Mandaly. From what I have been reading about Ayiti and alcohol; it seems to indicate that the Creoles there do not drink strong drink. The articles imply that they drink milder drinks on the average. I am talking about common Creole folk. Pa vre? Also, does Ayiti brew a national beer or a national hard liqueur such as vodka, whiskey or bourbon? I am trying to get my travel plans in order. Mesi bokou

We have a few alcoholic beverages that are native to Haiti in addition to some homemade cocktails.  Kleren (Clairin) may be the strongest:

Kleren (clairin) – Strong alcoholic drink distilled from sugar canes.

Wonm Babankou (rhum Barbancourt) – Haitian rum

Prestij (Prestige) – Haitian Beer

Kremas (Cremas) – Creamed coconut alcoholic beverage

Like (liqueur) – red alcoholic beverage primarily flavored with beets

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

Mon vlé mandé an kwésyon...es moun ayisien sevi pawol-la "zot"? adan dominik,gwadloup, st.lisi e matnik we use that when talking to a group of people. Pa egzanp...zot pa ka manjé (are you all not eating). Also in dominica we use "sa" to able/can. For example...mon pa sa kopwann kwéyòl pyes (I can not understand creole at all) .Curious if these are used in haiti. Mési anchay

1.
Enpe moun te konn itilize “zòt” lontan lontan.  Men kounye a, depi alfabetizasyon Kreyòl la, yo pa itilize l fasil ankò. Kounye a, depi kèk tan, nou itilize “nou” nan plas “zòt”.

Pa egzanp, nou di:
Kòman nou ye? (to a group of people)
How are you all doing?

Ou kapab jwenn mo “zòt” la nan liv ki te ekri lontan ak nan ansyen bib Kreyòl Aysiyen an
 

2.

WI, nou itilize “sa” pou nou di “kapab” (nan fraz negatif).

Pa egzanp:
M tonbe m pa sa leve. – I’ve fallen I can’t get up.
M pa sa konpran anyen nan sa w’ap di. – I can’t understand anything that you’re saying.
Yo tèlman sezi yo pa sa pale. – They are se shocked they can’t talk.
…..
3.

Lòt bagay:

Nou pa itilize aksan sou “e” paske nan lang Kreyòl la nou pa genyen prononsyasyon “e” Franse a.
Pa egzanp:
Nou di rele nan plas rélé
Nou di pale nan plas palé
Etc…

Mwen konprann Kreyòl ou, eske ou konprann Kreyòl mwen ?

 

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

How can I use the expression SE PA PALE like you did in the email. I don’t get it .do you a couple of example. mesi

Se pa pale  - it goes without saying,  needless to say, there’s no doubt, unquestionably, for sure

1. Timoun alèkile pa respekte paran yo. Sa ki rich yo menm se pa pale, yo pi mal. - Kids these days do not respect their parents.  The wealthy ones, for sure, are the worst.

2. Mina te entelijan anpil.  Li te maton nan chimi, biyoloji, syans natirèl yo, etc...  Matematik menm se pa pale, nanpwen yon pwoblèm matematik li pa t ka rezoud. - Mina was very smart.  She was good with chemistry, biology, the natural sciences, etc… As for math, that’s for sure, there wasn’t a math problem that she couldn’t solve.

3. Misye te lage nan plezi nèt.  Li te nan nayklib chak swa.  Li pa’t refize dwòg.  Li t’ap depanse adwat agoch. Kanta pou fanm menm, se pa pale, chak swa li te kouche ak youn diferan. – He was living a life of pleasure. He was at the nightclubs every night.  He didn’t refuse drugs.  He was spending money left and right.  As for women, needless to say, he slept with a different one each night.

 

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

panama m tonbe sa ki deye ranmase l pou mwen. what is panama?

o o!
chapo panama :)  It's a hat.

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

What would profite translate here “Tigaso an te byen profit pendan l te avek nou la”

Pwofite – to seize to occasion, take the opportunity

Ti gason an te “byen” pwofite pandan l te avèk nou - The boy thrived “well” while he was with us

 

 

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Bonjou, Mandaly! I've completed up to Lesson 12 and I'm about to start Lesson 13 after I review all my notes and things from Lessons 1-12. And guess what? I took my first test (Definite Articles) and got 100%! M KONTAN!!! ……..

"Bonjou, Mandaly! I've completed up to Lesson 12 and I'm about to
start Lesson 13 after I review all my notes and things from Lessons 1-12. And
guess what? I took my first test (Definite Articles) and at 100%! M KONTAN!!!
^_^ Right now I'm reviewing the practice portion of the notes I took from your
video lessons about the Singular Definite Articles. Well, here's my question.
For "The book is in the box" to be translated as "Liv la nan bwat la." Why is
that? I don't understand what "NAN" means here. I Only know "NAN" to be one of
the Haitian Creole forms of "THE" but....that wouldn't make sense in this
sentence. Does this word mean something else now?"

Answer:

Awesome.  Mwen kontan deske ou kontan :)

"nan", here, is the preposition "in", "inside"

liv la      | nan  | bwat la
the book | in    | the box
The book is in the box.

Here is another example
kouto a   | nan | gode a
the knife | in   | the cup
The knife is in the cup.

If you were to have "nan" as a definite article and "nan" as preposition, you would write down both.
example:
Madanm nan |  nan |  chanm nan
The woman   | in     | the room
The woman is in the room.





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

Mesye bonjou or madan bonjou?

Larèn nan pa konprann. Li mande plis esplikasyon mezanmi :)

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

mache prese pa domi san sou pe

LOL.

Mache CHACHE pa dòmi san soupe :)

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

This question is about fek and soti. I see that you use it for past tenses, you wrote ‘m fek pale ave l’ – ‘I just spoke to her’. Would it make sense to add ‘te’ to that sentence: ‘m fek te pale ave l’ or is it ‘m te fek pale ave l? would it mean the same thing then? Mesi

Fèk and sòti, in this case, will indicate an event that happened a short while ago, very recently, not too long ago

FYI: Some people may say fèk, fenk,fèrank, or fenrank

Some people may say sòti or sot

And sometimes they may use fèk sot together

Egzanp:

1. M fèk wè papa w. – I just saw your dad (not too long ago)

2. M sot benyen, se pousa cheve mouye konsa. – I just showered that’s why my hair is so wet.

3. Nou pa grangou. Nou fenk sot manje. – We’re not hungry. We just ate. (a short while ago)

 

If you do add “te”, the  Haitian Creole past tense determiner, then it will make the difference between past tense or present perfect and past perfect.

4. M fèk pale avè l – I just spoke to her. OR I’ve just spoken to her

5. M te fèk pale avè l – I had just spoken to her.

It’ll make more sense in the next sentence:

6. Nou te fèk fin manje ansanm lè lapolis te parèt douvan pòt la. - We had just finished eating together when the police showed up at the front door.

You could not have said: Nou fèk fin manje ansanm lè ….

 

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

Ki denye mo ou lan sa? What’s “lan sa”?

…lan sa – (in this literally), on the subject, on the matter

“Ki denye mo ou lan sa?”

What’s your last word in this? literalman

What are your thoughts?

What’s your perspective?

What’s your opinion on this?

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

Do you know why a humming bird is called WANGANEGES in Creole? I was under the impression the word WANGA has to do with voodoo.

Yes, the name wanganègès is made up of two common words in Haitian Creole.

wanga - sorcery, magic spell, luck; nègès – black woman

Besides getting praise for its beauty and radiance the wanganègès has been known to be used as love potion to gain a woman’s affection. Specifically a man may kill the bird, burn it and concoct a powder mixture with the ashes. He would carry the powder in his handkerchief.

Kolibri, another type of wanganègès, will also be translated as hummingbird.

Have you heard the song about a humming bird Kolibri by Ticorn? On Youtube: http://youtu.be/v3yVPiMj2Fw

 

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Mandaly. Ki jan ou di an Kreyol Ayisyen a mixed group of boys and girls? Is it as in Spanish; the masculine form "los muchachos" / "gason yo"? Mesi bokou.

We say mesyedam for mixed group of males and females.

How’s your trip to Haiti coming along? I was thinking of you and thought you had left already :)

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

How do you say culture, to be cultured, to harass

To harass – entimide, toumante, kaponnen, pèsekite, ran (subject) san souf

Culture – kilti, levasyon

Cultured – kiltive, edike, save

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What does "kalewes"mean ? Example "tout moun ap kalewes yo"

Kalewès – to sit around and do nothing, to loaf, to chill, to bum around

"tout moun ap kalewes yo" – Everyone is sitting around doing nothing, or Everyone is loafing around.

Kèl lòt egzanp:

-Mesye sa yo pa gen responsablite.  Tout lajounen y’ap kalewès.

-Fanm nan chita sou bouda l maten midi swa ap kalewès. 

-Kalewès pa peye lwaye.

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

A woman in Haiti told me of a medicine that helps kids to stop sucking their fingers.I may spell this wrong it’s lalwua and something else. Would you happen to know what it is and where to get it?

I do not know of any medicine in Haiti that would do that.  The woman may have told you about lalo (aloe) or a plant like aloe which they cut and slice and rub on the kid’s finger.  It’s bitter.  Haitians also try other things like covering the finger with a sock or smearing it with piman (hot pepper) or kaka poul (chicken feces) – imagine the handful of harmful bacteria a child could ingest with that last one.  They say that most kids eventually grow out of this behavior, but if he/she doesn’t and you are worried then talk to a doctor.

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