“Nou pa bo isit jodi a”.Why isn’t “pa” negative here?

Actually, just having this as an independent sentence, it can be either positive or negative.

Now sometimes we do say, “nou vin pa bò isit jodi a.” Or “Ou pa bò isi?” where “pa bò isi/isit” means “by here” or “in this area”; and “pa” actually translates the English prep. “by”.

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

Ki mo nan langue Créole la ki pran cédille anba c a? Eske mwen dwe retire cédille nan nom François lè m’ap ekri an Créole?

Non, pa genyen mo ou ankenn lèt “c” ki pran sediy nan lang Kreyòl la.  Mwen pa wè ankenn rezon ki pou ta fè w retire sediy nan non François a, menm si se Kreyòl ou t’ap pale. Si yon moun vle ekri François an Kreyòl, sa se yon lòt afè.

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

I thought it was interesting that H. Creole word ‘sou’ is used as ‘be in the mood for’. If I say ‘m pa sou manje’ it means ‘I’m not in the mood for food’. Did I get this correctly? Can “sou” be used for other activities?

Yes. I can give you some examples:

1.

M pa sou pale kounye a. – I’m not in the mood for talking right now.

2.

Li pa sou etidye.  Se televizyon ki enterese l. – She’s not interested in studying. She’s interested in watching tv.

3.

Nou pa sou sa. – We’re not in the mood.

4.

M pa sou bò w. – I’m ignoring you.

5.

Misye fè tout sa l te kapab pou atire atansyon ti fi a, men ti fi a pa’t menm sou bò l. – He did all he could to attract the girl’s attention, but the girl was not even interested in him.

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

“they’ll have to dig out his remains…” Google translate is giving me “Yo pral oblije fouye soti rete l” I’m thinking of using the creole word “ko” for remains: “Yo pral oblije fouye soti ko li yo”. Is this correct?

Here, to dig out will translate as "detere" (to unearth)
If Google Translate is not giving you the right translation, try using other words, in this case, "cadaver" or something else.
Here, remains will translate as kadav or zosman

They'll have to dig out his remains. - Yo pral detere kadav li. or Yo pral oblije detere zosman li.(if the body's been buried for a very long time)
and...
No need to use plural "yo" unless you're talking about bones.

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

What is Haitian Creole for pillowcase?

pillowcase - sak zorye, tèt zorye, tèdoreye

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

If I want to tell someone about something that actually happened, what is a good way to introduce this? M vle di ou yon istwa? Is istwa good here? What if I wanted to tell someone a fabricated story--something I made up—would istwa also work here? What makes most sense in each of these situations?

M vle di ou yon istwa (or M vle rakonte w yon istwa) will work for retelling an event that DID or DIDN'T happened.

But if you say "kont" instead of "istwa" (M vle rakonte w yon kont), the listener will instantly know that the story is fiction.


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

I was looking for the use of ‘fèt kare’, I’m sure I printed it from your blog but I can’t find my copy or your blog post.

It's in this post: FÈK KARE?

1.

Fèk kare – it’s just the beginning, only just started (indicates an event that just started and intends to continue for an indefinite period of time).

2.

Nou fèk kare ap danse. -  We only just started to dance.

3.

Ameriken te panse yo te fini avèk to chomaj ki eksesif, men avèk istwa move ekonomi an, yo fèk kare wè chomaj. – Americans thought they were done with high rates of unemployment, but with this story of bad economy, the unemployment days have just begun.

4.

Nou te kwè soufrans nou te fini, men nou fèk kare bat lanmizè. – We thought our suffering was over, but our anguish has just begun.

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

“Se nou de a ak papa papa l ki te la”. For “papa papa” isn’t it the same as saying granpapa? if yes, then why not say granpapa? Is the same used for manman too? And also, can I say “gran gran grann mwen” for “great great grandmother” or should I use “manman manman”

You can use papa papa, granpapa, or granpè

 Or manman manman, grann, or granmè

It makes more sense, to me,  saying  “manman manman grann mwen” .

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

“Konfyans se yon misté. Yo pa achte sa, ou pa kapab di ban m pou tan.” I don’t understand the use of “tan” in this sentence. Can you explain? Mési.

Tan – this much, so much, an undetermined number

Some examples how it is used.

1.

You may think that the car costs this much, but in reality it costs more than that. - Ou kapab panse machin nan koute tan, men anreyalite li koute plis pase sa.

2.

Here’s a math problem. If the bike costs such amount of money, and the store gives you a rebate of 50%, how much will you pay? – Men yon pwoblèm matematik.  Si yon bekán koute tan, enpi magazen an ba w 50 pousan rabè, konbyen w’ap peye?.

3.

If the company agrees to give free tickets to such number of people, how would we pay for the ones remaining? Si konpani an dakò pou bay tan moun tikè gratis, kouman n’ap fè peye pou rès yo?

By the way your accent is backwards on the “e” in “mistè” and “mèsi”.  It should be “è” instead of “é”.

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

Is there a proverb about the importance of a command hierachy? thanks.

Try this H. Creole proverb: Si tout moun sou cheval, kimoun ki va fèmen baryè.

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What does "konn sa'm kite" mean?

Based solely on the information you gave me, it means "to know what I leave" or "to know what I left"

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Mandaly I'm confused about a conversation my friend and I had in Haiti about the words sal and salison.after she explained it to me i'm still confused. my question is, if it's sal then it's dirty but if its salison it can get dirty, but it’s not dirty? If I say my shoes are salison, will they ever get dirty at some point?

All shoes get dirty.  Don't they? :)
The word is "salisan".  "Salisan" means that it easily picks up dirt, or easily gets soiled
Stuff such as white carpet are "salisan", if you have busy kids or toddlers the carpet will be ruined before you have time to enjoy it.
Light-colored suede shoes, for example, are "salisan", you wear them just once and they already have scuff marks and mud stains on them.
Jeans, for example, are not "salisan". You could wear a pair of jeans for years and never wash it and  no one will notice.
Ou konprann?

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

How do you say the expression "For Sure", Ex: “I will see you for sure!”, “It'll rain for sure!”, “I will pass the test for sure”, etc....... or, “I am sure what I am saying”. Mesi anpil

For sure – definitivman, asireman, pou sèten, tout bon, or san dout?

Do you know that for sure? – Eske ou sèten sou sa?

Yes, for sure. – Wi, tout bon; Wi, asireman.

That’s for sure! – Tout bon!, Men wi,; Se sèten!, or San dout!

I will see you for sure – M va wè w definitivman.

It’ll rain for sure –Li pral fè lapli pou tout bon.

I will pass the test for sure. – M’ap pase egzamen an definitivman.

Are you sure what you said is true?. – Eske ou sèten sa’w te di a se laverite?

I’m not so sure about that. – Mwen pa fin sèten sou sa.

I am sure of what I m saying – Mwen sèten sa m di a.

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Does ‘li pa tande li pa wè’ (or yo pa tande yo pa wè) have another meaning (other than the obvious)? Can you use it in a sentence please. Thanks Mandy.

It means to be blind to everything else, to have just one  specific goal in mind, to want nothing but one thing

Egzanp:

Depi misye rankontre fanm nan, m pa konn sa’k pran’l, li pa tande l pa wè se marye l vle marye. - Since he met that woman, I don’t know what came over him, he wants nothing but to marry her.

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Have you heard this before, map fow kite denye mess. Someone said it angrily and pointing the finger at my face

O O! what did you do? If I were you I wouldn’t eat anything that person offers me :)  He/she’s going to teach a lesson (or something like that)

 

“M’ap fè w kite dènye mès”?

 

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