Don't just look at this one aspect while ignoring other aspects which are more important. in Tetun
La bele haree de'it aspetu ida hodi ignora aspetu sira seluk ne'ebé mak importante liu.
English → Tetun phrasebook
Grammar in this phrase
Comparison
liu — comparison 'more / most'
liuTetun comparison uses 'X liu Y' not 'mais X' — the adjective stays put and 'liu' follows. With a focus 'mak' it becomes superlative. Avoid Portuguese-style 'melhor' or 'mais boot'.
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'.
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
- Inan-aman hanorin la rona ta'uk mak la'o sala dalan de'it.Parents educating you but when you don’t pay attention just be careful just be careful that you don’t go astray.
- Lalika ta'uk. Bá de'it!Don’t be afraid. Just go!
- Ha'u ladún gosta ida ne'e.I don’t like this one very much.
- La bele han etu sobak de'it hanesan ne'e.Don’t just guzzle the rice like that.
- Han ga lae mak ne'e, ó nia isin ruin maran loos hanesan ne'e!Don’t you eat? You look extremely skinny!
- Dulce ho Joana seidauk koñese malu.Dulce and Joana don’t know each other yet.