How would you say "I have to take an exam" in h.creole and how would you say "I graduated last year". Thanks Mandaly

I have to take an exam.
Mwen dwe pran yon egzamen.
Fòk mwen pran yon egzamen.

I graduated last year.
Mwen te diplome ane pase.
Mwen te pran diplòm mwen lane pase

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How can I use chirepit in a sentence - i've said MWEN PA VLE CHIREPIT AVE W. IS THAT RIGHT?

Say instead, "Mwen pa vle nan chire pit avè w"

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What is 'kakadyab'? Is that a ghost?

Kakadyab - ugly or  hideous entity

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Hi Mandaly! What is 'fe yon jan ave m non souple' thanks

That sounds like 'begging'.

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I've noticed some of the Haitians I know get unreasonably angry (from an American perspective) if you ask them to repeat themselves (just generally). Is there any way to deal with this? It's pretty frustrating.

Hmmm... this could be subjective :)
Some people do get frustrated, upset and then overly excited if they're not getting their point across.

If this happens because of language barrier such as you're not understanding what they're saying fully, they might worry that they sound unintelligent, that you're talking down to them or that you know how to speak their language better than them (which is, of course, not the case). Be sure to tell them that you're still learning their language and that some words are unfamiliar to you.
Dakò :)
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Bonswa Mandaly! Koman'w ye? I was wondering if you knew any common sayings or proverbs in h.creole and the explanations behind them? Like for example.."jan chat mache se pa konsal kenbe rat,or "le bab kamarad ou pran dife, met paw la tranp"or "se sot ki bay, enbesil ki pran"....things like that. If you do know any more, please share them with me! Mesi davans!

You said:
Bonswa Mandaly! Koman'w ye? I was wondering if
you knew any common sayings or proverbs in h.creole and the explanations behind
them? Like for example.."jan chat mache se pa konsal kenbe rat,or "le bab
kamarad ou pran dife, met paw la tranp"or "se sot ki bay, enbesil ki
pran"....things like that. If you do know any more, please share them with me!
Mesi davans!
 
Mandaly says:


Bonswa zanmi,
 There are many many Haitian proverbs, I only know  a few of them. Most of the ones that I know I've learned from my mom and grandma:
The proverb "jan chat mache se pa konsa l kenbe rat", my mom would use to warn me about boys :)
 
I can only share with you the ones that we (mostly my mom) use most often at home. The followings are not word for word translation:
 
Byen pre pa lakay



about seeing a task to completion 100%. When you’re ‘almost
there’ that doesn't mean you’re “there’.



Zòrèy pa dwe janm pi long pase tèt about not overstepping your bounds




Je wè, bouch pe it’s not always wise to talk about everything you see.




 Brav pa pale men li aji basically, action speaks louder than words




Ti bouton mennen maleng how some very small things can take a life of their own




Mezi lajan w mezi wanga w basically,getting what you’re worth




Makak a ke pa janbe dife think carefully about your actions if you don’t want your family to pay for them



Si dimanch pral bèl depi nan vandredi ou konnen basically about intuition




Bay kou bliye, pote mak sonje  the person on the receiving end never forgets




Pawòl nan kè pa gate zanmi.  keeping some things to yourself might prevent you from saying things you could never take back




Other meaningful ones I remember from when I was younger:

Lè ti poul cho dèyè manman malfini pase l pran l this one is about not being too eager, about using more restraint

Sèl kouto ki konnen sa k nan kè yanm about things you can only know from experience

Fò w konn la pou w al a experience counts, it delivers

Tout bèt jennen mòde anyone who is provoked will fight back

and my favorite: Se mwen ki dòmi ak Jan, se mwen k pou di w si Jan wonfle. you cannot know my private life better than me.

There are a couple of good books about Haitian proverbs which you may be able to find online and also by googling Haitian proverbs, etc…. 

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Are there people in Haiti who spoke rough with heavy r, p, t, and d consonants? If so what region would you say they would most likely be found? If a person speaks creole "heavy" or "well-pronounced", does this mean that they are speaking with a Frenchified accent? What does "ou ap pale kreyòl yon ti jan lou" mean? How could I correct that?

I’m not sure I understand what you mean by the “heavy r, p, t and d consonants”, but it’s usually a foreigner who ‘pale kreyòl lou’ which means to ‘speak Creole with a heavy accent’. 

We do find northern and southern accents in Haiti as well as regional differences in word usage. We have so many variations in word usage in different parts of Haiti, some we know about and others we haven’t heard of yet, that there would need to be some research or study done so that we can identify them all.

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How can I type accent marks on my American keyboard?

Have you tried this link? Accented and foreign characters
Or you can google ....how to write foreign characters...

Best of luck :)

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Here is what I wrote in Creole and it was apparently incomprehensible to my Haitian friend. Can you tell me what I did wrong? ...

You said:

"Here is what I wrote in Creole and it was
apparently incomprehensible to my Haitian friend. Can you tell me what I did
wrong?  

Mwen pa te ka mande nou anvan paske mwen pa te konn kijan ou di
kourvreli nan Kreyol.  Mwen te chawzi li espesyalman pou li.  Mwen te eseye di'w
anvan, mwen pa konnen mo a "bedspread".  Kounyea mwen konnen ou di li"kouvreli".
Mwen pa ka mande ou si ou renemn sila a paske mwen pa konnen mo sa.  

Please
tell me how you would say this so it can be understood:  

I couldn't ask you
before because I didn't know how to say "bedspread" in Creole.  I chose the
bedspread especially for her.  I tried to ask you about it before but I didn't
know the word for bedspread.  Now I know that it is called a kouvreli.  I
coudn't ask you if she liked it because I didn't know the word for it. "

Mandaly said:

You did a pretty good job with the Creole there. The only difference I could bring up is that I would have used more short forms: 
“Mwen pa t ka mande w anvan paske mwen pa t konnen kouman yo di 'kouvreli' an Kreyòl. Mwen te chwazi kouvreli a espesyalman pou ou. Mwen te eseye mande w sa anvan men mwen pa t konnen konnen kouman pou m di 'kouvreli'. Kounye a mwen konnen se kouvreli yo di. Mwen pa t ka mande w si w te renmen li paske mwen pa t konnen kouman pou m di l.

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Hello, I'm used in saying "tetòye" means "pillowcase" in english. That is how my parents say it, but I often hear other people say "sakdòye". Is one the correct way in saying it or are both correct? Is it a region to region thing? Also, are there other ways of saying "pillowcase" in creole besides the ones mentioned above?

We say tèdoreye, sak doreye, sak zorye, sidoreye

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Bonjou, Mandaly! M gen yon kesyon. Kisa di, "N'ap pou tan" nan angle? I had a dream some time ago, and this was said in it. M te tradui konsa, "We're for time." but that doesn't make any sense. So I wonder are there any Haitian sayings or proverbs like this? What does this mean? (I hope I said that right).

If you're dreaming in Creole that's awesome :)

Yeah, you've pretty much translated it correctly. It doesn't mean much in H. Creole. ..may be a hidden significance?

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What does Ti Pam Nan mean? I'm obsessed with the song from Mikaben and JPerry.

Almost in an endearing tone, it basically means mine....

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Hello Mandaly, I know that "thick" means "epe" or "pwès" in creole, but what are other words for "thick" in all contexts? Also, what are words for "to thicken" or "to become thick"?

You can also use 'founi' for thick when you are talking about hair, for example: Chive l founi. - Her hair is thick.
to become thick - kaye, vin pwès, kondanse

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I have just learned that "anfonse" means to sink in English. What are other words or verbal expressions for "to sink"? Also, what are other words in creole that means "to knock down(someone or something)", "to dismount" or "to dismantle". I may know one or two that means this, but I feel like there are more. I want to know more if they exist.

To sink - koule, plonje, fè fon, anfondre, nofraje, fè nofraj, nwaye, neye, etc...

There are so many Haitian Creole words that can be used to say to knock down someone ..... I can only name a few:
demanbre, demachwele, krabinen, toufounen, filange, filange, domaje, maspinen, kokobe, etc....
there's probably 50 more.....

the same goes for to knock down something .... dechouke, deplase, demantle, demonte, deboulonnen
etc...

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Bonswa Mandaly! One quick question, I was looking to use the Creole word fonse, but I found so many definitions that I’m confused now. Can I use it to say –they broke the door–yo fonse pot la? Also what are other ways you can use that word? Thanks.

1.

Use defonse – to knock down, to dismount, to dismantle

They broke down the door…

Yo te defonse pòt la…..

Also….

2.

fonse (sou) (verb) – to attack, to charge at, to assault

He charged at me like a bull.

Li fonse sou mwen kon yon towo bèf.

3.

Fonse (verb) – to frown

She always has a frown.

Sousi l toujou fonse.

4.

And then there’s anfonse

Anfonse – to sink

The more he tried to get out of the water, the deeper he sank.

Tank l t ap eseye soti nan dlo a se tank li t ap anfonse plis toujou.

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