Lesson 7: Weather & Outdoors
Dialogue 1
Lesson 07 - Dialogue 1.m4aA: Komen tem-la jòrdi?
B: Li mòyær kouvær; ina bokou nwaj.
A: Li fé fré?
B: Non, li fé bo. T’olé kouri o park?
A: Petèt. Ça senm lapli?
B: Mo pa konné, mé mo krò pa. To pens t’a fonn si to mouyé?
A: Non, shær, mé mo p’olé barbouyé mô nouvo bòt-yé!
B: Byin, kòfær to ashté bòt si yé pe pa marshé dan labou?
A: How is the weather?
B: It’s quite cloudy; there’s a lot of clouds.
A: Is it cold?
B: No, the weather is good. Do you want to go to the park?
A: Maybe. Does it seem like it will rain?
B: I don’t know, I don’t think so. Do you think you’ll melt if you’re wet?
A: No, cher, but I don’t want to get my new boots dirty!
B: Well, why did you buy the boots if they can’t walk in mud?
Dialogue 2
Lesson 07 - Dialogue 2.m4aC: Ki kalité plant yé gin dan lakour?
D: Tou kalité. Ina dê narb, dê flœr, dê zærb, tou kishòj.
C: Moun ka manjé ça?
D: Zen dê plant to ka manjé; no sær féy sasafra pou fé lapoud filé é no mèt ça dan gombo. Li gou bon!
C: What kind of plants do they have in the courtyard?
D: All kinds. There are trees, flowers, grass, everything.
C: Can people eat that?
D: There are plants you can eat; we use sassafras leaves to make filé powder and we put it in gumbo. It tastes good!
Lagniappe
Look at the two different words for ‘can’ used in the dialogues: yé pe pa marshé dan labou / they can’t walk in mud (Dialogue 1); dê plant to ka manjé / plants you can eat (Dialogue 2). These two words pe and ka(pab) can be used interchangeably, usage which differs in different regions. It’s also important to remember how to use these words in the correct order. Check out the different position of pa in these two sentences: to pa ka manjé / you can’t eat, but to pe pa manjé / you can’t eat. Make sure you check the Grammar Sketch section on Verbs to learn more about important little words like these.
Vocabulary
déyòr - outside
Komen tem-la yê? - How’s the weather?
montañ - mountain
pléri - prairie
plènn - plain
sipriyær - swamp, cypress swamp
péyi-ba - forest, swamp, wetland
dibwa - wood, woods
lariviyær - river
narb - tree
zærb - grass
labou - mud
lamær - sea
bayou - bayou
flœr - flower
Soléy-la apé briyé. - The sun is shining.
Lapli apé tombé. - The rain is falling.
Ç’apé mouyé. - It’s raining.
Diven-la apé souflé. - The wind is blowing.
Ina mové tem/gro tem. - There is bad weather.
Tònær apé gronyin. - Thunder is rumbling.
zéklær - lightning
Li fé fré/frèt. - It’s cold.
Li fé sho. - It’s hot.
Li fé bo; Çé bo; Gin bo tem. - The weather is good.
Si tem-la jlé, yé va gin laglas. - If it’s freezing, there will be ice.
kouvær - cloudy
Ina in ta nwaj dan syèl-la. - There’s a lot of clouds in the sky.