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Sunday, June 23, 2013

how do you say "God bless you", when the "you" is plural/to many people?

God bless you (to many people)
Bondye beni nou.
Ke Bondye beni nou.
Se pou Bondye beni nou.

God bless you all.
Ke Bondye beni nou tout.
Se pou Bondye beni nou tout.

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

Yon ti dejene nan restoran an (AUDIO)

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-Bonjou mesye.  Byenveni nan restoran nou an.  Kisa w ta renmen pran jodi a?
 Good morning sir.  Welcome to our restaurant.  What would like to have today?

-Kisa w genyen kòm bwason matmwazèl?
 What do you have for drinks miss?

-Nou genyen kafe, te, kola, ak bwason alkòl.
 We have coffee, tea, sodas, and alcoholic drinks.

-Ban m yon kafe trè fò silvouplè.
  Give a a very strong coffee please.

-Dakò. W’ap eseye reveye’w?
  Okay,  Are you trying to wake up?

-Wi.  M te pase yon nuit blanch yèswa.
  Yes. I had a sleepless night last night.

-M’espere kafe a va ede w. Eske w’ap pran dejene avèk nou?
 I hope the coffee will help. Will you have breakfast with us?

-Wi silvouplè.  Mwen ta renmen yon bòl fwi ak yogout.
  Yes please.  I'd like a bowl of fruits with yogurt.

-Dezole mesye, nou pa gen yogout pou kounye a.  Eske ou ta renmen fwi yo san yogout la?
 Sorry sir, we do not have any yogurt at this time.  Would you like the fruits without the yogurt?

-Non. Ban mwen yon sandwich ze ak janbon pito.
 No.  Give me a ham and egg sandwich instead.

-Dakò. Eske ou ta renmen ajoute zonyon ak tomat nan sandwich la, mesye?
 Okay.  Would you like to add onions and tomatoes to the sandwich sir?

-Si zonyon an griye, ou mèt ajoute l, men mwen pa vle tomat.
  If the onion is grilled, you may add it, but I do not want tomatoes.

-Dakò. Eske ou ta renmen anyen ankò?
  All right.  Would you like anything else?

-Non se tout.  Eske ou te ka pote kafe a anpremye silvouplè?
 No that's all.  Could you bring the coffee first please?

-Wi, mesye kafe a ap vini tousuit.
  Yes sir, the coffee will come right away.

-Mèsi madmwazèl.
 Thanks miss.

-Bon apeti mesye.
  Enjoy your meal sir.

Track: An Limyè by Jocelyne Béroard

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Saturday, June 22, 2013

"Se pale pou ta pale ave li" What's going on with "pou ta"

In that sentence, try to concentrate on "SE POU" which means  let's, must, (indicates necessity, obligation)
as in:
Se pou w marye - You should marry
Se pou w manje pou pa megri. - You should eat so you don't get skinny.
Se pa pou w fè sa. - You must not (shouldn't do that)
Se pou li pale ak fanm nan. - He should talk to the woman.
Se pou nou priye pou yo. - We must pray for them.

Kisa pou m fè? - What must I do?
Se pou w ale. - You must go.
Kisa pou m di l? - What must I tell her.
Se pa pou di l anyen. - You must tell her nothing.
Kisa pou m pote pou ou? - What should bring for you?
Se pou w pote yon boutèy diven pou mwen. - You must bring me a bottle of wine.

Then carry your attention to the tenses; "ta" → should, would

1.
Se pou w ta ale.
or
Se ale pou w ta ale.
You should go.
You should have gone. (depending on context)

2.
Se pou n ta di l laverite.
or
Se di pou n ta di l laverite
We should tell her the truth

3.
Se pou w ta pale avè li.
or
Se pale pou w ta pale avè li.
You should talk to him/her.

4.
Se pou w ta wè sa.
or
Se pou w ta wè sa.
You should have seen this.

5.
Se pou w ta la.
or
Se la pou w ta la.
You should have been there.

6.
Se pou l ta pran remèd la pou l santi l miyò.
or
Se pran pou l ta pran remèd la ou l santi l miyò.
He should take the medication in order to feel better.

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

What is the "a" doing here? "TiWil rive a." Also in writing sometimes I see: "Mwen la a." Why the extra "a"?

In your first example "a" indicates that you had talked about this event before.  In the sentence it might mean a recap or an update.

1. TiWil te rive a wi.
    TiWil made it to that place we were talking about.
    TiWil  made it.

2. Eske li te ale a? 
    Did she go to that place we talked about?
    Did she go?

3.  Eske li te ale Meksiko a? 
     Did she go to the Mexico trip that we talked about?
     Did she go to that Mexico trip?
    
4. Eske w te fè l la?
    Did you do the the thing that we talked about?
    Did you do that thing?

5. Eske li te ba ou l la?
    Did she give you the thing that we talked about?
    Did she give you that thing?


Your second example seems to be about "la a" which means "here, there, or now"; just as "laba a" it usually carries the article "a".

6.  Kisa w'ap vin di la a?
     What are you telling me now?

7. Kisa w'ap vin ban m la a?
    What is this nonsense that you're telling me now?

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

Should I add "PA" when using "PIGA" - PIGA PA FE SA??

That would be a double negative.
If you just mean do say "don't do this" or "You better not do that", then there's no need for "pa".  "Pinga" is the negative auxillary.

1. Pinga w fè sa.
    Don't do that.

2. Pinga w pran wout sa.
    Do not take this road.

3. Pinga w bliye m.
    Don't you forget me.

But when you add "pa", you do not have  a negative sentence anymore.

4. Pinga w pa fè sa.
    Don't you not do it

5. Pinga w pa sonje salye moun yo non.
    You better remember to greet the people.

6.  Pinga l pa ale nan entèvyou a demen non.  Y'ap tann ni.
     He better go to the interview tomorrow.  They're waiting for him.
 
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Assigning Shortcuts for accented letters - Useful when creating the Haitian Creole aksan grav or aksan fòs in è, ò, à, Ò, È


This post sent and written by Shon Ejai.  Thanks

  1.     Open Microsoft Word
  2.     Click the Insert Tab
  3.     Click Symbol (in Word 2010 this is on the far right) 
  4.     Click More Symbols (at bottom of dialogue box).
  5.     Find è and click on it only once to highlight it.
  6.     Click Shortcut Key... (at the bottom of dialogue box). This will bring up a new dialogue box.
  7.     You can now assign new keys. Press and hold CTRL. While holding CTRL first press ` (above tab) and then press e in that order. Release CTRL. You should see Ctrl+`,E in the “Press new shortcut key:” dialogue box.
  8.     Click Assign (bottom left of dialogue box).
  9.     Click Close (bottom left of dialogue box).
  10.  Close the Symbol dialogue box.
  11.  Now test your new assignment of keys.
  12.  Press and hold CTRL, while holding CTRL first press ` and then press e.    Letter è should come up.
Congratulation you have just created a shortcut for è. You can repeat this with any letter you like.

Note: to make capital letters add the Shift key in the command. For example to create the shortcut for È, step #7 will look like this:

7. Press and hold CRTL, while holding CTRL, press Shift then ` then e. The command will look like this Ctrl+~,Shift+E in the “Press new shortcut key:” dialogue box.


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Friday, June 21, 2013

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 advin 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.


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Thursday, June 20, 2013

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

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.
   
   

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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. 

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Wednesday, June 19, 2013

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