Don’t hang out with the drunkards. Otherwise, you could become a drunkard too. in Tetun
La bele ranxu ho ema lanu-teen sira. Se lae, ó mós bele sai lanu-teen hotu.
English → Tetun phrasebook
Grammar in this phrase
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'.
Conditionals
se / karik — conditionals
se'se' opens a definite conditional ('if X, then Y'). 'karik' sits at the end of a clause and hedges it ('perhaps'); it can also mark an uncertain conditional.
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.
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
- Feto ne'e lori lia tuun sa'e. Keta ranxu nia.This lady likes to gossip. Don’t hang out with her.
- Ha'u soe ha'u nia telefone tanba se lae halimar game demais.I threw out my telephone because otherwise I'd spend too much time playing games.
- La bele tunu fehuk kleur liu iha ahi, se la bele motuk hotu.Don’t roast the potatoes on the fire for too long, otherwise they will all be burnt.
- Keta tanis resik tanba ha'u!Don't cry too much for me!
- Keta book asu. Asu bele tata ó.Don’t annoy the dog. It could bite you.
- Saláriu fulan ne'e atrazu demais!Salaries this month came out much too late!