Afonso faced financial problems, making him unable to continue his his study at university. in Tetun
Afonso hasoru problema finanseiru, halo nia la bele kontinua nia estudu iha universidade.
English → Tetun phrasebook
Grammar in this phrase
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.
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.
Possibility & probability
bele / parese / dala ruma / kala — possibility
beleTetun hedges less than English, but has a cluster of markers. 'bele' before the verb = can / may. 'parese' at the start = 'seems'. 'dala ruma' at the start of a clause = 'perhaps, sometimes'. 'kala / kal' before a number = 'approximately'.
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
- Atoy tuku nia kolega nia kabun mamar to'o monu fatin.Atoy punched his colleague in the centre of his stomach, making him fall down on the spot.
- Rui iha moras ida iha nia ona lulik, halo nia soe bee susar oituan.Rui has a disease of his private parts, making it hard for him to urinate.
- Mateus agora de'ut hela nia matan, tanba ai-luruk mak tama.Mateus is rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands, because a prickle has gotten into his eye.
- Ha'u iha vontade rasik atu eskola iha universidade.I have the desire to study at university.
- Nia saláriu hakerek klaru iha kontratu laran.His salary is clearly written in his contract.
- Paulo laran moras tanba nia kolega lohi nia.Paulo is upset because his friend deceived him.