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LOCAL Wednesday 22 OctOber 2025

Papiamento words and phrases you may want to know!

(Oranjestad)—Aruba is a melting pot of different hours, we use “bon tardi” to greet people,
nationalities, cultures and languages. Primar- which means “good afternoon”. “Tardi” actual-
ily for this reason, the average Aruban can un- ly comes from the word “atardi”, which directly
derstand and speak Dutch, English and Spanish translates to “afternoon”. However, the short-
relatively well. However, as much as we pride ened “tardi” is used to keep the rhythm on the
ourselves in being able to communicate with phrase. And the same could be said for our last
almost everyone, we cherish our native tongue greeting of the day.
Papiamento above all else. Want to learn some
common words in our language? Here are a Bon nochi. You guessed it, “bon nochi” means
few basic words and phrases that can get you “good night”. Just like “tardi”, “nochi” is actu-
a hat tip from an Aruban. ally the shortened version of the word “anochi”.

When you arrive at the airport in Aruba, one of Yes…no…maybe?
the first words in Papiamento you may encoun- (not like the Ayo Rock Formation, but also…kin- The affirmative and negative expression is very
ter is “Bon bini.” Bon bini in Papiamento means da?). We may also use “te oro”, which means simple in Papiamento. Just like Spanish, our yes-
welcome, and is probably the most famous Pa- “see you later”. es are “si” and our no’s are “no”. Pretty easy
piamento word for tourists. right? If you want to gain some extra points from
Greetings during the day younger locals, you can also say “se”, which is
Hi! Bye! Most, if not all, languages have different ways a more casual affirmative used mostly by the
To be fair, there is no unique way to say “hello” to greet according to the time of day, and Pa- younger generation. However, do note: some
in Papiamento. At least, not officially. We often piamento is no different. Since Papiamento is older generations may find this improper and
just use the English “hello” or “hey”, or Dutch heavily influences from Portuguese and Span- not respectful, so keep that in mind.
“hallo” to greet someone. We do however, ish, some of these phrases may look very famil-
always follow it up with “con bay?” or “con iar. Thanks man…
ta?” Con bay is a shortened version of “con ta Lastly, a word that we can also say more often
bay?”, which essentially means “how are you?” Bon dia is used in the morning, up to about is “danki”, which means literally “thank you”.
The word “con” in Papiamento means “how?” noon. Bon dia essentially means good morn- “Danki” is derived from the Dutch word “be-
and is pronounced with a rounder “o” sounds, ing. The word “bon” means “good”, and while dankt”. Though we don’t really have a transla-
like in the English word “cone”. “Ta bay” refers “dia” does not directly mean “morning” in Eng- tion for “I appreciate it” in English, we do use
to how you are doing. lish, it is used often to refer to the morning time. “masha danki” to convey the message. “Ma-
sha” means “a lot” or “very”, so “masha danki”
When we say goodbye, we use the word “ayo” Bon tardi. In the afternoon to early evening means “thank you very much”.q

Dining in? Try making some local favorites!

How to make “pan bati”

(Oranjestad)—If you’re ever up for an Aruban
snack, try making another Aruban classic ap- Instructions:
petizer called Pan Bati. Similar to a pancake Add all the dry ingredients in a bowl first, and
both in appearance and cooking, this is a su- stir until well mixed. Then add the milk and beat
per easy meal that adults and children will both until reached a pancake-like consistency. If
enjoy. Here’s how to make it! more moister is needed, add some water until
reached desired consistency.
Ingredients:
2 cups of all purpose flour In a hot pan with oil, pour in enough batter to
1 cup grams of fine cornmeal (we recommend cover the bottom of the pan. Just like pancakes,
the Harina PAN brand) flip the pan bati when one side turns golden
2 tbsp baking powder brown. When your pan bati is ready, place on
1 1/3 cup of milk a plate and cover with a clean kitchen towel.
1 pinch of salt
2 tbsp of granulated sugar Traditionally, pan bati is cut in triangle pieces, fish or stews. However, it is also casually enjoyed
Oil for cooking and is often eaten as a side dish with soup, fried with some butter and cheese on top!.q