How would you say Be Yourself or Just be yourself (sa in Don't try to be someone that you're not)

My first choice would be Pa imite lòt moun.

Be yourself:
Rete jan ou ye a.
Pa imite lòt moun
Rete moun ou ye a. (Toujou rete moun ou ye a)
Pa pran pòz ou se yon lòt moun (Don't pretend to be someone else)

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

can a gason use retire-nan-kosay-mwen expression (you know, kosay is blouse?)

I don't see why not :)  If that's a concern,  why don't you use "lestomak" or "kòlèt" instead of "kòsay"?

retire nan kòsay
retire nan lestomak
retire nan kòlèt
retire nan fal
or
demaske nan kòlèt
etc....

kèk egzanp
1. Mwen bezwen demaske fanm sa a nan fal mwen.
2. Retire w nan kòlèt mwen.
3. Lè'm te fin peye machin mwen, mwen te kontan m te resi retire "bill" sa a nan kòlèt mwen.
4. Mezanmi o! tout sa m fè pou m demaske misye nan kòlèt mwen, mwen pa't kapab.

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

"Li sou san" or "li sou sa"? ede m ;)

How are you using it?

sou san adv → in a good mood

1.
Li sou san l jodi a.
He's in a good mood today.

2.
Ou te pran kèk bon nouvèl?  Mwen wè' w sou san w jodi a.
Did you get some good news?  I see that you're in a good mood today.

sou sa → willing, in the mood, cheerful
3.
Pa pale avè'm.  M pa sou sa jodi a.
Don't talk to me.  I' m not in the mood today.

You can replace "sa" in "sou sa" with a noun:
4.
M pa sou jwèt jodi a. - I'm not in the mood to play.
M pa sou blag jodi a - I'm not in the mood to joke.
M pa sou zafè pale jodi a - I'm not in the mood to talk.
M pa sou sa.  - I'm not in the mood
M pa't sou sa. - I wasn't in the mood.
Ou toujou sou rans - You're always in the mood to joke around

5.
Depi ou wè li pa sou pale, konnen li gen yon problèm.
If he's not in the mood to talk, it means that he has a problem.

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

"nou rive pa konprann ke se lajan yo pa't genyen", doesn't the first pa indicate that "we don't understand"

No, based on what we have here, it's not.
Nou rive pa konprann ..... → we came to understand that ....


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

"ki mele m si ou fache" or "kite mele m si ou fache" - which is correct? Can you give me more examples please

You may use either one.

ki mele m (kite mele'm) → I don't care, so what?

Ki mele'm si w fache  (so what if you're angry)
Ki mele'm si w pa pale avè m (so what if you don't talk to me)
Ki te mele'm si w ale ou pa janm tounen  (I don't care if you leave and never come back)
Ki te mele'm avè w (I don't care)

We also say "ki mele m avèk entèl" meaning "I don't care what so and so ...."
example:
Joe pa vle fè zanmi avè m.  Ki mele'm avè l.
Joe doesn't want to be my friend. I don't care.

Moun yo refize ede m.  Ki te mele'm avè yo. M'a fè sa m kapab.
They refuse to help.  I don't care.  I'll do what I can.


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

How would you say "Have you been to the beach?"

Have you been to the beach?
Eske ou te laplaj la?

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

how would you translate "kenbe l kout" in English?

kenbe kout - to stay close to, to pursue, to give no rest.

1. Ti pitit la te kenbe pye manman l kout.  Tout kote manman l fè, li fè tou.
    The kid stayed close to his mom.  He went everywhere his mom went.

2. Ou dwe kenbe l kout jouk li renmèt ou lajan w.
    You must give him no rest until he reimburses you your money.

3.  Nou kenbe pye Bondye kout.  Nou pa lage l yon may.
     We stay close to God.  We don't stray away from him.
   
   

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

How can I communicate, "Turn around". For example: "Turn around and look at me" or "Turn around and walk the other way"?

There are different ways to translate "to turn around" in Haitian Creole.  But "turn around" here is translated as "vire"
Turn around → vire
Turn around and look at me → Vire enpi  gade m. You can also say Vire gade m.
Turn around and walk the other way. →  Vire enpi mache ale nan lòt sans lan. You can also say Vire enpi mache ale laba. 

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

Madanm, Are the billions written as: de milya twa milya sis milya uit milya ETC? Mesi anpil.

Yes.
We also say dèmilya de moun billions of people; yon milya de dola a billion dollars
We TEND to put "de" after milya sometimes.

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

can you explain more "pran fil". No English translations in your examples please. I want to read through them and try to understand.....

pran fil - expression for to be succeeding at something, to thrive, to progress, to flourish

1. Apre sèlman de jou nan klas Kreyòl la blan meriken an fin pran fil nèt nan lang lan.  Lotrejou tout moun kanpe sou ran pou gade l k'ap fè pri tenkantenk ak yon machann an Kreyòl.

2. Li gen twa mwa sèlman nan travay, li gentan pran fil nèt.  Kounye a se li'k manadjè.

3. Anna apenn vin abite nan vwazinay la, men tout vwazen gentan konn non l.  Tout moun se zanmi l.  Li fin pran fil nan katye a.

4. Biznis la ouvè de pi dezan, li pa janm pran fil.  Sanble yo pral oblije fèmen l.

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

How do you use OLYE (instead) here? "I'll have water instead"

You should use PITO here.
olye - in place of, rather than, instead of
pito adv - instead, preferably, rather

FYI: pito v → to prefer; it is preferable that, it is better to

1. I'll have water instead.
    M'ap pran dlo pito.
    but you can say:
    I'll have water instead of coffee.
    Olye kafe, m'ap pran dlo.

2. Let's go to the movies instead.
    Ann al nan sinema pito.
    or you can say:
    Olye pou n al nan konsè a, pa pito n t'al nan sinema.
    Instead of the concert, what if we go to the movies?

3. I prefer to have a salad instead.
    Mwen pito pran yon salad.

4.  Olye pou ap gaspiye tan w la a, pa pito ou te tounen lekòl.
      Instead of wasting your time here, wouldn't it be better if you went back to school?

5. Olye pou ap babye pou frijidè a ki vid, pa pito w ta al fè makèt.
     Instead of nagging about the empty fridge, why don't you go to the market?

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

Madanm, In the sentence, "M ka ba ou senkannsenk (ou, oswa, osnon e oubyen) swasannsenk goud. Are the words for "or" in brackets ALL interchangeable? In other words, is each of the four words correct in this sentence? Mesi anpil.

Yes they are.
Or - ou, oubyen, onswa, ouswa, osinon, osnon

These conjunctions can also be used to translate:

osnon  (osinon) → or, otherwise, or rather
1. Lè yon fanmi w osinon yon zanmi w trayi w, sa kapab afekte anpil.
    When a family or a friend betrays you, that can affect you a lot.

2. Tout sa mesye sa a di, kit se byen osnon mal, moun toujou aplodi l.
    Everything this man says, whether is good or bad, people always applaud him.

Ou/oubyen/onswa ... ou/oubyen/onswa → either ... or


3.  Onswa ou sèvi Bondye onswa ou sèvi lajan.  Ou pa kapab fè toude.
     Either you serve God or money.  You can't do both.

4.Oubyen ou menm onswa mari w ka vin chache l.
    Either you or your husband  can come pick it up.  


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

qu'est que ça veut dire "tonsiton"?

tonsiton - matching colors, coordinating colors.

Mesye a abiye tonsiton.
The man is dressed in coordinating colors. (His clothes, shoes, sock, ties match fashionably well)

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

Is there any way usually used to differentiate we from you (plural)?

No.  Not in H. Creole.  You may have to look within the context of the paragraph or sentence to find out if the word "nou" means we/us/our or if it's you (plural).

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

Madanm, In "bye a, diven an e wiski la" do you eventually know which article to use by sound, or is it by rules of grammer only? I guess what I am saying is, do you just learn which article to use when you learn a particular word? So far I have not had much difficulty in memorizing which article to use when I learn a certain word. Mesi Madanm.

The Haitian Creole grammar makes it easier to know which def. article to use.
It says to go by the -ending of the words...

P.S.  the word "wiski" will take another vowel, not "la".  After reviewing the following rules, would you like to figure out which def article goes after "wiski"?

After a vowel (vwayèl bouch) (a, e, è, i, o, ò), we use "a":
examples:
kò a
matla a
mont Kendra a

after a consonant (t, y, l, d, etc....), we use "la"
examples:
pitit la
kay la
mayo Pòl la

After an "m" or "n" sound (machin, fanm, kazèn) we use "nan" - sometimes people use "lan"
examples:
madanm nan
mwa desanm nan
chemiz Edison lan

After a nasal vowel sound (an, on, en), we use "an"
examples:
pen an
pon an
Sa se òdinatè mwen an.

After a consonant which follows a nasal sound/vowel (vwayèl nen), we use "lan"
examples
mant lan
monnonk lan
matant lan

and then you will use the nasal "an" or "lan" if the word sounds nasal, no matter what the ending is:
examples:
zanmi an
fanmi an
lanmou an
Ban'm pitit la or Ban'm pitit lan.


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