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Monday, February 23, 2015

kijan mwen ka di ranse an angle: pa egzamp: pa ranse ave'm, ou ranse twop ave'm.

Lè w di ranse, sètènman ou vle si "pase nan betiz"?

ranse - ridicule, mock, taunt

ou kapap di:

Don't play with me.
Don't ridicule me.
etc...


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

Sometimes when I use "nan" as a preposition for "in", I have been informed that I should use "an" in some situations, but am not understanding when "an" is correct; I probably over use "nan." When should I be using "an" for in? I am having a similar problem with "ki", recently being told by those helping me improve my Creole that in some cases I should use "ke" instead of "ki" for "that", but am not understanding when to use "ke" and probably over use "ki." If you could help me I would greatly appreciate it. Mesi anpil!

Some instances where “an” may be used as preposition:

Here it means in or from

1.
Mwen fèk sot an Ayiti maten an.
I just came from Haiti this morning.

2.
Mwen te fèt an Giyàn.
I was born in Guyana.

3.
Mwen te ale an Ayiti semèn pase
I went to Haiti last week.

The above sentences can also be used without “an”.
___________________________________
Or sometimes “an” is used to show the order of things.

Li te vini an dènye.
He came in last.

5.
Fè nou pase an premye.
Let us go first.

6.
Fè ti moun yo kanpe an de ran.
Have the kids form two lines.
___________________________

Or

“an” may indicate what something is made of


7. Li fèt an ò (or annò). – It’s made of gold
8. Li fèt an fè (or anfè)  – It’s made of iron
9. Li fèt an asye - It's made of steel
10. Li fèt an bwa (or anbwa) – It’s made of wood
11. Li fèt an plastic – It’s made of plastic

______________________

“an” may indicate in what manner something is done.

12.
L’ap pale avè’m an chèf.
He’s talking to me as if he was my boss.

13. 
Sitiyasyon chanje an kòbòy (Cowboy)
The situation change for the worse (dangerous).

 _______________________

As far as “ki” and “ke” is concerned, you won’t see “ke” that often.  When you do it’s usually used as a conjunction:

14. Mwen te di’l ke m pa't grangou.
     I told her that I was not hungry.


15. Mesye ke ou te wè a se te papa m.
      The man that you saw was my father.

16. Nou te espere ke legliz te gentan fin konstwi.
     We had hoped that the construction of the church was completed.

And ... the above sentences will work fine without “ke”
_____________________________

And “ki” would be use as pronoun:

17. Moun ki dwe pa janm dòmi anpè.
      People who have debts never sleep peacefully

18. Fanm ki konn travay jaden p'ap janm dòmi grangou.
      Women who know how to farm will never go to bed hungry

19. Gason ki twò brav se nan simityè yo abite.

      Men who are too gutsy live in the cemetery.

20. Timoun ki derespektan pa viv lontan.
      Kids that are discourteous don't live long.

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

How do you say this in English? Sa pa ta mal non, ou ta fe désert ave l

Fraz sa a ta bèl wi si se pa't koze desè yo t'ap pale vre :)

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

Kisa "zo pa kwit" vle di? Mwen we moun ap ekri l souvan nan mi yo, konsa m konnen li gen yon sans negatif men m pa konprann kibo fraz sa soti. Mesi anpil!

Ou gen rezon wi - se nan sans negatif yo toujou di li.

Kon zo a fin di pa gen anyen ou ka fè pou fè l vin mou.
Asepte l konsa, li fin rèk, ou pa ka chanje sa l ye a
Li p'ap janm kuit
P'ap gen transfòmasyon
Pa gen espwa chanjman

Ou konprann?

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Can anybody help me translating the following Haitian phrases int English:

You might have this in vodou chant.
Papa Legba would be the god of the crossroads.

Papa Legba, l'ouvri barrie-a pou moin, ago ye, Papa Legba, ouvri barrie-a pou 
moin, pou moin passé

Papa Legba / l'ouvri baryè a pou moin / agoye!
Papa Legba / open the gate for me     / agoye!

Papa Legba / l'ouvri baryè a pou moin / 
papa Legba / open the gate for me     /

pou mwen pase /
so that I may proceed/

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

Greeting! I love your website! Thank you for all your posts. I will be going back to Haiti in a few months. One of our objectives will be to paint a school building. Could you help me by giving me some phrases related to painting? (Things like using a ladder, asking for a brush, a more technical details like smoother strokes.) Thank you for your help!


Dakò zanmi.

1. ladder – nechèl, echèl,
2. wall – mi, miray, panno

3. Place the ladder against the wall
    Apiye nechèl la sou mi a.

4Where’s the ladder?
    Kote nechèl la?

5. Be careful so you don’t fall off the ladder.
   Atansyon pou w pa sot tonbe sou nechèl la.

6. paint (n.) – penti
7. to paint – pentire
8. a can of paint – Yon manmit penti
9. paint bucket – bokit penti
10. bucket of paint - yon bokit penti

11. Paint the wall with upward and downward strokes
      Pentire mi an dewo anba

12. crack – fant
13. to crack – fann

14. Repair the cracks and holes in the wall
      Repare fant ak twou ki nan miray la.

15. paint brush – penso
16. paint roller – woulo
17. brush stroke – kout penso

18. How many brushes do we have?
      Konben penso nou genyen?

19. Use smoother brush strokes to achieve a smooth finish.
      Egalize kout penso yo pou penti a ka parèt lis lè li sèch.

20. water-based paint – penti alo
21. oil-based paint – penti aluil

22. to cover with plaster – masonnen
23. to cover the ceiling with plaster – masonnen plafon an

24. to peel – dekale
25. peeling pent – penti dekale
26. Scrub the peeling paint. – Foubi penti ki dekale yo.

27. one coat (of paint) – yon kouch
28. a coat of paint – youn kouch penti
29. to apply two coats (of paint) – bay de kouch penti

30. Apply one coat of paint and let it dry overnight.
     Bay mi an yon kouch penti enpi kite l fin seche aswè a

31. We’ll apply the second coat the next day.
      N’a bay dezyèm kouch penti an nan demen.


32. painter (professional house painter) – bòs pent

33. Wash the brushes with soapy water.
       Rense penso yo ak dlo savon.

34. Wash the paint roller with lots of water and let it dry.

       Rense woulo penti ak bonkou  dlo enpi kite l seche.

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

kouman yo di misye mare kou krab an angle?

Misye mare kon w krab.
(Ou kapab di sa diferan fason depandan de sitiyasyon an)
He is uneasy.
He is clumsy.
He feels awkward.
He's embarrassed.

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

Hello! I've been studying the Haitian Creole language and I really like this language and it's fantastic that I can talk to Haitian friends in their mother tongue. I want to know the difference between PRAL and VA (or, A).

That is awesome :)
 
Va, a, or ava – future tense – aux: will or shall
 
Nou va kite demen.
N’a kite demen
N’ava kite demen.
We will leave tomorrow.
We shall leave tomorrow.
 
 
Pral, prale to be + going to
 
M pral pale avè l pou m ka fè l konnen sa m peze.
Or 
M prale pale avè l pou m ka fè l konnen sa m peze.
 
I’m going to talk to her to let her know what I’m made of.

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

Sunday, February 22, 2015

kouman yo di an angle :"li telman fache li tchwipe devan tout moun yo."

“He/She was so mad he sucked his/her teeth in front of everyone to show his/her contempt.”

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

WHAT IS THERE MONEY WORTH TO AMERICAN DOLLAR?

At this time ....2nd month of 2015 ....

It's 900 Haitian dollars for 100 american dollars.


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

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Prezans Ou Pi Chè Pase Lò lyrics":

Mezanmi o!  mèsi anpil wi.  mwem apresye sa :)


Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Prezans Ou Pi Chè Pase Lò lyrics": 

First verse is:

Non ou se Emanyel
Sa vle du Dye ak nou
Nou tout reyini pou la glwa Ou
Se Ou Ki padonen
Tout inikyte n yo
E Ki geri tout maladi n yo 

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

Can you tell mean if this word means the color orange? jònabriko Found it in the book "Haitian Creole in 10 Steps" by Roger Sabain, spelled jònabriko. The closest I could come to understanding it was to spell it jòn abriko, it was translated as amber on the interent. What exactly does it mean?

Yes, it does mean orange.

“jonn” or “jòn” of course translates the color yellow.
“abriko” or “zabriko” is what Haitians call the fruit mamey or the tropical apricot
 
So jònabriko or jòn zabriko means apricot yellow or as yellow as an apricot.

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

Hello, Mandaly, I hope everything is well. I haven't heard from you for a couple of months. Again, I hope everything is well.

Bonswa zanmi, pa enkyete twòp. Tout bagay anfòm kounye a.

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

Friday, August 1, 2014

Ok, this is an odd question, but you're always so helpful, maybe it'll be fun for you, epi w te ede'm anpil le mwen t'ap aprann kreyol. I made a bet with a Haitian friend of mine that he doesn't know how to spell every single word in Creole. After looking through my Creole dictionary, I realized this may be a bad bet on my part! I know Creole is very easy and logical to spell, but are there any exceptions? Can you suggest a few Haitian Creole words which either break the rules (are there any?) or are particularly difficult? Mesi davans! Si mwen genyen, m pral remesye w, men nou pap parye pou kob. N'ap parye pou yon rum sour!

If your friend knows his Creole world you might never get a taste of that rum.
But you can still win the bet.

Words people can misspell easily are
Beny (bath)
Benywa or beywa (washtub)
Words with “ro” which should be “wo” as in “ayewopò” intead of “ayeropò”
Words that begins with “h”:
Hountò (angel)
Hinghang (dissension)
Hèn (hatred)

Also very easy to misspell is “wa”, most people spell it “rwa” but it should be “wa”
To throw your friend off a little, don’t just say “wa”, ask him to spell “wa Nebidkadneza” so that he focuses on the second word :)


Bòn chans .
Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words

Hello! Thank you for the wonderful information about Haitian Creole!! I am from Brazil and I'm learning this beautiful language. I was reading something this morning and saw a verb tense that I couldn't associate with any other, it's: T APRAL. How am I to understand it? Eg.: "... pwojè sa a T APRAL kraze ... " (This is a portion of the text I read this morning.)

T’apral – te pral (was going to)

Mwen t’apral vizite li lopital la men yo te genten egzeyate l.
I was going to visit her at the hospital but she was already discharged

Pwojè sa a t’apral pwodui anpil travay nan kominote a
This project was going to produce a lot of jobs in the community

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