100 Essential Haitian Creole Words
These are 100 essential Haitian Creole words, curated for learners: the pronouns, verbs, and everyday nouns that unlock simple sentences. Core-first learning works: a small set of essential words does most of the work in daily speech, so mastering this list with spaced repetition gives you the fastest possible start.
| # | Word | Pronunciation | English meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | mwen | mwen | I |
| 2 | ou | oo | you |
| 3 | li | lee | he |
| 4 | nou | noo | we |
| 5 | yo | yoh | they |
| 6 | sa | sah | this |
| 7 | ki | kee | which |
| 8 | kisa | kee-sah | what |
| 9 | kiyès | kee-yes | who |
| 10 | pa | pah | not (negation) |
| 11 | ak | ahk | with |
| 12 | oswa | oh-swah | or |
| 13 | men | men | but |
| 14 | nan | nahn | in |
| 15 | pou | poo | for |
| 16 | yon | yohn | one |
| 17 | de | deh | two |
| 18 | gwo | gwoh | large |
| 19 | piti | pee-tee | small |
| 20 | bon | bohn | good |
| 21 | nouvo | noo-voh | new |
| 22 | moun | moon | person |
| 23 | dlo | dloh | water |
| 24 | jou | zhoo | day |
| 25 | ane | ah-neh | year |
| 26 | tan | tahn | time |
| 27 | kay | kahy | house |
| 28 | travay | trah-vahy | work |
| 29 | lavi | lah-vee | life |
| 30 | mo | moh | word |
| 31 | se | seh | be |
| 32 | gen | gen | have |
| 33 | fè | feh | do |
| 34 | di | dee | say |
| 35 | konnen | kohn-nen | know |
| 36 | wè | weh | see |
| 37 | ale | ah-leh | go |
| 38 | vini | vee-nee | come |
| 39 | bay | bahy | give |
| 40 | pran | prahn | take |
| 41 | vle | vleh | want |
| 42 | manje | mahn-zheh | eat |
| 43 | bwè | bweh | drink |
| 44 | jodi | zhoh-dee | today |
| 45 | isit | ee-seet | here |
| 46 | laba | lah-bah | there |
| 47 | kote | koh-teh | where |
| 48 | poukisa | poo-kee-sah | why |
| 49 | tout | toot | all |
| 50 | anpil | ahn-peel | many |
| 51 | long | lohn | long (great length) |
| 52 | montre | mohn-treh | show, display |
| 53 | bagay | bah-gahy | thing, object |
| 54 | chak | shahk | every, each one |
| 55 | anba | ahn-bah | under, below |
| 56 | trè | treh | very, to a high degree |
| 57 | panse | pahn-seh | think |
| 58 | gade | gah-deh | look, watch |
| 59 | plis | plees | more, a greater amount |
| 60 | ede | eh-deh | help |
| 61 | kapab | kah-pahb | can, to be able to |
| 62 | liy | leey | line (long thin mark; row) |
| 63 | anvan | ahn-vahn | before, earlier than |
| 64 | menm | menm | same, identical |
| 65 | diferan | dee-feh-rahn | different, not the same |
| 66 | son | sohn | sound, noise |
| 67 | non | nohn | no (opposite of yes) |
| 68 | pifò | pee-foh | most, the majority |
| 69 | nimewo | nee-meh-woh | number (numeric quantity) |
| 70 | dwat | dwaht | right (direction, opposite of left) |
| 71 | anwo | ahn-woh | over, above |
| 72 | vye | vyeh | old (worn; aged) |
| 73 | tou | too | also, too |
| 74 | pase | pah-seh | than (comparison) |
| 75 | rele | reh-leh | call (summon; be named) |
| 76 | premye | prem-yeh | first (ordinal 1st) |
| 77 | fraz | frahz | sentence (grammatical unit) |
| 78 | twa | twah | the number 3 |
| 79 | desann | deh-sahn | down (to go down) |
| 80 | bò | boh | side (left/right side) |
| 81 | lè | leh | air (what we breathe) |
| 82 | kounye a | koon-yeh ah | now, at this moment |
| 83 | jwenn | zhwen | find, discover |
| 84 | nenpòt | nen-poht | any (no matter which) |
| 85 | jwe | zhweh | play (games; music) |
| 86 | fen | fen | end, final part |
| 87 | pati | pah-tee | part, portion |
| 88 | mete | meh-teh | put, place |
| 89 | lakay | lah-kahy | home (where one lives) |
| 90 | plas | plahs | place, location |
| 91 | deplase | deh-plah-seh | move (relocate) |
| 92 | viv | veev | live (be alive) |
| 93 | tè | teh | land, earth |
| 94 | apre | ah-preh | after, following |
| 95 | tounen | too-nen | back (to return) |
| 96 | ti kras | tee krahs | a little, a small amount |
| 97 | sèlman | sehl-mahn | only, no more than |
| 98 | wonn | wohn | round, circular |
| 99 | nonm | nohnm | man, adult male |
| 100 | dwe | dweh | must, to have to |
Curated for learners: Haitian Creole has no reliable public frequency corpus, so this list is ordered by usefulness, not by measured frequency. Pronunciation is a respelling guide, not phonetic notation.
Haitian Creole belongs to the French-based creole family - if you enjoy it, a natural next step is French.
Useful phrases in Haitian Creole
- Bonjou · bon-ZHOO · Hello / Good day
- Kòman ou ye? · KAW-man oo yeh · How are you?
- Mèsi · MEH-see · Thank you
- Souple · soo-PLEH · Please
- Mwen rele... · mwen REH-leh · My name is...
- Kote... ye? · KO-teh ... yeh · Where is...?
- Orevwa · o-reh-VWAH · Goodbye
- Eskize m · es-kee-ZEH m · Excuse me
- Mwen pa konprann · mwen pah kon-PRAHN · I don't understand
- Èske ou ka ede m? · ES-keh oo kah eh-DEH m · Can you help me?
- Konbyen li ye? · kon-BYEN lee yeh · How much is it?
- N a wè demen! · nah weh deh-MEN · See you tomorrow!
Frequently asked questions about Haitian Creole words
How many Haitian Creole words do you need for a basic conversation?
Across languages, a small core of words does most of the work in everyday speech: the first few hundred words carry the bulk of simple conversation. You can manage basic exchanges with a few hundred words; this list is the foundation to build on.
What is the fastest way to memorize these 100 words?
Spaced repetition: review each word just before you would forget it, at growing intervals. It moves vocabulary into long-term memory far faster than rereading a list. Turn the 100 words into flashcards and review a small batch daily; the whole list fits into two to three weeks.
Are 100 words enough to speak Haitian Creole?
No. One hundred words let you recognize the skeleton of most sentences, but not hold a real conversation. They are the right starting point: after this list, keep growing your core vocabulary and start speaking practice early, even with simple phrases.
Where does this Haitian Creole word list come from?
It is curated for learners rather than corpus-ranked: Haitian Creole has no reliable public frequency corpus, so we selected the words that unlock everyday sentences and ordered them by usefulness. These are essential words, not a measured frequency ranking.