According to the rules of this institution, if a student fails a subject three times, he/she drops out. in Tetun

Grammar in this phrase

• Comparison

  liu — comparison 'more / most'

  liu

  Tetun 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'.

• Conditionals

  se / karik — conditionals

  se

  'se' opens a definite conditional ('if X, then Y'). 'karik' sits at the end of a clause and hedges it ('perhaps'); it can also mark an uncertain conditional.

• Negation

  la — 'not' (general negation)

  la

  Placed 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.

More patterns like these in the Tetun grammar guide.

Related phrases

• Tuir akuzasaun, arguidu Pedro basa dala tolu iha lezada nia hasan, no ameasa atu sunu mutuk nia uma.According to the accusation, the defendant Pedro slapped the victim on the cheek three times, and threatened to burn her house to the ground.
• Ita la'o kalan, kuidadu rama ambon.If you go out at night, watch out for metal darts.
• Tuir regra Timor-Lese, eskola hotu-hotu tenke iha farda.According to the rules in Timor-Leste, all schools must have uniforms.
• Rama oan tama ó nia isin, sai araska, tenke koá sai.If an arrow goes into your body, it’s hard to get it out. It has to be cut out.
• Ita hakerek regulamentu, la bele copy-paste de'it hosi regulamentu instituisaun seluk nian!When you write rules, you can't just blindly copy them from the rules of other institutions!
• Padre ho madre sira iha vida relijiozu sira moris tuir votus tolu: kastidade, pobreza ho obediénsia.Priests and nuns in the religious life live according to three vows: chastity, poverty and obedience.