I was talking with a cook in Cap Haitien. She was cooking chayote squash. I was told that they were called "mirliton" in French and "konkonb" in Creole. I thought konkonb was cucumber. What's the story? If chayote is konkonb, how do you say "cucumber"?

Chayote squash is Mirliton (militon in Creole)

Cucumber is konkonm (you will most likely find the small cucumber in Haiti)

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

To (as in a destination): I am walking to my room. (M'ap mâché nan chanm m? or M'ap mâché al chanm m?) Or something else? Also I'm confused by how I would say "off of": Get off of me. Fall off of the table. Etc.

I.

I am walking to my room – “M’ap mache al nan chanm mwen” is correct

You can also say: M pral nan chanm mwen  (I’m going to my room)

Adding the Creole verb “ale” helps to indicate that you’re walking towards the room.

M’ap mache nan chanm mwen means “I am walking in my room”

 

II.

You may add the verb “ale” to indicate that you are moving to …a direction.

Examples:

N’ap kondi al Miami instead of N’ap kondi Miami (We’re driving to Miami)

Mwen te mache al lakay instead of Mwen te mache lakay (I walked home)

 

III.

As far as the preposition “to” is concerned, it may not be translated in Creole in these cases:

Mwen pral lekòl (I’m going to school)

Nou prale lavil. (We’re going to town)

Eske ou  prale legliz jodi a? (Will you go to church today?)

Nou prale lakay. (We’re going home)

 

 IV.

And sometimes we use “NAN”

Nan may indicate at, to, to the, in, or in the

Examples:

Li prale nan mache. (He’s going to the market)

Mwen pral nan magazen an. (I’m going to the store)

Mwen pral nan konsè a. (I’m going to the concert)

Mwen pral nan fèt la. (I’m going to the party)

Mwen prale nan reyinyon an. (I’m going to the meeting)

Li nan travay.  (She’s at work.)

Mwen te wè li lopital la. Or M te wè l nan lopital la. (I saw her at the hospital)

 

V.

And finally… a little correction in your sentence :)

Say “chanm mwen” instead of “chanm m”

We don’t usually use contractions after consonants

Chanm mwen, not chanm m (my room) We don't use the contracted “m” after “chanm” because of the ending consonant “m” in “chanm”

Liv mwen, not liv m (my book) We don't use contracted “m” after “liv” because of the ending consonant “v” in “liv”

Kabann ou not kabann w (your bed) We don't use contracted “w” after “kabann” because of the ending consonant “n” in “kabann”

Bagay li not bagay l (his thing)  We don't use contracted “l”  after “bagay” because of the ending consonant “y” in bagay)

Mwen prale avèk ou not Mwen prale avèk w (I will go with you)  We don't use contracted “w” after “avèk” because of consonant “k” at the end of “avèk”

BUT you CAN say Mwen prale avè w (I’m will go with you) We use contraction “w” after “avè” because we have a vowel “è” at the end of “avè”

You can also say:

Papa mwen or papa m (my father) because “papa” ends with a vowel “a”.  SO it's ok to use a contraction after a word that ends with a vowel.

Mwen renmen ou or Mwen renmen w (I like you) because “renmen” ends with the nasal vowel “en”

manman mwen or manman m (my mother) because “manman” ends with the nasal vowel “an”

Rele mwen or Rele m (call me) because “rele” ends with a vowel “e”   

 

VI.

OFF OF / OFF  may be translated with some Haitian Creole expressions.  We may use Haitian Creole terms "retire" or "wete" (to take away or take out), or "soti" or "sot" (out of)

Examples:

Get off of me  (Get off me?)– Soti sou mwen, wete (or retire) kò w sou mwen

   Soti sou mwen – get away from me

  Wete kò w sou mwen – remove your body from me, remove yourself from me, get away from me.

She fell off heaven – Li tonbe sot nan syèl

He fell off the horse – Li sot tonbe sou chwal la.

She fell off the bed. – Li sot tonbe sou kabann nan.

The spoon fell off the table . – Kiyè a sot tonbe sou tab la

Take your feet off the table – Wete pye w sou tab la

He took off his hat – Li wete chapo l.

He took the hat off the table. - Li wete chapo a sou tab la.

Keep off the grass – Rete lwen gazon an. (Rete lwen – Stay away)

Keep the car off the grass. - Wete machin nan sou gazon an.

Same as:

Get off me. - Wete kò w sou mwen or Sot kò w sou mwen or Soti kò w sou mwen.

She got off the car. – Li te desann machin nan. (Get off – desann, soti)

I’m going to get off right here. – M’ap desann la a.

(check LABELS at the bottom)

 

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

Please translate, "will you tell them that I love and miss them? I pray for them every day." And "have you been to ... recently?"

Will you tell them that I love and miss them? I pray for them every day. - Di yo mwen renmen yo e m sonje yo.  Mwen lapriyè pou yo chak jou.

 

Have you been to ….. recently? - Eske ou ale/vizite …. tou dènyèman?

Recently – tou dènyèman (recently), lotrejou (the other day), tou lotrejou (just the other day), pa twò lontan (not too long ago)

Have you been to Haiti recently? – Eske ou vizite  Ayiti tou dènyèman?

Did you visit Haiti recently? – Eske w te vizite Ayiti tou dènyèman?

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

How would you explain what "Tete Chargee" means to someone not familiar with Kreyol or Haitian expressions?

Tèt chaje

Tèt – head

Chaje – full, loaded, burdened

Tèt chaje – burdened head (literally)

So it can be an expression for dilemma, trouble, predicament

You can use it as verb or noun.

Using it as noun:

1.     Fanm sa a se yon tèt chaje. – This woman is trouble

2.     Pa ban m tèt chaje tanpri. – Don’t complicate things for me please

3.     Ala tèt chaje! – What a dilemma!

4.     Mwen nan tèt chaje. – I’m in hot water (in trouble).

Using it as verb:

5.     Pa vin chaje tèt mwen. – Don’t give me any worries.

6.     Poukisa w’ap chaje tèt mwen konsa?  – Why are you stressing me out?

7.     Pa kite mesye sa a chaje tèt ou ak problem li non. – Don’t let this man stress you about his problems.

8.     Pa chaje tèt ou twòp ak bagay sa yo. – Don’t worry too much about these things

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

What is dezablaza? (Not sure about that spelling.) In context it sounds like celebration or something.

Yes that's what it is,  celebration, festivity, carousal

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

Mandaly. Ki jan yo di: "I am waiting for the chauffeur guide. "Li se "M ap tann pou chofe gid la." Li korek? M te we li: "M tann pou chofe gid la." Li pa ta vle gen: "I wait for the chauffeur guide."? Eskiz Kreyol mwen. Mesi.

Ou kapap di: M’ap tann gid chofè a. 

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

what does it mean when haitis start their sentence with lesensyal?

haitis? Don't you mean Haitians? :)
It's the same as the French "l'essentiel".
It means "the most important"

yon egzanp:
Lesansyèl sèke ou la avèk nou kounye a. – The most inportant thing is that you’re here with us now.

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

Does yaya ko means to dance?

Yaya kò?

It does mean to move along, get a move on, to mosey on,  get going – does not necessarily mean to dance

Men yon egzanp:

Mezanmi! Manyè yaya kò w non pou wè si w ta jwenn yon travay. – Geez! At least move around a bit to see if you can find a job.

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

What does this mean (in question form?): so pito? (there's possibly an accent character on O in "so"? Thanks.

It sounds to me like Sa'w pito? (or Kisa w pito?) - Haitians also say Sa'w pi pito? (or (Kisa ou pi pito?)
If I'm right, then it means What/which do you prefer?

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

I saw a poster here in Haiti today. It was published by UNICEF about children's rights. It was a ...

I saw a poster here in Haiti today. It was published by UNICEF about  children's rights. It was a mixture of French and Creole. The bottom half of the poster had the "alphabet" of children's rights. I was unable to understand these two: K comme Kif kif - Tous les enfants sont égoux en droit. Y comme Yanvalou - L'enfant a droit à sa propre culture. Can you help me understand these? Especially kif kif and yanvalou.

K comme kif kif - Tous les enfants sont egaux en droit.
K as in kif kif - All children have equal rights
kif kif is  French for equal, same

Y comme Yanvalou - L'enfant a droit à sa propre culture.
Y as in Yanvalou - The child has rights to have his own culture
Yanvalou - cultural Haitian dance

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

Hola¡¡koman mwen kapab di "if you want......" in HC ,souple. Mesi.

If you want ... - Si ou vle (si w vle).

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

How would you translate that 'For three years I have waited for you'? POU TWA AN MWEN TE TANN OU (OR) DEPI TWA AN MWEN TE TANN OU? Is it DEPI or POU?

For three years I have waited for you.
Depi twazan m t'ap tann ou.

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

Happy Thanksgiving! I'm attending a Haitian wedding in Haiti over the holidays (just as a regular guest) and am not sure what to expect. Any tips?

Is it Catholic, Protestant, or non-Christian wedding?
Is it happening in the capital or in the outskirts?
Are you caucasian? (some people might go out of their way to make you feel welcome)
Are you of African descent? (other guests might realize that you're not one of them by the way you speak), then some may treat you as Haitian, some may treat you as a foreigner.
In any case, as a guest, you should expect to have loads of fun - Eat plenty of tasty (maybe spicy foods) - meet lots of happy smiley faces.
The wedding ceremony might be a little lengthy, toasts will be more than minutes long, drving to the church and/or reception might be an 'adventure' (smoke, car fumes, and avoiding hitting a pedestrian).   Most everyone will be in their sunday best. 
Some reception halls can be crowded, but good food, great music under a tropical sky  make for an enjoyable ambience.
Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words

Mandaly. I have finished the Pimsleur HC course. I think this course gives one the basics on which to expand one's self. Thank God that the verbs in Kreyol make the journey much faster to learn. But the idioms in Kreyol to me are more difficult to master. Anyway, I am now going to hit the materials on your website exclusively. I will be going to Ayiti in April, so I will be able to jump-start my Kreyol. While doing the Pimsleur Method, I spent a lot of time with grammar, so I completely know the spelling of HC and its rules. My Brown Creole cousin, who sent me off in this direction, was brilliant for prodding me into learning HC. Now for my question: Is "ta" in H. Kreyol considered a verb marker? I know this sounds juvenile, but I am trying to get the past, present and future tenses down first, and then move on to other tenses. But, I am not sure where "ta" (if it is a verb marker) fits in. Mesi anpil.

Hi Mr. Rachal.  Anpil konpliman pou ou!
I am so glad that you kept at it.  Some people swear by the Pimsleur method.  I can tell that it has been very helpful to you.  As far as the idioms are concerned, there are so many of them, but you will soon get acquainted with them once you start communicating with Creole speakers and you’ll start to notice the ones we use most – and how we use them.  In your Creole conversations you’ll soon start to use them too.

I am excited about your upcoming trip.  And I know you are too.  Be safe and alert always.

Ta –determiner for conditional tenses - WOULD, SHOULD

1. M ta manje mango a si m te kapab. – I would eat the mango if I could.

2. M ta di w sa m panse osijè ou men m pito fèmen bouch mwen. – I would tell you what I think of you but I rather keep my mouth shut

3. Gade moun sa yo k’ap dòmi anba pon an. Nou ta dwe ede yo. – Look at these people sleeping under the bridge.  We should help them.

4. Mwen renmen timoun yo twòp. M pa ta ka fè yo sa. – I love the kids too much.  I could not do that to them.

5. Si m te genyen nan lotri a m ta va kite travay mwen. – If I won the lottery I would quit my job.

6. Si fanm nan te renmen w tout bon, li ta gentan la deja. – If the woman really loved you she would have already been there.

 

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

When a child does something to another child--like takes away the other child's toy--what would you recommend having that child say to the other child as an apology? Mwen regrete sa? Padon? And what would you recommend to have a child say in apology to an adult--like when a child has not obeyed what the adult told him to do? One more question: Are there times when you should never say "Mwen regrete." Thanks!

The child should say:

Padon

Or

Eskize m

 

To an adult, the child may say:

-M mande w padon.
-Eskize m.

And sometimes they say

-M fè kwa m pa’p janm fè sa ankò.

And many Haitian adults (in Haiti usually) have the child make a cross on the dirt ground and kiss it (it’s a promise that he/she sorry and that he/she will not offend again)

Adult to adults – we use the same terms to apologize.  Sometimes adults would say Mwen prezante w eskiz mwen or Mwen prezante w tout eskiz mwen.

To apologize – fè eskiz, prezante eskiz, mande padon

We rarely say Mwen regrete – unless you want to say Mwen regrete tout sa m fè. – I regret all that I have done.

I cannot think of a situation where you couldn't use 'mwen regrete'. 

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