Don't extend their contract, because they don't work well! in Tetun
La bele hanaruk tan sira nia kontratu, tanba sira servisu la di'ak!
English → Tetun phrasebook
Grammar in this phrase
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.
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.
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
- Sira servisu oin la moos hotu tanba simu subornu.They are not doing their work properly because they received bribes.
- Ha'u nervozu tanba nia servisu la di'ak.I’m irritated because he don’t work well.
- Sira hotu han to'o bosu. Han tiha, sira mós fahe malu.They all ate until they were satisfied. Having eaten, they went their separate ways.
- Sira sei remata sira nia servisu iha fin dé Janeiru.They will finish their work at the end of January.
- Sira sempre manifesta sira nia fidelidade ba sira nia lider.They always demonstrate their faithfulness to their leader.
- Traballadór sira tenke servisu tuir kontratu ne'ebé sira asina.Workers must do their job according to the contract they have signed.