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Friday, January 31, 2014

I know you said vin jwenn mwen means come to me. what are the chances that someone might be saying come find me instead?

Slight chance I guess, if spoken by a non native.  But usually "Vin jwenn mwen" means "Come to me".  And also "Vin chache m" means "Come pick me up" even though it seems to say something else.

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

what is sou moun?

As an expression?  It means cheeky, disrespectful

Al tifi soumoun!
What an impertinent girl!

Ou soumoun konsa,
You are shameless.

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

What is kenbe tèt and renka? Ezayi 50:5 ...mwen pa kenbe tèt ak li (Bondye). Mwen pa renka devan li. Thanks for your help! Blessings this Christmastime, Mandaly!


I receive your blessings any time of the year  :)

Kenbe tètto hold one’s own, to persist

Renkato cower, to back away (in fear or because of shyness)

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

Used clothes, at least here in the north are called pèpè or maybe pepe. Do you know which?


It’s "pèpè".  They also call them "kenedi" or "rad kenedi"
They are more specifically barely used or second hand clothing (usually from the US) sold in the Haitian flea markets.  

We may say “rad drive” (rad dreevay) – when talking about used clothing we wear at home,  clothes not used for outings.  We also say “Rad ize” (“Rad dezyèm men”) – used clothing

Rad sòti – clothes used for outings, good clothes

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

I think apiye is lean, do they say piye for lean also? When I look it up, piye is supposed to mean plunder. Are there any other meanings or uses for either of these?


Yes “apiye” or “piye” will translate to lean, to tilt

Li te apiye sou miray la. – She leaned against the wall

 

And yes, “piye” also means to plunder, to vandalize

Volè yo piye kay la nèt. – The crooks completely vandalized the house.

 

And when playing hazard games we use “piye”  as a term to determine which player goes first

Ann piyeLet’s see who goes first.

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

Are tout tan and toutotan the same? Please give the translation and examples for the correct usage of toutotan. Thanks!


Tout tanall the time, always, forever
1. Tèt mwen ap fè m mal tout tan. – My head hurts all the time.

2. Nou va viv pou tout tan. – We will live forever.

3. Se tout tan m’ap di l sa. – I tell him that all the time

 

Tout tan and toutotan as long as, as much as, equally as

4. Toutotan w’ap ede l lap rete nan kondisyon sa a. – As long as you’re helping him, he’ll remain in this condition.

5. Tanpri ede m toutotan w kapab . – Please help me as much as you can

6. Toutotan l t’ap pale dlo t’ap kouri nan je l. – As she was talking tears were rolling down her eyes.

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

Can I say "Bonjou sòt Tijan" For "Bonjou FROM Tijan"?


No. It wouldn’t sound right.  Not for this specific expression.

We do use SOT to translate “from” such as in:

Sot isit la al laba a. – From here to there

Soti Miami rive New York. – From Miami to New York.

Soti anlè a rive jouk atè a. – From up there all the way to the floor

 

But sentences such as: “From me to you” or “Hello from Tijan” may have to be rephrased. Translating “from” with “sot” doesn’t work too well here.

You CAN, however,  say:  

Bonjou! Soti depi …(a location)

or

Soti nan bouch Tijan, resevwa yon bèl bonjou!

M’ap voye yon gwo kout chapo pou ou soti depi …(a location).

Tijan salye w

M wete chapo m

Tijan di Onè Respè

Kè m salye w.

It seems that I'm a little far off the intended greeting effect:) Can you think of anything else?

 

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Thursday, January 30, 2014

I'm learning H Creole straight from Haitians and it's awesome! However...I'd like to make sure I'm not swearing and cursing and talking dirty without realizing it :( Can you give me a heads up on what I should NOT be saying, so that I don't have a potty mouth ???


Heads up: Swearing and cursing may happen unintentionally – not just with dirty words but with some Creole terms that you put together and chances are you will offend no one because you are learning.  Haitians will most likely correct you and teach you better word choices. 

As far as things that you should not say is concerned, it can be a long list.  It may as well be innocent words translated from a dictionary such as “granmoun” means “adult” in Creole, and some people may prefer to be called “pèsonaj” (which is a translation for “mature person” or “adult” in English).  Or you may be seeing “jenès” which is Haitian Creole for “youth”, but it also translates “prostitute”.  So learning to say the right words (or not to say the wrong words) is definitely a learn-as-you-go type of thing. 

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

Bonswa,kouman mwen di "dear friend"in HC?

Ou kapab di:

Chè zanmi mwen
Or
Zanmi cheri mwen
My dear friend

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What does Chèri, Mwen vlew mean?

Dear lucky one :)
Someone said that to you?  And body language did not give it away?

Cheri mwen vle w - Honey (or sweetheart) I want you.

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Ou Temwen Jewova? M'ap gade pou li site (?)M'ap aprann Kreyol

Non m pa Temwen Jewova, men m m sèvi Bondye ak anpil lafwa.
Mwen kontan w’ap aprann Kreyòl, m’epere sit la va ede w anpil

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

Melle mouin se Haitien tankou ou m bezwen pou ou di m kisa chita tann ye

“Chita tann”?  Yon “CHITA TANN”?  NOT “chita tande”, Right?

M’ap kalkile byen, si w se Ayisyen se pa yon kesyon sou  sa mo yo vle di – w’ap pale petèt osijè ekspresyon “YON CHITA TANN” nan, non?

Yon pyèj.  Ou kapab pare yon chita tann pou yon moun ki fè w ditò (jan ekspresyon an di l la). Yon malè ki chita la ap tan mèt li ;)

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

More "get" questions. How would you say "get in the car or get in bed?"

1.
Get in /get into/get onantre, monte
Get in the car  monte machin nan, antre nan machin nan
She got into the car. - Li te monte machin nan. Or Li te antre nan machin nan

 2.
Get on the bike. - Monte bisiklèt la
When you get on the bike do not  let go of the handle bar.
Lè w monte bisiklèt la, pa lage gidon an.

 
3.
How did you get into the house?
Kouman ou te antre nan kay la?
 
4.
Get in bedmonte kabann, ale nan kabann
 
5.
Get off/ get outdesann, soti
She got off the bus at exactly 4 o’clock.
Li te desann bis la a katrè pil.

6.
They all got out of the car and took off running.
Yo tout desann machin nan enpi yo pran kouri.
 
7.
To get somewhererive
I got home early.Mwen te rive lakay bonè
When will we get there?Kilè nou va rive la?

We’ll never get anywhere in this condition. - Nou p’ap janm rive okenn kote nan kondisyon sa a

8.
Get bettervin miyò, fè mye
Get worsevin pi mal
I see that you got better. – Mwen remake ou vin miyò.
It seems that he’s getting worse – Sanble l’ap vin pi mal.

 9.
Get rid ofdebarase (pronominal verb in this case)
I need to get rid of that sofa. – Mwen bezwen debarase m ak fotèy sa.
You need to get rid of that man.Ou bezwen debarase w ak nèg sa a
 
Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words

Ki sa mo yo "clothespin" e "clothespins" an Kreyol Ayisyen? Mesi anpil.

clothespin - pens, pens pou tann rad
clothespins - pens yo, pens pou tann rad

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