you have!
     Ala tradisyon dwòl nou genyen!
      or
     Ala de tradisyon dwòl nou genyen!

7.  What strange people, these Haitians!
     Ala moun dwòl, Ayisyen sa yo!
     Ala de moun dwòl, Ayisyen sa yo!

8. What arrogant child!  He just walked past me, he doesn't care to say hello.
   Ala timoun malelve. Li pase bò kote'm, li pa menm ka di bonjou.

9. How rowdy your sister is!
     Ala sè w la woywoy!

With adjectives or adverbs, Use ala or ala de.  You may also use se pa ti or se pa de.  Feel free to use emphasis here, using these modifiers more than once in the same sentence:

10. How pretty!
    Ala bèl!
    or
    Ala bèl sa bèl!
    or
    Se pa ti bèl non!


11. How pitiful!
     Ala tris!
     or
     Ala tris sa tris!
     or
     Se pa ti tris non!

12. How clever she is!
      Ala l entelijan!
      Ala entelijan l entelijan!
      Se pa ti entelijan l entelijan non!

13. How quickly she ran to come here when she saw you!
      Ala li kouri vin la vit lè l te wè w!
      Se pa ti vit li te kouri non lè l te wè w!

14. How great it would be if I won the lottery.
      Ala bon sa ta bon si m te genyen nan lotri a.
      Se pa ti bon l ta bon non si m te genyen lotri a.

15.  What a vicious man!
        Ala nèg mechan!
       Nèg sa, se pa ti mechan non l mechan!

I also want to add the following types of sentences:  "There's no one more .....! " or "There's nothing more ...!"

16. Nanpwen moun malelve konsa!
     There's no one more arrogant!

17. Nanpwen jenerasyon engra konsa!
     There's no generation more ungrateful!

18. Nanpwen nèg peng konsa!
     There's no worse penny pincher!

19. Nanpwen fanm manfouben konsa!
      No one is more of tramp than this woman!

20.  Nanpwen anyen m ta pi renmen konsa!
       There's nothing I'd like more!

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

How come ...?

How come ... → kouman fè, kijan fè, or kòman fè.... and sometimes we add ...ke

1. Kouman fè ou pa rele m ankò?
    How come you don't call me anymore?

2. Kijan fè ou malad si souvan?
    How come you get sick so often?

3. Kouman fè ou pale Kreyòl byen konsa?
    Hoe come you speak Creole so well?

4. Kouman fè pa gen lanèj Ayiti?
    How come there no snow in Haiti?

5. Kijan fè Ayiti poko fin rebati?
    How come Haiti has not been rebuilt yet?


This is different from:
Kouman ou fè ..... How do you make .....

6. Kouman ou fè tyanm tyanm?
   How do you make tyanm tyanm? 

7. Kijan n'ap fè pou soti la a?
    How will we get out of here?

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Ou bannann??

You're in deep trouble.
Ou bannann
Ou pran
Ou chire
Ou nan ka
Ou pran nan mera
 Ou pran nan twa wa
Ou nan tout sa k pa bon
or
Ou jwenn ak zo grann ou.

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Ki bwason alkòl ki pi gou nan Ayiti?

Gou?!!!  Pou mwen se Prestige. (if you're talking about just taste)

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Monday, February 11, 2013

Limani - Is there a way to download all the audio files at once? It seems like I have to click on each file individually (and there are pages and pages to go through). Is that right? Also any plans to make it a podcast on itunes? thx

I'm not sure that can be done at this time.... downloading all of them at once.
But I'll look into putting a list together. ...and number the corresponding written post.

I've been meaning to do the podcasts... I look into that too.

Kenbe la toujou.

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

'To meet' in contexts? "I am delighted to meet you." or "I'm finally going to meet Jean-Paul." or "I met my professor at the movies." or "I ran into your sister in town." or "I will meet you at the restaurant." or "Congress meets on Thursdays."

To meet (to be introduced, to make acquaintance) → rankontre, fè konesans, rekonèt ou

1.  I am delighted to meet you.
    Mwen te kontan fè konesans ou.
    Mwen te kontan rekonèt ou.

2. I'm finally going to meet Paul. (for the first time?)
    Mwen resi pral rekonèt Paul .

Pleased to meet you link

To meet (to encounter) → rankontre, kontre, kontre bab pou bab, kwaze ak, jwenn ak

3. "I met my professor at the movies."
    "Mwen te kwaze ak pwofesè mwen nan sinema a"


To meet (get together) → reyini, rasanble, met tèt ansanm, pote kole

4. "The ladies club meet on Thursdays"
    "Gwoup dàm yo rasanble lèjedi."

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

Too bad!? "You can't come to the party? Too bad!" or "You missed the final exam? Too bad! Better go ask the professor to make it up." or "It is too bad that the university decided to close the bookstore last year. "

Too bad!
Domaj!
Se domaj! (What a pity!)
Malerezman(unfortunately)
Se malere!
Devenn pou ... (Unfortunately for ...)
Adye papa!
Adye manman!
Adye frè m!
Adye sè m!

Also...
Devennliterally: misfortune, bad luck
andevenn (an devenn) → to be cursed, to have a string of bad luck
Adyeliterally: Alas!

1. You missed the final exam? Too bad!
     Ou rate egzamen final la?  Se domaj!

2. He just finished building his house and he died soon after.  It's too bad he didn't get enjoy it.
    Li fèk fin bati kay li enpi li mouri tousuit apre.  Se malere, li pa't gentan jwi li.

3.  He had a motorcycle accident.  Too bad he didn't wear his helmet that day.
     Li fè aksidan ak motosiklèt li. Devenn pou li, li p'at mete kas li jou sa a.

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

Neither...nor. 1)As subject:"Neither Paul nor Peter smokes." 2)As object:"He wants to drink neither tea or coffee." 3)With verb: "Keith neither drinks nor smokes nor takes drugs." 4)With preposition:"He is neither from Paris nor from London."

also see link for either ... or

Ni ... Ni → Neither ... nor, neither
A H. Creole negative sentence with "Ni ... Ni" may still include the negation "pa" which would be considered double negation in English.

(with prepositions)
1. Madanm nan t ap chache nan tout rakwen.  Ti bebe a pa't ni nan bèso l ni nan chèz li.
    The Lady was searching everywhere.  The baby was neither in his crib nor in his chair.

(with subjects)
2. Mwen pa't ka jwenn non aktè a sou entènèt la.  Ni Google ni Bing pa't mansyone l.
    I couldn't find the name of the actor on the internet.  Neither Google nor Bing had mentioned him.

3. "Ni Pyè ni Pòl pa fimen."
    "Neither peter nor Paul smokes."

(with objects)
4. "Li pa sot ni Pari ni Lond."
    "He is neither from Paris nor from London."

(with adjectives)
5. Lè diktatè a te mouri, pèp la pa te ni kontan ni tris.
    When the dictator died, the people were neither happy nor sad.

6. Lang Kreyòl Ayisyen an pa ni konplike ni senp. Pou w aprann li pi vit, se pratike konvèsasyon ki konte.
    The Haitian Creole language is neither complicated nor simple.  To learn it faster, it's practicing conversations that counts.

(with verbs)7. Se pawòl serye m'ap pale wi.  M p'ap ni bay blag ni egzajere.
    I am being serious.  I am neither joking nor exaggerating.

 
Ni ... Ni → Neither, neither one

8. Mwen pa bwè kafe onswa te.  M pa renmen ni youn ni lòt.
    I don't drink coffee or tea.  I like neither.

9. Kilès nan machin yo ou te chwazi? Mwen p'at chwazi ni youn ni lòt.
    Which one of the cars did you choose?  I chose neither.

10. Nattie ak Fanfan pa te al nan dans lan paske ni youn ni lòt pa't konn danse.
    Nattie ak Fanfan didn't go to the dance because neither of them know how to dance.


Ni ... ni → Both ... and 
11. Sèjousi ni dantis ni famasyen se bon chwa pou yon metye.
    These days both dentistry and pharmacology are good choices for a career.

12. Jou premye Janvye 1804 la, ni esklav ni moun lib te selebre yon nouvo espwa pou peyi a.
     On that day of January 1st, 1804, both slave and free people celebrated new hope for the country.


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Saturday, February 9, 2013

Mandalie, ban m di w, se ayisyen m ye tou. men zafe 'twade' a, m pa ta janm dòmi reve ke l te yon bon mo Kreyol non. Ki kote w bare avè l?

M kapab konprann kote w ye a.  Mwen te fè zòn Lakayè, Lakolin, Aken, Pòtoprens anvan m te vin resi tande mo sa a nan bouch yon nonm Pòdepè.  Mwen menm se wayal ak kasavamanba m te konn di.  Se nan bouch menm nonm sa a m te premye tande mo chenjanbe a tou.  M pa't konn dènye sa a nonplis.  Kifè la a, m imajinen mo sa yo so soti, omwens, nan zòn Nòdwès yo.

Fò'm di w tou, yon jou m te di zanmi sa a ke pye l te santi mayas.  Lè sa a, li te fè grimas ak figi l, li mande m, "Ki kalite mo mayas sa w'ap di la a?  Sa sa vle di?" Lè m te di l se te sant soulye, li pa't kwè m ditou.  M ta panse yon mo jeneral konsa, ki nan tout peyi a, fòk on Ayisyen ta konnen l.  Anmwey o!

Si pa gen yon diksyonè ki pou ranmase tout mo sa yo ki degrennen nan tout rakwen peyi a, pou blije mete yo nan yon branch pou montre moun kote yo anrasinen, sanble gen anpil mo Kreyòl k'ap tout desann nan latonm ak mèt yo. Nou p'ap janm konnen yo.
 
Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words

What does dyòlè mean?

dyòlèbraggart, grandstander, a boastful person, a show off, a know-it-all who's not humble

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

"yon won't see her until a few months later", how do you say a few months later here? mesi anpil

a few → kèk or kèlke
until → jis, jous, or jouk
....until a few month later → jouk kèk mwa apre.

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

Will you ever make available for purchase some of your Kreyol Audio files? I love the alfabet. So does my 7 year old.

That's great.  Mèsi :)
This was done solely on a volunteer basis.
This audio file can be downloaded here: Click here to download…

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

How does one translate a gerund construction? 1)Manner or Mean: One learns through travelling. or He found his watch by tidying up his things. 2)Simultaneity: We eat dinner while watching TV. 3)Cause: He broke his legs playing football. Other ways?

Manner or Mean:  One way of saying this in Haitian Creole is by using "Se nan ..." as if saying "It is by..."

1. One learns through traveling. 
    It is through traveling that one learns.
    Se nan vwayaje moun aprann.

2. One good way to learn is by asking lots of questions.
     One good way to learn is in asking lots of questions.
    Yon bon fason ou kapab aprann se nan mande anpil kesyon.

3. He got this rich by working his ass off.
    It is by working his ass off that he got rich like that.
    Se nan travay pete fyèl li vin rich konsa.

4. He found his watch by tidying up his things.
    Se nan netwaye zafè l li jwenn mont li an.


Simultaneity: We could achieve these types of sentences by using the Haitian Creole conjunction PANDAN or ANTAN or ETAN to bring the clauses together.  In Haitian Creole the subject is almost always repeated in the second clause using the same verb tense sometimes.

5. We eat dinner while watching TV.
    Nou manje dine pandan n'ap gad televizyon.

6. What will you be dreaming of while sleeping?
     Kisa ou va reve antan w'ap dòmi?

7. She held the child arms while running to catch the train.
    Li te kenbe bra timoun nan byen di etan li t'ap kouri al pran tren an.

Cause: In the following type of sentences AND situations we can use paske, afòs, poutèt, akòz, or [nothing] followed by a progressive tense.

8. He broke his legs playing football. 
    Li kase pye l ap jwe football.

9. She got herself sick thinking about you everyday.
    Li te rann tèt li malad afòs l'ap panse avè w chak jou.

10. We scraped our feet going up and down the hills of the villages.
      Nou te kòche pye nou ap monte desann mòn nan vilaj yo.

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