As one of the founders, I am very proud that our university has now started a masters' course. in Tetun

Grammar in this phrase

• Aspect markers

  ona — 'already' (perfective)

  ona

  Placed after the verb (or after the object), 'ona' marks that something has already happened. Cannot stand alone — must belong to a sentence. See also 'tiha ona' for a stronger completed aspect.

• Intensifiers

  Intensifiers (loos, tebes, demais, laduun)

  loos

  Position matters. 'loos' / 'tebes' / 'demais' follow the adjective ('barak loos' = very many). 'laduun' PRECEDES the adjective ('laduun diak' = not very good). 'liu tan' = even more.

• 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.

Related phrases

• Baibain ami fó han asu oan ne'e ho na'an de'it, agora nia sai kabosu loos.We usually feed our puppy meat, now it is very chubby.
• Sr. Olivio nia kapasidade kona ba uza komputadór mínimu liu, tanba foin hahú uza.Mr Olivio’s capacity in using a computer is very minimal, because he has only just started using one.
• Ha'u ladún gosta ida ne'e.I don’t like this one very much.
• Iha ami nia aldeia ami uza jeradór bainhira presiza karega telefone.In our village, we use a generator to charge our phones.
• Ami nia uma kloot loos, ema barak bá la di'ak.Our house is very narrow/small, so not many people can go.
• Agora laloran tasi ladún boot, ita bele bá kail ikan.Now the ocean waves aren’t very big, so we can go fishing.