According to Jewish ceremonial law, when the chief priest enters the most holy place, he must burn incense. in Tetun
Tuir lei serimoniál ema Judeu nian, bainhira na'i lulik boot tama iha fatin ne'ebé lulik liu, nia tenke sunu ai-been morin.
English → Tetun phrasebook
Grammar in this phrase
Possession
nia / nian — possession
nianian'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.
Comparison
liu — comparison 'more / most'
liuTetun comparison uses 'X liu Y' not 'mais X' — the adjective stays put and 'liu' follows. With a focus 'mak' it becomes superlative. Avoid Portuguese-style 'melhor' or 'mais boot'.
Time expressions
Temporal connectors
bainhiraCommon time words: 'bainhira / kuandu' = when; 'molok / antes' = before; 'depois' and 'liu tiha' = after; 'kedas' = immediately; 'foin' = only just, very recently; 'kleur' = a long time.
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
- Nia la'o lemo rai de'it, la iha fatin atu hela.He travels all over the place, with no place to live.
- Tuir ami nia lisan, ami la bele han na'an asu.According to our traditional law, we can't eat dog meat.
- Traballadór sira tenke servisu tuir kontratu ne'ebé sira asina.Workers must do their job according to the contract they have signed.
- Tuir regra Timor-Lese, eskola hotu-hotu tenke iha farda.According to the rules in Timor-Leste, all schools must have uniforms.
- Tuir lei, reseita hosi mina rai la bele uza hodi selu idozu sira.According to law, revenue from oil cannot be used to pay aged (pensions).
- Lei ne'e ita aplika duni ita nia rai, konserteza ita nu'udar sidadaun ita tenke simu lei ida ne'e.If this law is indeed applied in our country, then of course we as citizens must accept it.