what does this word this sentence mean? Vin Gade manze kap fe show boubou'n

Looks like someone is exposing herself ... "show boubou'n" means that she's exposing or flashing her genitals. The sentence means 'Come and see how the girl is exposing herself'

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How would you say "picky" in creole? Like, "That's all we have, don't be so picky!"

picky - difisil, egzijan
to be picky - fè egzijan

That's all we have, don't be so picky!
Se tout sa nou genyen, sispan fè egzijan!

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Bonjou Mandalay, Eske ou gen sijesyion pou liv debutan? Maman m se ayitien, papa m se kanadyen. Mwen ka komprann kreyòl là pou yon konvèsayon nòmal, dekontrakté. Men mwen vlé apwofondi konesans mwen. Mwen vlé aprann su éritaj mwen, sa a trè enpòtan pou mwen. Mwen etidye plizyè lang nan lekòl, men mwen te toujou wont paske manman m se ayitien, et mwen pa ka byen pale oswa li lang fanmi mwen. Mèsi anpil :) Maroussia

Bonswa wi Maroussia,
Genyen plizyè ti liv 'Kont ak Istwa' Ayisyen ke ou kapab li. Yo trè enteresan. Li ka pi avantajye pou w ale nan libreri a pou w kapab tcheke liv yo, ak pwòp zye pa w. Konsa ou va gen yon bon lide ki liv ki pi bon pou ou.
Mwen wè ou fè anpil efò nan lang lan, dapre jan ou ekri - Tanpri, pa fatige tèt ou, pa wont. Se efò w ap fè a ki konte. Trè byento ou va kouran nan lang nan.

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Koman yo di "Bawon Samdi possessed somebody?"

Ou vle an angle oswa kreyòl?
Ou ban m fraz la an de (2) lang wi :)

An angle: The person has been possessed by Bawon Samdi.
An kreyòl: Bawon Samdi monte moun nan.
Ou kapab di tou: Moun nan posede. Bawon Samdi monte l.

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

Can you explain to me the differences between "sonje" and "manke"? What are the best contexts with which to use them?

You must be asking this in reference to 'missing' someone?

We do not use 'manke' to translate 'miss' as in to feel sadness due to the absence of someone.
We only use 'sonje' in this case.

M sonje manman m. - I miss my mother.
M sonje ou. - I miss you
Nou te sonje w anpil pandan absans ou. - We missed you a lot during your absence
Nou sonje w anpil anpil. - We miss you terribly.
Mwen sonje lakay. - I miss home.

And of course you can use 'sonje' to say 'recall/remember'. example:

Mwen sonje jan li te konn ap chante tout tan. 
I remember how she used to sing all the time.

Ou pa sonje m non?
Don't you remember me?

Mwen pa sonje.
I don't recall.

Èske ou te sonje klete pòt la?
Did you remember to lock the door?

Concerning 'manke', we use it to translate to be short of or lack of, or come close to being...

Bis la manke frape m.
The bus almost hit me.

Li manke tonbe.
He almost fell.

Manje a manke sèl.
The food is lacking in salt.

Nou manke pran nan magouy kat kredi sa a.
We almost fell for this credit card scam.




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what is antekre? this is word is nowhere in any kreyol dictionaries I've checked. It was used as "antekre ou manje deja", thanks!

It means I thought or I was under the impression that
Sometimes you see it as ou kwè, ou te kwè, on te kwè

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Hello, this question goes for both gender but could you list some key phrases/words necessary for getting a haircut? Things like "bring the sides all the way down" etc. Thank you!

to get a haircut - taye cheve
baber - kwafè
going to the barber - ale kay kwafè
bring the sides down - raze sou kote yo
sideburns - pafouten
doing the neckline is called fè tyas
you can ask for a blocked neckline and say - fè tyas la kare
You can ask for a rounded neckline and say - fè tyas la won
Shave the beard - taye bab la

COMMENTS:

Sadrak SanmdiJune 27, 2019 at 1:02 AM

E kijan yo rele "receding hair"? Cheve chankre, petet?

Mandaly  June 28, 2019 12:08 says:
Dabitid nou di 'tèt chòv'.
Wi, konn gen moun ki di cheve chankre, fontèn kale, onswa fontèn ayewopò, men, receding hair se definitivman yon tèt k ap chòv :)

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How can I say he's careless in creole?

He's careless - li neglijan

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Hello! I was wondering if you would be willing to translate a letter/poem that I have from a friend. What would be the best way to go about this? I absolutely LOVE your blog and all that you do. It has been such a huge resource for me! Thanks,

Thanks!
Send the poem to my email.

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Mandaly before I ask my question, I wanted to say thank you for your help with the keryol leaflets last month. My Haiti trip would have lacked something without it. Now with the word TOUPISAN, does it go before or after bondye? is it toupisan bondye or bondye toupisan? powerful God?

No problem :)
It's Bondye toupisan all powerful God.

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

Thanks so much for your work to make this website! Mesi anpil! I would like to ask if there are any rules for stress in terms of where the stress falls on individual words or sentences. In other words, if I want to speak more naturally, where should I put the accent when I speak? I haven't listened to much spoken Kreyol yet, so I'm sure I'll learn more as a listen more. Thanks again for you time and work, Lisa

Hi Lisa,
It would be extremely hard to answer this question in just a few lines, as you know each word is different. I would recommend that you find a way to practice what you have learn so far. Though practicing conversations with someone who knows the language well is the best way to achieve fluency, you may start by listening to Haitian radio program, watching Creole TV programs, sitting in in gatherings where Creole is spoken. If you do this, you might find a way to exchange words with peple who speak the langauge. Best of luck :)

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

Bonswa! Eske kek moun ka ekspikem kisa vle di "U fem nan yon lot vi"? Mesi

It means 'you put me in another life'.
It's more like: 'You gave me a new perspective on life'. It's about happpiness.

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

Hello, everyone. I am seeking some information regarding Kanaval (both in Haiti and around the world). Any help would be greatly appreciated:

 Hello, everyone. I am seeking some information regarding Kanaval (both in Haiti and around the world). Any help would be greatly appreciated: 

I recently got into a discussion with a group of people about the history behind carnival (not just in Haiti, but throughout the West Indies). One woman believed that carnival was a Catholic celebration with roots in European history. I was told a different story from a Haitian friend of mine (I am not Haitian). His understanding was that although Catholic figures are portrayed during the celebration, they historically represented figures from Voudou and African traditions, more so as a way for African, Taino, and other indigenous people to disguise their beliefs from their abusers/colonizers and that the suffering that the enslaved had to endure was so taxing physically and mentally that the slave captors allowed one day out of the year for the enslaved to experience freedom.... One day out of the year where the enslaved could drink alcohol, sing, dance naked in the street, anything goes.... So that is the celebration that we know as carnival today. Basically, it is a celebration of freedom. Another woman from the Virgin Islands believed that no slaves were allowed to participate in the street parades until 1838, but did have their own parties in their backyard and have mini carnivals. Then once slavery was abolished they used it as a celebration of freedom.

There is a lot of mixed information out there and I was just wondering if anyone could shed some light on this for me. Mesi anpil!

Mandaly says: In Haiti, it is a little different. One cannot talk about kanaval without mentioning rara which is the true celebration of freedom of expression that continues way into the night after kanaval. In rara, people file the streets after kanaval playing bamboos, cans, tanbou, whistles, the whip, singing, and dancing. It has its roots from the days of slavery that led to the Haitian revolution. Any such gathering was done at night, like the one where Boukman, a slave, a oungan, had the gatherers drink blood and made a pact to revolt.
Kanaval, to me, is about celebrating our culture and music. The tradition I remember as a child, at kanaval time,  was men totally covered in molasses, only wearing dry banana leaves to cover their loins and head, running into the streets every year.

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Tanpri, is there a Haitian proverb that would be the equivalent of this scripture Eklezyas 4:6: “Li pi bon pou yon moun pran yon ti repo olye l plede ap travay di e li kontinye ap kouri dèyè van.”

I can think of 3 proverbs that are within the lines of this verse:

Anvi tout, pèdi tout
Zwazo ki chante pa gra
or even
Anbisyon touye rat

They all could mean that working hard doesn't usually gives you the results hoped for.

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I love your blog!!! How do you say Let's have fun?? An nou gen.........? Mesi

Thank you :)

Let's have fun - An nou pran plezi nou. or Ann anmize nou.

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