Haitian Creole Phrasebook - Wikitravel

Haitian Creole (kreyòl ayisyen) is the one of the official languages of Haiti along with French and is spoken by by 8.5 million people in Haiti, which is nearly the entire population. It is also spoken by large Haitian communities in several nearby countries, among them the Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Cuba, French Guiana, and the United States. It is based on 18th century French and several West and Central African languages with minor Spanish influence. Much of Hatian Creole grammar is based on French, although it differs greatly from standard French because of the lack of grammatical gender and verb inflection.

Contents

• 1 Pronunciation guide
  • 1.1 Vowels
  • 1.2 Consonants
  • 1.3 Common diphthongs
• 2 Phrase list
  • 2.1 Basics
  • 2.2 Problems
  • 2.3 Numbers
  • 2.4 Time
    • 2.4.1 Clock time
    • 2.4.2 Duration
    • 2.4.3 Days
    • 2.4.4 Months
    • 2.4.5 Writing time and date
  • 2.5 Colors
  • 2.6 Transportation
    • 2.6.1 Bus and train
    • 2.6.2 Directions
    • 2.6.3 Taxi
  • 2.7 Lodging
  • 2.8 Money
  • 2.9 Eating
  • 2.10 Bars
  • 2.11 Shopping
  • 2.12 Driving
  • 2.13 Authority

Pronunciation guide[edit]

Creole pronunciation is very phonetic. If you can make friends with a Haitian who speaks English, they will usually be glad to help with your pronunciation.

Vowels[edit]

e /a/ as in aim è /ɛ/ as in leg ou /u/ as in food i /e/ as in bee o /o/ as in toe ò as in saw

Consonants[edit]

g always hard, as in go j /ʒ/ as in azure y /j/ as in yellow

Common diphthongs[edit]

ou sounded like the ue in blue

Phrase list[edit]

Basics[edit]

Hello. (morning) Bonjou. Hello. (afternoon) Bonswa. How are you? Koman ou yé? Not bad. Pa pi mal. What is your name? Koman ou rélé? My name is ______ . Mwen rélé ______ . I am called (They call me) _____. Yo rélé m _____. Nice to meet you. (quick) Enchanté. Nice to meet you. (more formal) Enchanté fè konnesans ou. Please. Souplé. Thank you. Mèsi. Thank you very much. Mèsi anpil. You're welcome. Pa de kwa. Yes. Wi. No. Non. Excuse me. (getting attention) Eskise'm. Excuse me. (begging pardon) Pâdone'm. I'm sorry. Dezole. Goodbye Bye Bye. I can't speak kreyol. Mwen pa kap palé kreyol. Do you speak English/French? Eske ou palé anglé/fransé? Who speaks English here? Ki moun isit ki palé anglé? Is there someone here who speaks English? Gen moun isit ki palé Anglé? What do they call that in Creole? Koman yo rélé sa an kreyol? How do they say _____ in Creole? Koman yo di _____ an kreyol? Help! Anmwe! Help me! Edé mwen! Look out! Atensyon! Good morning. Bonjou. Good evening. Bonswa. Good night. Bon nwit. I don't understand. Mwen pa konprann. Do you understand? Ou konprann? What's the matter? Sa k'genyen? What's happening? Sa k' pasé? What must we do? Kisa pi nou fè? Have you seen _____ ? Eske ou té wè _____ ? What do you need? Kisa ou bezwen?

Interogatives:

Where? Ki koté? (in informal conversation the 'Ko' is often omitted... Koté) When? Ki lè? Who? Kilès? What? Kisa? Why Pou kisa? How Koman?

Non-interrogatives:

Where (That is where he stopped) Kote (Se kote li rete) When (When he read... ) Lè (lè li li...) Who (It is he who...) Ki (Se li ki...) Why (That is the reason why) Resan (Sa se resan an) How (This is how we do that) Jan (Sa se jan nou fe sa) Where is the toilet? Kote twalet la ye? ( ?) Where is the store? Kote magazin ye? Where are you? Ki kote ou ye? Where is/are (the) _____ ? Ki kote ____ou_ (la) ye?

Problems[edit]

Numbers[edit]

0 zewo 1 yon 2 de 3 twa 4 kat 5 senk 6 sis 7 sèt 8 wit 9 nèf 10 dis 11 onz 12 douz 13 trèz 14 katòz 15 kenz 16 sèz 17 disèt 18 dizwit 19 diznèf 20 ven, vent 30 trant 40 karant 50 senkant 60 swasant 70 swasenndis 80 katreven, katrevent 90 katrevendis, katreven-dis 100 san 1000 mil 2000 de mil 5000 senk mil 10,000 di mil 100,000 san mil 1 000 000 milyon 1 000 000 000 bilyon

Time[edit]

Clock time[edit]

What time is it? Ki le li ye? It is one o'clock. Li inè. It is two o'clock. Li dezè. It is three o'clock. Li twazè. It is four o'clock. Li katrè. It is five o'clock. Li sankè.

...

Duration[edit]

How long? Pou konben tan? Now. Kounye a. Soon. Tale Later. Pita. This morning. Maten a. This afternoon. Apremidi a This evening. Aswe a.

Days[edit]

Sunday dimanch Monday lendi Tuesday madi Wednesday mèkredi Thursday jèdi Friday vandredi Saturday samdi Today jodi a Tomorrow demen Yesterday yè

Months[edit]

January Janvye February Fevriye March Mas April Avril May Mè June Jen July Jiyè August Daou September Septanm October Oktob November Novanm December Desanm

Writing time and date[edit]

Colors[edit]

black nwa white blan red wouj orange zoranj yellow jòn green vèt blue ble purple mov brown mawon

Transportation[edit]

Bus and train[edit]

How much is a ticket? Konbyen biye a koute? Does this bus stop in _____ ? Eske bus sa rete _____ ? Can you stop here? Ou ka rete la?

Directions[edit]

Where are we? Ki kote nou ye? Kote nou ye? Where am I? Ki kote mwen ye? Kote m ye? I'm lost. Mwen pèdi. How do I get to _____ ? Koumon mwen pou mwen rive _____ ? Which way? Ki wout? Ki kote?

Taxi[edit]

I need a taxi. Mwen bezwen yon taksi. Hey! Taxi! Epps! Taksi! How much to go to ... Konbyen pou ale ... Stop here, please Rete la, souple.

Lodging[edit]

Money[edit]

How much does it cost? Konbyen sa koute? How much is this? Konbyen sa a? Can I exchange euros/dollars/pounds here? Mwen pve chanje ewo/dolar/lib si? Do you have any money? (Eske) ou gen kob? I do not have any money. M pa gen kob.

Eating[edit]

I'm hungry. Mwen grangou. I am thirsty. (very thirsty) Mwen swaf. (swaf anpil) We would like to eat. Nou ta vle manje. I cannot eat (beef, eggs, peanut butter). M pa ka manje (vyan, ze, manba). Avocado Zaboka Banana Fig Fig Fig Franse Orange Zoranj Apple Pom Potato Pom de tè Chicken Poul Fish Pwason Rice Diri Rice and Beans Diri ak Pwa Juice Ji Orange Juice Ji zoranj Coffee Kafe Milk Let Water Dlo Purified water Dlo kiligen

Bars[edit]

Shopping[edit]

Do you sell _____ ? Èske ou vann _____ ? Where can I buy _____ ? Kote mwen ka achte _____ ? That's too expensive. Se twò chè. I will give you _____ . Si mwen ba ou _____ . OK! Dakò! Give me two dollars, please. (three goudes) Souple, Ban mwen de dola. (twa goud) I will give you five dollars for that. M ba ou sank dola pou sa a.

Driving[edit]

I am driving M ap kondwi

Authority[edit]

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