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Sunday, January 20, 2013

How I translate this sentences? "You will take the medicine that you have just bought." and "Apparently, a coup d'état would have just occurred in Afghanistan."

You will take the medicine that you have just bought.
Ou va pran medikaman ke ou fèk achte a.

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

Are there words or expression equivalents to these below? BE ABOUT TO BE BOUND TO BE DUE TO BE LIKELY TO BE ON THE EDGE/POINT/VERGE/BRINK/ OF (doing) something BE TO BE IN THE MIDDLE/PROCESS OF BE READY TO BE SOON TO BE NEAR TO

to be close to (to be in the brink of) ?
There are a few Haitian words that can translate that:

Preske (almost, on the verge of, on the brink of)
Pran prekosyon paske kawoutyou machin ou an preske pete.
Be careful because you're about to blow a tire. 

Vanse (almost, about to)
Tann mwen tanpri.  Mwen vanse fini.
Please wait for me. I'm almost done.

Twaka (three-fourth of the way, almost)
Mwen twaka fini ak pwojè la.
We're about to be done with the project .

Prèt pou or Près  pou (on the verge of, ready to)
Detektif yo près pou trape vòlè yo ki te kase bank lan.
The detectives are on the brink of catching the thieves that broke the bank.

Sanlè (on the verge of)
Gras a tout rechèch k'ap fèt yo, syantis yo sanlè jwenn yon gerizon pou maladi sida a.
Thanks to all the researches scientists are on the verge of finding a cure for the AIDS disease.

Bata (a slang for "about to", about to, almost, on the verge) 
Si'w pa't gentan parèt ou pa t'ap jwenn mwen paske mwen te bata soti pou m al nan mache.
If you hadn't shown up when you did you would not have found me because I was about to go to the market.

Manke (almost, close to)
Mwen te tèlman malad, mwen manke mouri.
I was so sick I was on the verge of death.

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Friday, January 18, 2013

How does one translate "As appealing as it sounds, I have to study for my final exam." Emphasis on the first part of the sentence.

Don't try to translate it word for word.
Creole syntax is unique to Creole.

"As appealing as it sounds, I have to study for my final exam." 
Sa enteresan vre, men fò  m al etidye pou egzamen.

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To distinguish between "I like you" and "I love you", do I say "mwen byen renmen ou" or "mwen renmen ou" respectively? I know that "renmen" means both "to like" and "to love".

You say "renmen" for both.
Of course there are other synonyms to renmen, but there's no need to say "Mwen byen renmen w" unless you want to say "I truly love you".

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How to translate "ago"? "He graduated a month ago."

Usually, it's "pase" in Creole.

1. Last year → ane pase
2. last month → mwa pase
3. last week → semèn pase
4. last christmas → Nwèl pase
5. two weeks ago → de semèn pase
6. a month ago → yon mwa pase

7. He graduated a month ago.
    Li te diplome mwa pase.

8. He graduated some time ago.
    Li te diplome kèk tan pase.

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How does one translate "own" as a verb? "The Native Americans own this land."

To own  → gen, genyen, posede, and also se mèt or se propriyetè (to be the owner of)

"The Native Americans own this land."
"Ameriken Endyen yo se pwopriyetè teren sa a."

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What word do you use for simile sentences in Creole. Do you some examples of sentences that they'd use in Creole? Thanks.

You can use tankou, kon, kou

1. Li te tranble kon fèy bwa.
    He was shaking like a leaf.

2. Verite a klè tankou dlo kokoye.
     The truth is clear.

3. Machin nan te chaje kon Leba.
    The car was overcrowded.

4. Li t'ap swe tankou pitit Bouki.
    He was really sweating.

5. Li kanpe drèt tankou ke makak.
     It stood as stiff as a monkey's tail.

6. Li te derape tankou moun fou.
    She took off like a crazy person.

7. fasil kou dlo
   very easy

  1. Can "kouwè" be used in this context as well?
    1. 8.  Li te kriye kouwè yon ti bebeHe cried like a baby
    2. 9. Li t'ap rele kouwè yon chat plenn → She was wailing like a pregnant cat.
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Nanpwen is the same is "pa genyen"?

Nanpwen → there isn't, there aren't

1. Nanpwen montay li pa ka deplase.
    There's no mountain that he cannot move.

2. Wout la bloke.  Nanpwen mwayen pou nou pase.
    The road is blocked.  There's no way to get through.

3. Se li sèl ki tout espwa m.  Nanpwen lòt ankò.
    He's my only hope.  There's no other.

4.  Nanpwen klas jodi a.
     There's no class today.

5.  Nanpwen moun ki ka di ke w pa't eseye.
     No one can say that you didn't try.

6.  Nanpwen bagay mwen pi renmen pi plis pase yon bon fim womantik.
     There's nothing I like better than a good romantic movie.

7. Nanpwen okenn ray tren aktif Ayiti.
    There are no active railroads in Haiti.

8. Nanpwen pye pòm Ayiti. (just an example)
    There are no apple trees in Haiti.

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Best way to say "It doesn't matter" in Haitian Creole.

It doesn't matter.
Sa pa fè anyen.

It doesn't matter to me.
Sa pa fè m anyen.

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Do I use LI or SA to begin "IT happen in the month of November"

I would choose SA over LI.

It happened in the month of November.
Sa te pase nan mwa novanm.

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Thursday, January 17, 2013

is "Sak pa sa" the same as "Sa'k pase"?

Non. The wording is different.
sa'k pa sa (sa ki pa sa)
what is not right.

1.  W'ap fè m di sa'k pa sa.
      You're making me say what's not right.

2. Li te vin nan peyi a pou etidye nan yon inivèsite, men lè li te rive li te tonbe nan fè sa'k pa sa.
    He came to the country to study at a university, but when he got there he fell into a corrupted lifestyle.

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Where does the word pè come from in pè kalòt? why do we say pè?

I don't know where it comes from.  But I had seen it and ...heard it. A man had smashed a poor woman's face between BOTH of his hands with such brutal force that it's a wonder she still had all her teeth.  Maybe they call it that because some people use both of their hands.
Yon pè kalòt, yon kalòt, yon pè sabò, yon sabò, yon palavire, yon souflèt, yon pè souflèt, or yon pataswèl, they're all a slap in the face.

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Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Are 'èn', 'òn', 'àn' alternate forms of 'enn', 'onn', 'ann'? Example, rèn/renn, kòn/konn, kabàn/kabann. What about fe bak? the pronunciation for /a/ in bak seems to similar to the English /æ/ the phonetic symbol for the pronunciation found in 'cat'.

You say "alternate", we say "variants" :)

rèn, larèn, renn, larenn → queen
Pèsòn, pèsonn → person
semèn, semenn, senmenn → week
kounye a, konnye a, kounyela, koulye a → now
fanmi, fanmiy, fami, famiy, lafanmi, → family

Okap says it one way
Jeremi says it another
Gonayiv says "My people say it this way."
Akayè says "I gave birth to the flag. My way must count!"
Grandans says "You gotta hear mine."
But Pòtoprens says, "It's all Creole! I am the capital.  I'll be standard."

When scholars in Haiti finally decide to have a Creole dictionary that will reconcile all these variants, I think it will be an awesome piece of work.  Can't wait for this.
____________
Fè bak - bak after English's back as in back up.
Did Haitians pick that up during the American Occupation?
In Creole should have been fè rekil, fè aryè, rekile

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How is 'wonder' translated? "I wonder what he is doing right now." Also, how to translate 'expect' without using 'tann or atann' but with another verb? "He expects to go on vacation soon."

to wonder (to ponder) → mande tèt ou (to ask yourself)

1. M'ap mande m sa l'ap fè kounye a.
   I wonder what he is doing right now.

2. M'ap mande m eske sa se yon bon lide.
    I wonder if this a good idea.

    
3. Li t'ap mande tèt li kouman l'ap fè soti nan sitiyasyon sa a.
    She was wondering how will she get out of this situation

4. Avèk sitiyasyon ekonomik peyi a, tout moun blije ap mande tèt yo kisa demen va pote pou yo.
    With the country's financial situation, everyone has to wonder what will tomorrow bring for them.

5. Lè n'ap gade sa k'ap pase nan monn nan jodi a, nou mande tèt nou kijan demen va ye?
    When we look at what's happening in the world today, we wonder what the future will be like?

As far as to expect is concerned, you can use espere, konte, prevwa, anvizaje, swete

6. He expects to go on vacation soon.
    Li konte ale an vakans byento
    Li swete ale an vakans nan yon ti tan ankò.
    etc...

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A week ago, I heard my dad say "tèl kòm" instead of "tèl ke". It means "such as" if you didn't know. Is it correct to use it? Is it an alternative for "tèl ke"?

Hey your dad is exercising his right to speak his individual variation of Creole :)
Kreyòl pale, Kreyòl konprann.
I would stick to using tèlke, tankou, , kankou, pa egzanp

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