Let us speak Creole … An nou pale Kreyol

One more reader question tonight (my laptop is running low because our electricity is not consistent here in Carrefour, Haiti). This is our best attempt to answer the following ASK ANYTHING question.

Dear friends, does “annou”  translate to “let’s” in English? Is it supposed to be one word, or “an nou” or “ann nou”? If it’s Annou, then is it pronounced like “an nou” or “Ann nou” OR other? Thank you! I need this to teach a song corrrectly to my chorus.  We are singing “Ce Grand Matin” (Written before Ayisyen Kreyol was formalized, and so there is some guesswork to figuring out the words, meanings, and pronunciations).

Here are a few examples of that word “let us” in modern Haitian Creole. Hope this helps!

An nou avanse pou pi devan
Let’s move forward

An nou pale kreyòl
Let’s speak Creole

An nou mete tèt ansanm pou youn renmen lòt
Let’s put our heads together so we can love one another

an nou danse, an nou chante, an nou vire an nou sote!
Let us dance, let us sing, let us spin, let’s go out!