Bounjou :) When we talked about the comparison of adjectives in class, our teacher only gave us examples with 'pi + *adjective* + pase', e.g. « Yon elefan pi gwo pase yon chen. ». But what term do you use in Haitian Creole when you want to say "less"? Maybe "mwens"? Is «Yon chen mwens gwo pase yon elefan. » a grammatically correct sentence? Mèsi davans :)

On occasion, I've heard people use mwens ... ke, mwens ... pase
Egzanp: Vwayaje nan avyon mwens fatigan pase vwayaje nan machin. - Traveling by plane is less tiring than traveling by car.
Egzanp: Le vandredi ofis la mwens anime pase tout lòt jou yo. - On Fridays, the office is less busy than any other days.

Sometimes if the English sentence calls for mwens ... ke/pase, we tend to turn it around to use pi/plis ..... pase/ke

Egzanp: The bike is less expensive than the car - Bekàn nan pi bon mache pase machin nan.


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

eske li liv chak an anglais ka edem pale anglais

Pa sèlman li non, men pale tou.
M espere ou genyen yon moun ki la pou ede w pale ak li, dekwa pou yo ka korije w lè ou fè yon erè.
Bòn chans zanmi :)

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

Mandaly, mesi anpil pou blog ou! ke Bondye beni ou! M' gen yon kesyon sou kafe nan ayiti. Eske pifo moun yo bwe kafe nan maten an oubyen se selman yon liks pou yo. Nan etazini preske tout moun bwe kafe. Se la memn nan ayiti? Eske kafe bon mache pou moun yo ki rete nan andeyo ki pa gen anpil kob?......

You asked.....
Mandaly, mesi anpil pou blog ou! ke Bondye beni ou! M' gen yon kesyon sou kafe nan ayiti. Eske pifo moun yo bwe kafe nan maten an oubyen se selman yon liks pou yo. Nan etazini preske tout moun bwe kafe. Se la memn nan ayiti? Eske kafe bon mache pou moun yo ki rete nan andeyo ki pa gen anpil kob?

Le moun yo rekolte pwa kafe yo vet, dwe kite yo sech. Apre sa, kijan yo prepare kafe pwa nan lakay ou? Mwen te li ki yo kwit pwa yo nan yon chodye anle twa roch yo, pou osige vennsenk minit yo. Le you vide pwa kafe soti chodye e mete sik andann chodye e kwit jouk sik te vin koule lo. Pwochen yo melanje pwa kafe e sik ansanm and vide sou yon moso tol. Apre li fret you kraze l' nan moulen kafe.

I hope I said this correct in Kreyol. ?? I will say it in Engish now just in case you don't understand my elementary grammar in Kreyol. Feel free to correct it if you want and send it back to em. Here are my questions in English because I want to do a Christian womens conference and have a coffee theme, but first I need to understand somethings about coffee in Haiti. Does almost everyone drink it in Hait in the morning like in the US. Is it a common household item or is it too expensive for most and considered a luxary? I know they grow it on Hait but is it acessible to most and is it affordable? I know are the very poor and then the wealthier in Haiti. But what is a general answer? Also how are coffee beans processed in Haiti. If a haitian in the country side would buy freas green coffee beans, how would the ground them up at their homes. I read on the internet that they cook them in a heavy iron kettle over the 3 stone fire for about 25 minutes to roast them. Next they pour them out to let them cool and in the mean time they cook sugar until it is an amber color. Then the mix the roasted coffee beans together with the sugar and then pour ot onto a piece of tin to let it cool. Next the crush and ground it up into coffee grounds. Also when I am in Haiti the coffee that the cooks serve us is ground so fine it is almost like powdered sugar. They do not put it into a sock but put it directly into the water and boil it. It is delicious! and also very mild even though it is very black in color. Is that because there is sugar added? I am continually learning more about the cultture of Haiti, and will never stop learning as I am a foreingner. But I was wondering about how relavant the daily routines of coffee are in Haiti! You know us Americans! we don't think we can live without it! and Jesus, of course!. Like they said, "In the morning all I need is a lttle bit of coffee and a whole lot of Jesus" If I said this is creole: is this correct? 

" Nan maten an selman mwen bezwen se yon ti kase coffee and anpil Jezi!"

Mandaly says.....
Mèsi anpil pou kesyon ou. Mwen konprann tout sa ou ekri :)

"In the morning all I need is a little bit of coffee and a whole lot of Jesus"
"Le maten tout sa m bezwen se yon ti tas kafe ak yon gwo gode plen ak Jezi!"

Making coffee part of the daily morning routine is something we have in common. After that everything else is a little different. 
I could explain it like this. For Americans, coffee in the morning is the 'energizer that keeps the energizer bunny going'. It is something that mostly only adults do. To Haitians coffee is more like breakfast... nourishment.  It is for kids and adults. We usually have coffee with bread, sometimes buttered bread in the morning. We like to dunk our bread in our coffee. Where I was raised, we roasted our own green coffee beans in a big iron skillet until the beans becomes dark. We used a big mortar (pilon) and pestle (manch pilon) to pound on the coffee. Now, this is a 3 to 4 feet mortar and a pestle that weighs about 2 to 5 pounds. One person may do the pounding. Sometimes two people may pound on the coffee. 1 mortar, two pestles, two people. The people, usually women, stand facing each other with the mortar in between them and they start pounding alternatively. It's done in a rhythmic fashion. They pound, crush and grind without missing a beat. We called this pile kafe. The coffee is then passed through a strainer. We boil water in a coffee pot called kafetyè. We put the coffee powder (poud kafe) in a cloth filter or sock filter (grèp) and pour the hot water through the filter over a cup.

Coffee with sugar is for breakfast. We do not usually drink it throughout the day.
Coffee is not a luxury. A lot of people in the provinces grow their own. We share with our neighbors. You may have a big yard that have 5 to 10 little houses. So we share with our neighbors. In the US, some people might look at you funny if you go knock on their door to bring a plate of food. But in every Haitian know that we have a hunger problem in Haiti. We know that our neighbors may not be able to eat one day. So we share, just in case. It is not rare for a national to wake up in Haiti and put a grain of salt under their tongue so that they can survive the day. But they won't tell you their business, so we share our morning coffee and bread, in case that is all the nourishment they'll have for the day.

In the provinces (outskirts of Haiti), we usually roast own own. In the capital, we'd either buy the powder, or rely on families that live in the outskirt to bring some coffe for us, on their regular visits to the capital.

Coffee without sugar (called kafe anmè) is a remedy for people who are suffering from acute emotional distress as a result of a traumatic event.

We used the coffee grounds to clean our dirt floor (which is inside the home). We sprinkle it on the floor, in the bedroom, living room, etc..., we may sprinkle some water too, and then we sweep it out. A lot of the homes on the outskirts have dirt floors.

Coffee powder (poud kafe) also means money.

Sometimes Haitians tell their age by the number of coffee harvests they've seen: 40 year - 40 rekòt kafe.

Port-Au-Prince is somewhat westernized, but if you're ever in the outskirts of Haiti and hear the thumps of the big pestle and smell the coffee, stop by for a ti tas kafe. .



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

Bonswa! I never understood when people said " pa okipe'l lespri lap fe" (when referring to kids acting crazy), what is lespri exactly, break it down.. mesi davans cheri

Dakò :)
They are actually saying, "Pa okipe l, espre l ap fè" - Don't pay any attention to him/her, he's faking. or Don't pay attention to him/her, he/she is doing this on purpose.

espre means intentionally, deliberately
okipe - to be busy, to pay attention to

Pa      | okipe             | l,             | 
Don't | pay attention  | him/her  |


espre            | l             | ap                            | fè      |
deliberately  | he/she   | progressive  marker | to do |

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

Hello! I am having a hard time translating something for a Bible study. How would you translate words into Kreyol such as righteous, just and divine?

Your choice of words may be based on the context of the conversation.

righteous - jis
righteousness - ladwati
in righteousness - nan ladwati

just - jis
divine - diven

Give me an idea of what you are trying to translate.

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

Hello!! As always, I love your blog! Thank you for all your help! I work with an orphanage in La Plaine and on my most recent trip I asked all of the kids "What do you want to be when you grow up". One of them responded "Yon Dwayen" I am not familiar with this word. Do you know what it means?

Dwayen is the dean of faculties, the one who manages one or a group of universities.

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

Hello again! I know I already asked a question today, but I have another. I asked someone what they are good at and they said Football. Then they said something I didn't understand: "Nan peyi nou an yo pa ankadre moun ki gen talon." I'm under the impression "ankadre" means "to frame" and maybe "ki gen talon" refers to ability to play soccer. Is he saying "In my country, they can't frame people who play soccer well"?

Yes, you got the literal translation well. I think he said, "Nan peyi nou an yo pa ankadre moun ki gen talan" which means "In our country they don't support people who have talents". He is referring to the poor sports infracstructure in the country. A lot of Haitians who live in Haiti are very talented athletes, but the country offers no training, equipments or environment to help nurture these talents.  There are many Haitians-born athletes, or athletes of Haitian descent in foreign sports team who are doing awesomely well,  but Haitians want to see Haitian athletes kicking butts at the World Cup or the olympics FOR Haiti most of all.

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

I saw your blog and you had answered this, but wasn't sure as there are many ways the word stop could be used. When I was in Haiti any Stop sign I saw was in English. What word in Haitian Creole should be on a Stop sign...sispann? Thank you so much!

Hi!
I love your question. Why, indeed, are all the stop signs in Haiti in English? Maybe when the Haitian government ordered the stop signs they sent them the wrong batch, and the H. government never thought to return them. No return slip included?

Anyways, the proper terminology for a stop sign on the streets of Haiti should be arè which means to halt. It comes from the French arrêt (noun), the verb is arrêter in French, and rete in Creole.

Other words in Creole that means to stop is kanpe.
Kanpe la! - Stop there!
Kanpe machin nan  / Rete machin nan - Stop the car
Kanpe mizik la - Stop the music

It would be hard to use sispann in that sense. Sispann means to cease or to end something.
Li sispann pale. - He stopped talking
Konpani manifakti a sispann fè modèl rad sa a. - The manufacturing company stopped making this type of dress.
To use sispann by itself, you'll need a context.
Li lè pou sispann manje gato. Sispann! - It's time to stop eating cake. Stop!


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

Bonjou! When I was in Haiti a couple months ago we used a popular greeting with a fist bump, but I don't know how to spell it or what it literally means. It sounds like "ah - fom" in english. I would have expected the Kreyole to be like "an fam" or similar. Do you know what it is? Thanks,

Bonjou zanmi. With the fist bump greeting, they are saying "anfòm".

Anfòm can be used various ways. Usually it means awesome, great, excellent, attractive or sexy (if you're describe a female's physique), athletic or good-looking (if you're describing a male's body). When someone asks you about how your day is going, you can say anfòm! if you're having a good day.

Anfòm?

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

How do you say: "We are friends in Christ."

We are friends in Christ. - Nou se zanmi nan Kris.
We are friends in Jesus Christ. - Nou se zanmi nan Jezikri.

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

Hi Mandaly. Can you translate this proverb for me? What does it mean? le gen lanmou, gen doule

So true, isn't it? "Lè gen lanmou, gen doulè" - ""When there's love, there's pain."

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

how would you say present tense meaning they are doing it right that second? For example... I am sitting. I am cleaning. I am eating.

Use "ap" as the present progressive indicator

I am cleaning. -  Mwen ap netwaye.
I am cleaning the room. Mwen ap netwaye chanm nan.

I am singing. - M ap chante. ("M" being a contraction of 'Mwen')

I am eating. - Mwen ap manje. or M ap manje.
We are eating. - Nou ap manje. or N ap manje.


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

How can I say: "bust line, chest line, waist line and hips line" for teaching dress-making? Thanks a lot!

bust line - pwatrin
waist line - tay
hip line - kuis

bustline measurement - mezi pwatrin nan
What's your waist line measurement - ki mezi tay you
Take the hip line measurement - Pran mezi kuis la.

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

M salye ou. Mwen se yon ayisyen ki fet Itaz Ini. Mwen gen lontan map chache yon liv ki esplike reg grame kreyol la. Eske ou pa gen okenn ide sou ki jan mwen ka jwen akse ak yon liv konsa?

Bonjou zanmi, mèsi pou kesyon w lan. Kite m ba w enfòmasyon sou sit lengiwstik MIT kote ou va jwen lyen pou pifò ouvraj ki genyen sou lang kreyòl la.  Pou le moman, liv gramè ke nou va jwenn sou kreyòl la se liv tankou  "Ann Aprann Òtograf Kreyòl la" avèk plizyè lòt atik ki atake diferan pòsyon nan gramè lang lan. Tanpri, tcheke lyen sa a: http://t.co/h1MtJdrcfc

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

Can you translate 'se sèl sa yo te ka fè"? What is "sa" and "te"? Thanks

Se sèl sa yo te ka fè.
It's all they could do.

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