Auntie unfairly accused my younger sister of stealing her money. in Tetun
Tia ne'e du'un matak de'it ha'u nia alin mak na'ok nia osan.
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.
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'.
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
- Tia sikat ulsuku iha fuuk.Auntie stuck her hairpin through her hair.
- Maria sateia hela de'it nia amá tanba osan.Maria keeps hassling her mother (to give her) money.
- Nia namoradu ne'e hais nia to'o lima sén mós la iha nia isin!Her boyfriend bled her dry till she didn't even have five cents left on her!
- Ha'u fó empresta motór ba ha'u nia kolega atu nia bele tula nia alin ba ospitál.I lent my motorbike to a friend so she could give her younger brother/sister a lift to hospital.
- Tia sa'e mikrolét hiti de'it nia subriña tanba ema nakonu.Auntie got into the minibus and held her niece on her lap because the minibus was full of people.
- Alin, ó bá ne'ebé?'Younger brother/sister', where are you going?