Tetun Translator

Don’t deny you friend like this, as one day you’ll need him. in Tetun

Ó la bele nega ó nia kolega hanesan ne'e, tempu ida sei presiza nia.

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.
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'.
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.

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