Brother Castelo told the story of when he used to live in England. in Tetun

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.

• Aspect markers

  hela — 'currently' or 'reside'

  hela

  After a verb, 'hela' marks continuous aspect ('is ...-ing'). As a standalone verb it means 'live, reside'. Often paired with 'sei' for 'is still ...-ing'.

• Aspect markers

  sei — 'will' or 'still'

  sei

  Tetun has no verb conjugation. Aspect and tense are marked by particles. 'sei' sits immediately before the verb — marking a definite future ('will') or a continuative ('still'). Combine with 'hela' after the verb for ongoing action. Negation is 'sei la' = 'will not'.

More patterns like these in the Tetun grammar guide.

Related phrases

• Kala nia mak konta istória ne'e. Ha'u lae.Perhaps he was the one who told that story. I didn’t.
• Iha Lospalos fatuk kuak barak loos. Tempu uluk ema hela iha laran.In Lospalos there are very many caves. In the past people used to live in them.
• Istória ne'ebé nia hakerek ne'e, ha'u gosta nia tópiku, maibé la gosta nia maneira narasaun.This story that he's written, I like the topic, but don't like his style of story-telling.
• Ha'u hela iha ne'e.I live here.
• Ha'u nia hela fatin iha Becora.I live in Becora.
• Ita nia istória ne'e nia rohan la iha.Our story has no end.