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Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Can you translate kapab pa soufri

What is dra blan pa sal dra blan?

Dra blan pa sal dra blan - white sheets do not soil white sheets lit.

 
It’s a dangerous belief among a handful of Haitian Christians (I’m not sure if it’s just Haitians.  I don’t know where you heard this). They condemn adultery between a non-Christian and a Christian, but approve of adultery between two Christians.

I know there was a church group in Miami in the late 1980s and early 90s that practiced this – I’m not sure if they’re still around.



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what does "pouba w bade" mean in h creole. thnxs

Kijan ou di "you sound like?" Ak "What do you mean"

You sound like
Ou pale tankou
Ou gen vwa
 
You can also use “sanble” – It seems
 
You sound like a robot.
Ou pale tankou yon wobo.
 
You sound like your mom.
Ou pale tankou manman w.
 
He sounds like girl.
Li gen vwa yon vwa yon ti fi.
 
You sound like your mom (have the same voice as)
Ou gen vwa manman w.
 
The wind sounded like a howling dog.
Van an te soufle, sanble yon chen k’ap wouke.
Van an soufle tankou yon chen  k’ap wouke.
 
What do you mean?
Ki sa ou vle di?

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“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”.

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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.

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Saturday, March 8, 2014

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.

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“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.

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What is Haitian Creole for pillowcase?

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.


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Thursday, March 6, 2014

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.


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“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” .

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“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.


Tanthis 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”.

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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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