Haitian Creole

Ki sa li signifye le w di “bay yon moun kou an angle” e ki sa "ou se libate"signifye an angle?

Your second word is selibatè – single

Ou selibatè? (Eske w selibatè?) – Are you single?

Your first word “bay kou” means “to punch, to hit”

1. Bay yon moun kou – to hit someone

2. Li te ban m kou. – He hit me

3. Mwen te ba l kou. – I hit him.

You also use bay kou (actually “bay kout …”) when you strike with any object (tangible or not):

4. Bay kou – to punch, to strike, to hit someone

Li te ban mwen yon kou nan vant. – He hit me in the stomach

5. Bay kout pwen – to strike with the fist

Li ban m yon kout pwen. – She punched me with her fist.

6. Bay kout pye – to kick with the feet

Li ban m yon kout pye. – She kicked me.

7. Bay kout baton – to hit with a club

kout baton – a strike of the club

Polis la bay misye san (100) kout baton.- The police officer hit the man with the club 100 times

8. Bay kout sentiwon – to hit with the belt

kout sentiwon – strike of the belt

Papa m ban mwen 15 kout sentiwon. – My father hit me with the belt 15 times.

9. Bay kout dan(or mòde) – to bite

yon kout dan– a bite

Chen an te bay pitit la yon kout dan. The dog bit the child.

Mesye a bay pòm la yon gwo kout dan enpi tout dan l tonbe. – The man took a big bite out of the apple and all his teeth fell out.

10. Bay kout kouto – to stab with a knife

11. Kout manchèt – to stab with a machete

12. Kout chèz – to hit with the chair

13. Kout sandal – to hit with sandals

Etc….

14. Kout tèt is different. This expression means a "repeated bump of the head when one’s trying to fall asleep, especially if they are sitting down."

Bay kout tèt – to bump one’s head repeatedly a a result of falling asleep

Pandan misyonè a t’ap bay mesaj la tout moun ta ri paske

yo te kapab wè pastè legliz t’ap bay kout tèt sou chè a.-

While the missionary was delivering the sermon everyone was

laughing because they could see the church pastor falling asleep

on the pulpit.

Li te sipoze etidye, men se kout tèt l’ap bay sou biwo li. - He was supposed to study, but he’s falling asleep at his desk.

15. Bay kout men – to assist, to support, to sponsor

Kout men – assistance, help

Ban’m yon kout men tanpri. – help me please

Ban’m yon kout men ak valiz la. Li lou anpil. – Help me with the bag. It’s heavy.

16. Kout lang – malicious gossip

Menm si yo ba w kout lang pa okipe yo. Kwè nan tèt ou. Pa kite sa yo di deranje w. - Even if they spread malicious gossip about you don’t worry about it. Believe in yourself. Don’t let what they say about you get to you.

17. Kout pitit – when a women try to pass another man’s child as the child of a man she’s already with.

Pitit sa a pa sanble avè w ditou. Sanble madanm ou ba w yon kout pitit.- This child does not look like you at all. Your wife lied to you.

18. Kout je - a scornful look

Lè fanm nan te antre nan legliz la tout moun t’ap koupe l kout je. Kongregasyon an te bliye ke yo menm tou yo se pechè. - When the woman entered the church everyone was looking down at her. The congregation had forgotten that they also are sinners.

19. Kout entelijan (or Kou entelijan) – to outsmart someone

Machann nan fè yon kou entelijan ak touris la. Misye vann fanm nan yon fo tablo pou anpil lajan.- The seller tricked the tourist. He sold her a fake painting for a lot of money.

20. Kout pa konprann – to pretend to be naïve about something

Pa vin ban’m okenn kout pa konprann la a. Ou konnen trè byen sa k’ap pase. - Don’t play dumb with me you know very well what’s going on?

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

Bonjou, my wife is asking, what can be the opposite of "pa gendwa"---"it is good when you do that"--- for our granddaughter. Mesi

You may use "gen dwa" or "mèt (don’t use with negatives)"

gen dwa - may, to be allowed, to be permitted
pa gen dwa - may not, to not be allowed, to not be permitted
mèt - may, to be allowed, to be permitted
Do not use "pa" after "mèt" for these instances. There are circumstances where you can use "pa" after "mèt", but this is not one of them.

Here are some examples:

1. Ou gen dwa vini si w vle. – You may come if you want.

2. Nou gen dwa fè sa n vle. – You may do as you please.

3. Ou mèt vini. – you may come.

4. Nou mèt manje kounye a. - You may eat now.

5. Ou mèt jwe ak jwèt ou yo lè'w fin fè devwa w. - You may play with your toys when
you've done your homework.

6. Ou mèt rele'm vin chache w lè klas ou fini. - You may call me to pick you up when your class is over.

7. Ou mèt antre. – you may enter. You may come in

But you would say

8. Ou pa gen dwa antre – You may not come in.

9. Ou mèt ale. – You may go.

But you would say

10. Ou pa gen dwa ale nan sinema avèk vagabond sa a. – You may not go to the movies with this jerk.

11. Ou mèt ale nan kizin nan men ou pa gen dwa antre nan chanm mwen, se refij prive m.

You may go into the kitchen but you may not go in my room, that’s my private refuge.

You may use “gen dwa” like this:

12. M gen dwa pa’t wè l.

I may not have seen it.

13. Li pale avè w men li gen dwa pa renmen w.

She talks to you but she may not like ou.

In this example, do not put “pa” after “gen dwa”. If you do the meaning of the sentence would change

14. Li di w li renmen w, men li gen dwa pa di l nan fason ou panse a.

She says she likes you but she may not mean it in the way you think.

15. Li gen dwa te di sa kòm zanmi.

She may have said it in friendship.

16. Nou gen kèk tan nou pa wè l. Li gen dwa te kite peyi a. Li gen dwa te marye. Li gen dwa pa nan kad nou. Oubyen li menm gen dwa mouri.

We haven’t seen her in some time. She may have left the country. She may have gotten married. She may not want to have anything to do with us. Or she may even be dead.

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

alez alez???

Alèz – laid back, at ease, comfortable

Mete w alèz.

Relax

Loosen up

Take it easy

Make yourself at home

Tanpri mete w alèz avè l.

Please ease up on him.

M mete m alèz.

I’m laid back.

I loosened up.

Li te mete l alèz.

He kicked back and relaxed

Ayisyen renmen etranje ki mete yo alèz ak tout kalite moun.

Haitians love foreigners who are comfortable with all types of people.

Expression: alèz kou Blèz ki chita sou chèz san pinèz – to be contented, pleased, very comfortable, well-off, on cloud nine

Misye genyen nan lotri a, kounye a li alèz kou Blèz ki chita sou chèz san pinèz.

He won the lottery now he's on cloud nine.

M te mete m alèz avè l, m pa konn poukisa li pa’t alèz avè m.

I was at ease with him I do not know why he was uneasy with me.

Eske w alèz? – Are you comfortable?

Wi m' alèz mèsi.

Yes I'm comfortable thanks.

Your other question:

Franchman – Frankly

Franchman ou fè m fache.

Pou di w laverite ou fè m fache.

To tell you the truth you make me mad

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In a text I saw the following sentence: Ou te ka konte .......

In a text I saw the following sentence:

Ou te ka konte sou li san onz

wa (san n pa bliye wa nan peyi Afrik yo)

this shows that in some case, when there is a sentence with san there is also a negation pa in it.

I would like to understand when you can have the negation pa in a sentence that start with san and when you do not have it.

Also, is it possible to put the past te in the above sentence ?? like below ?

Ou te ka konte sou li san onz

wa (san n pa TE bliye wa nan peyi Afrik yo)

Can you say

Fok nou pati san n pa fè brui

Fok nou te pati san n pat fè brui

Mèsi anpil

Does the sentence have to start with “san”?

I guess you can say WHAT WILL HAPPEN with the “lack of….”. Example:

San ou mwen pèdi.

Mwen pèdi san ou.

I’m lost without you.

San tretman doktè mwen ta gentan mouri.

Mwen ta gentan mouri san tretman doktè.

I would have already died without medical treatment.

Or you could say WHAT WILL NOT HAPPEN with the “lack of…..”

San ou mwen pa konn sa m ta fè.

Mwen pa konn sa m ta fè san ou.

I don’t know what I would do without you.

San lalwa pa gen la libète.

Pa gen libète san lalwa.

“Without laws there’s no freedom”

Here’s how I would translate the last two sentences:

Fok nou pati san n pa fè brui. – We should leave without making noise

Fok nou te pati san n pa’t fè brui. – We should have left without making any noise

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

I am familiar with 'mouri' (to die), but I am unfamiliar with 'al bwachat'. Could you give me a bit more information on this expression (i.e. its etymology)?

I am not 100% sure.

Other than Al bwachat or al bwa chat and mouri, other commonly used Creole expression for “to die” are:

trepase

Li trepase a minwi tapan. – He died at the stroke of midnight.

Mezanmi! Ede'm. M'ap trepase. - Help me, I'm dying.

ale nan Peyi san chapo

Manman nou kite n. L’al nan peyi san chapo. – Our mom has left us. She died.

fè vwèl pou peyi san chapo

Kamyon an frape misye, li voye l al fè vwèl pou peyi san chapo. – The truck hit him and sent him to his death

kase kòd

Kon minwi sonnen beng malad la kase kòd. - At the stroke of midnight, he kicked the bucket.

rann dènye souf – to give one’s last breath

Li rann dènye souf li. – He gave his last breath

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

This Creole expression (I don’t exactly know how to write it, but I did get the exact translation), it says “he died for his eyes or for one’s eyes”. Do you know the meaning?

Is it “Li mouri pou pwòp je l” or “Li mouri pou je l”? If yes, then it means that He/she died in vain.

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

Bwa ki nan main ou se ave l ou pouse chien. What’s the meaning please?

This expression basically means to “use your own resources/knowledge/ skills to your benefit” or “use what’s you got to get what you want”

You’ll hear different version of the same expression depending on the circumstances:

Here are some of them with literal tanslation:

Baton ki nan men w se avè l ou pouse chen. - The rod that’s in your hand you use it to push dogs away

Bwa ki nan men w se ak li ou pouse chen. - The wood that’s in your hand you use it to push dogs away

Baton ki nan men w se ak li ou pare kou. - The rod in your hand you use it to block a punch

Baton ki nan men se ak li ou bay kou. - The rod in your hand you use it to beat (someone)

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

What does this saying mean: "Pa kite double six mouri nan main'w?"

This expression means

Doubsis – doube-six

Doubsis mouri nan men (yon moun).

(Someone) whose youth is past.

It’s become too late for (someone) to marry.

Pa kite doubsis mouri nan men w.

Don’t let time pass until it’s too late to marry.

Don’t become an old maid.

Doubsis ap mouri nan men w.

You’ll become an old maid.

Pitit fi Papouch la ap fè enteresant, li pa vle marye ak Ayisyen. Li panse l twò bon pou nèg peyi l. Lò doubsis mouri nan men l li va mary nenpòt avadra.

Papouch’s daughter is being cocky she doesn’t want to marry a Haitian. She thinks she’s too good for a man from her country. Once it becomes too late for her to marry, she’ll take any vagabond.

Another similar expression is "Fè dan zòrèy" which literally means "to grow wisdom tooth". It can be translated as "being no spring chicken"

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

M’ap aprann kreyòl men m pa pale byen. Eske m di sa kòrèk?

Wi, ou di l byen e ou ekri l byen tou :)
Kontinye konsa enpi kenbe la

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

Creole approximation of "touchy-feely"?

Touchy-feely - siseptib, sansib alagachet

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

Ending a letter in Haitian Creole

Mandaly!!

Ki kote ou ye? M'espere tout bagay anfòm. Nou sonje ou anpil la!

Enben, si ou te ale an vakans, bon vwayaj! (:

(O.o, Kijan ou fèmen yon lèt?)

Bondye beni ou,

Mwen la.

Tout bagay anfòm grasadye.

Mwen t’ap fatige tèt mwen ap fè anpil monte desann, ap travay, ap vwayaje tou. Eskize m, mwen te neglije blòg la pou yon moman. Mwen retounen lakay mwen kounye a. Mwen mennen tèt mwen ba w (I’m all yours).

Bondye beni ou tou.

********************

Lè ou fin ekri yon lèt ou kapab ekri:

At the end of a letter you may write:

Sensèman… or Avèk senserite - Sincerely

Avèk tout senserite – Sincerely yours

Avèk respè … Respectfully

Avèk tout respè – Respectfully yours

Mèsi davans – Thanks in advance

Avèk lanmou … With love

Souwè or Tout souwè - Best regards

Tout bon souwè – Wishing you the best

Mwen pa ka tann pou m rankontre w - I am looking forward to meeting you

M’espere tande w byento – I hope to hear from you soon

Anpil lanmou – Lots of love

Anpil beze – Lots of kisses

Anpil mèsi – Many thanks

A la pwochèn - Until next time

Zanmi ou - Your friend

Pi bon zanmi ou – Your best friend

Pran swen tèt ou – Take care, Be well, Take care of yourself

Fè miyò – Be well

Kenbe la - Hang in there

Na wè byento – See you soon

Akolad – Hugs

Yon salitasyon pou tout moun – Greetings to all

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

What is "He's taken my sins away" in creole?

He’s taken my sins away. – Li retire peche m yo.

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What does "helas!" mean?

Helas! - Alas!

(Exclamation that expresses sadness or disappointment)

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Ki sa "Gendwa"?

Gen dwa – to be able, to be entitled, to have the right to, to be allowed

1. Ou gen dwa manje nenpòt sa w vle. – You may eat whatever you want.

2. Nou pa gen dwa jije moun senpleman sou aparans yo. – You should not judge people solely on their appearance.

3. Ou pa gen dwa fè sa. – You should not do that.

4. Konstitisyon peyi a di tout moun se moun, yo gen dwa pou yo viv lib. – The country’s constitution says that everyone is human, they have the right to live free.

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

I'm reading through the creole songs in Chants D'esperance which seem to use an older style spelling. I can still recognize most of the words but I'm stuck on gnou - such as in "Gnou jou avan kouche soley." Also, are the last two words reversed from their normal order?

Gnou, youn, or yon – indefinite article a, an

Gnou jou – one day

To answer your question, no it’s not reversed. It’s the possessive being used here.

kouche /solèy / la

setting / sun / the

the setting of the sun

gnou / jou / avan / kouche / solèy

a / day / before / laying / sun

one day before the setting of the sun

one day before sunset

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

What are words for "sprain" or "wramp" as a noun and as a verb?.................

sprain - fouli, foulay, antòch

to sprain (to twist) – foule, dejwente

egzanp:

M foule pye m antan m t’ap monte mòn nan.

Oubyen

M te pran yon foulay antan m t’ap monte mòn nan.

for a shoulder strain you'll also use depole or dekloke

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

what is wap ban bouden?

W’ap ban m bouden

You’re misleading me.

Bay bouden – to deceive, to double cross

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apparently and impact in kreyol, also what does fouti mean?

apparently - aparamman

impact – efè, enpresyon, chòk

fouti – to be able (used in negative sentences)

such as:

M pa fouti konprann sa misye ap di la.

I can’t understand what he’s saying.

M telman fatige lò m fin travay, yon fwa m met tèt nan kabann m pa fouti leve jouk li maten. – I’m so tired after work that once I go to bed I can’t get up till it’s morning.

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

how do you say: ......

I meant to come get you but I forgot. – M te fin pare pou m vin chache w, men m vin bliye.

This means a lot to me. – Sa konsekan pou mwen.

you can use the word konsekan or enpòtan

What do you mean? – Kisa ou vle di?

Basically - esansyèlman

steering wheel - volan

seat belt – senti sekirite

bald - chòv

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labapen? and what's that saying, it goes something like gason se labapen.....

labapen - Artocarpus camansi fruits, look like chesnuts.

I thought it was women that were given the name labapen …once they’re ripe, they fall from the tree.

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

How do you say "any of you" in Creole?

Any of you – nenpòt nan nou, nenpòt kilès nan nou, nenpòt moun nan nou

It can happen to any one of you. – Sa ka rive nenpòt kilès nan nou.

Any of you, anyone of you – youn nan nou

Does anyone of you know what time it is?

Eske gen youn nan nou k’ konnen ki lè li ye?

None of you – okenn nan nou

They were all sitting at the church’s doorway, yet none of them noticed that the door was removed.

Yo tout te chita nan papòt legliz la, poutan ankenn nan yo pa’t remake ke yo te retire pòt la.

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

How do you say "bear" in Haitian Creole? As in, "teddy bear?" Or the animal in general? I want to say, "My Haitian Bear," "My Island Bear," etc...as terms of endearment. Mesi.

Teddy bear – nounous, ti nounous

A teddy bear – yon nounous

A bear (animal) – lous

Terms of endearment: chouchou, cheri, toutou, koukout, cheri koukout, etc….

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

what is the meaning of: sa je pa we, ke pa tounen?

Literally, what the eyes do not see cannot gross you out.

You cannot be repulsed by what you don’t see.

The fast food restaurant employee did not wash her hands after using the restroom. Hey, if you do not know that you’ll trustingly eat the sandwich that she just prepared with her bare hands for you :)

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

n’ava al bwè yon ti kafe ansanm. Can you please explain "n’ava al bwè" in detail ? kamsa hamnida

N’ava al bwè yon ti kafe ansanm

N’ava (future marker) or Nou va

Al (contraction for “ale”)

Nou va ale bwè yon ti kafe ansanm.

We will go drink some coffee together.

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

Hello, First of all I'd like to say Thank you for everything you do. I am in CA and you can't find ANY creole courses. My husband is from Haiti and we have a 7 month old son. My husband works a lot so he doesn't have the time to sit and teach me phrases. So Can you teach me a few things to say to my son? "come here baby", "mommy loves you" and some others maybe you can think of.

Thank you.

The few phrases that I can give you might be useful for a limited amount of time as your interaction with your son expands.

If you are looking for HC phrases that you’ll use with your son eventually the list can get quite long. If you want to go that route then get a big notebook, make note of those phrases as they come to mind, when your husband comes home from work he should be able to help you with some of them at least – and he can be there to help you with articulation. You can email some of the sentences in your list and I’ll help you as I can.

If you do a few phrases every day, you’ll filled many notebooks within a month time. There are also some Haitian Creole materials you can obtain online from Amazon, Educavision, Barnes and Nobles, etc… that might be helpful with speech and pronunciation.

Come to me – Vin jwenn mwen

Come here! – Vin isit!

Come to mommy – Vin jwenn manmi

Mommy loves you – Manman w renmen w.

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

How do you say, "In tracing my bloodline origins, I've found that I have SO MANY FLAGS to wave!"?

Do you mean “flag waving” as in being patriotic?

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

What does frè mean when describing a person? I was told cool or interesting?

As an adjective, yes, it would mean cool or fresh-faced

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Bonjou! I wanted to ask about the North Haitian Creole dialect and the way it is spoken differently than in Pòtòprens. What are a variety of words or spellings of words that are used and written that are different from the standard Haitian Creole dialect that is written and spoken in Pòtòprens, the capital? I heard that instead of "Li pral wè w avèk mamit la", the northerners would write or say "i pray vwa w ake kanistè a"? What are some words to say or write in the North Haitian Creole dialect?

First and foremost they have a different accent.

Yes, they do say vwa instead of wè, ake instead of avèk, avè or ak, kanistè instead of manmit, and “i” instead of “li”, and pray instead of pral

Other different terms they use (that I can tnk of):.

They might say kòk instead of kokoye

They say kawo, we say fè (fèarepase);

They say kinan for possessive

they say twade we say wayal

They say kwoke when talking about sexual intercourse

They say dite we say te

They usually say fèrenk instead of fèk

They will say “y” when using the contracted third person object pronoun “l”.

They might also say chapitè when talking about yon oungan

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

I just read your interpretation of a proverb. Since you’re on the subject how would interpret this Haitian proverb? Kout machet nan dlo pa gen mak.

“Kou manchèt nan dlo pa kite mak?”, it means “when a man sleeps with a woman, he leaves no trace”

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

Mandaly. I have 2 questions pertaining to the same subject. Nan fraz yo: "Ou ka achte yon jilet aswe a." ak "Ou pa ka achte jilet aswe a." Is it right that in negative statements you do not use "yon"; if so, is it all the time in this manner for correct Kreyol? My other question is: "M pa ka." ak "Ou pa ka."; I thought you could not use a contracted form at the end of a sentence. Or, is this an exception to the rule in proper Kreyol? I realize that there are grammatical exceptions (if this is the case), but I do not want to sound like a hillbilly speaking Kreyol. Mesi anpil.

Answer to the first question:

No. Using “yon” or not will have to depend on whether you’re talking about non-specific nouns and how many of these “non-specific” nouns you’re referring to or are you using a general term for them.

You can actually say “M pa’t ka menm achte yon grenn jilèt aswè a“. – I could not even buy one single blade tonight.

Other examples:

M pa gen yon dola sou mwen. – I don’t have a dollar on me.

Pa gen yon kretyen vivan nan lari a aswè a. – There’s not a single soul in the street tonight.

M konnen se yon papiyon ou wè lè w gade imaj la. Mwen menm m pa wè yon papiyon, se yon fèy mwen wè. – I know you see a butterfly when you look at the image. As for me I don’t see a butterfly, I see a leaf.

So you ARE able to use “yon” in negative sentences.

And you will not use “yon” if you’re using a non-specific noun in general term or if it’s plural, etc....

For example.

M pa bezwen jilèt. - I don't need blades.

M pa wè moun deyò a. - I don't see anyone outside

Nou gen kola pou tout moun. - We have sodas for everyone

Answer to the second question.

You are right. You should say “M pa kapab” instead.

"kapab" will go at the end of the sentence instead of "ka".

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

Chwal ki gen dis mèt mouri nan poto meaning plzz

Chwal ki gen dis mèt mouri nan poto “The horse which has ten masters dies at the hitching post” – A task with too many “handlers” gets neglected.

Basically, delegate specific people to do specific tasks and the task will get done, or at least you’ll know who to blame if it’s not done.

This makes me think of another Haitian Creole proverb. It deals with task delegation also: Si tout moun a cheval ki moun ki va fèmen baryè? “If everyone is on a horse, who will close the gate?”

Basically, everyone wants to be riding the horse but whose job is it to close the gate after all the horses have passed through?

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

Question: Can you explain to me what "kob sol" is?

Kòb – money

Sòl – a short-term money saving method among a group of people

Money used to pay “sòl”.

Sòl is a short-term money saving method that a group of friends use.

Each person in the group contributes a predetermined amount of money at a specified time. The money will go to one person in the group each time it’s collected until everyone has received their “hand” (yon men).

So, a group of 10 people makes a payment of $500.00 on the 1^st of every month –each person will take turn receiving a payment of $5000.00 on the 1^st of every month until everyone is paid. At that point, the group will most likely start the “sòl” over. As you can imagine, the first person that gets paid is usually the neediest person and the last payment will be a receipt of a nice $5000.00 saving.

It’s helpful when people who do not have access to banks do it (in Haiti). Some Haitians do it even when they have access to banks because they know the money will not be available to them until a specified time. It works for them if they’re trying to build a small saving or if it’s dangerous to go to the bank (as it can be in Haiti) when crooks, hiding in every corner, watch your comings and goings from the bank.

Many Haitians from all over the US do it, Africans too (They have another name for it). Mostly women do it. Some use it as a way to keep their spouse from spending their money too :)

Sometimes a friend may invite you to participate in a sòl. They try to gather a lot of people because large groups yield large payments, but it can be a gamble if you don’t know the people you’re dealing with.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Question: Can you explain to me what "kob sol" is?...":

If I’m in a sol that has 31 ppl at $400 a month someone gets pay every 3 weeks . I’m the last person to get pay how much money should I be receiving ?

Mandaly says:
Oh man! a sòl. Tèt chaje!
Next time save in the bank. Isn't it more secure?
What if something happen to one of the participant, how will yo ensure that you get your money?
The payments should not be made every month, it should be made every three weeks when someone gets their hand.

Well, if you are the last person, you should be receiving 31 payments (from 31 people), which includes 1 payment from YOURSELF. That's 30 x 400 = $12,000. And if you chose to bring your last payment TO YOURSELF, it should be 12, 400.

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