A major challenge I am facing is that I don’t have money to pay for my schooling. in Tetun
Dezafiu boot ne'ebé ha'u hasoru mak la iha osan atu selu ha'u nia eskola.
English → Tetun phrasebook
Grammar in this phrase
Focus
mak — focus marker
mak'mak' focuses the preceding constituent — used when English would bold or cleft ('it was X who...'). Also forms the superlative with 'liu'.
Negation
la — 'not' (general negation)
laPlaced before verbs and adjectives to negate them. For contrastive 'not X but Y' use 'laós'; for 'not yet' use 'seidauk'; for 'no longer' wrap 'la ... ona' around the verb.
Possession
nia / nian — possession
nia'nia' goes BEFORE the thing possessed; 'nian' goes AFTER. Both function the same way; position decides which form. 'nia' is also the 3rd-person pronoun (he / she / it) — disambiguate by position.
More patterns like these in the Tetun grammar guide.
Translate your own text with the free English ↔ Tetun translator or look up individual words in the Tetun dictionary.
Related phrases
- Oinsá mak ita bele hetan osan atu selu eskola?How can we get money to pay for schooling?
- Ha'u deside atu para eskola, tanba osan la iha.I have decided to stop schooling, as I don’t have money.
- Tiu servisu mate an hodi selu ó nia eskola. Agora ó nega fali nia favór ne'e, kuidadu!Uncle worked hard to pay for your schooling. Now if you don’t recognise his kindness, be careful!
- Inan-aman hanorin la rona ta'uk mak la'o sala dalan de'it.Parents educating you but when you don’t pay attention just be careful just be careful that you don’t go astray.
- Ami aluga uma tanba la iha osan atu sosa.We rent a house because we don’t have money to buy one.
- La bele hanaruk tan sira nia kontratu, tanba sira servisu la di'ak!Don't extend their contract, because they don't work well!