Don't leave me alone here. in Tetun

Grammar in this phrase

• Permission

  husik / hataan / foo — permission verbs

  husik

  Three 'let / allow' verbs. 'husik' = leave, let, allow, abandon; 'husik hela' = leave behind. 'hataan' = agree, permit formally. 'foo' = let, give — also heads compound verbs like 'foo haan' (feed), 'foo hatene ba' (inform).

• 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.

• Possibility & probability

  bele / parese / dala ruma / kala — possibility

  bele

  Tetun 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.

Related phrases

• Keta tama iha tasi ne'e, bee ne'e kle'an!Don't go into the sea here, the water is deep!
• La bele fakar susu been iha ne'e, se lae sei konvida nehek mai.Don’t pour the milk here, or it will invite ants in.
• La bele rai bisikleta iha li'ur tanba ferujen lalais.Don’t leave the bicycle outside, as it will rust quickly.
• La bele hanaruk tan sira nia kontratu, tanba sira servisu la di'ak!Don't extend their contract, because they don't work well!
• Miguel ne'e matan foun iha rai ne'e, keta lori nia la'o arbiru.Miguel is a newcomer here, so don’t take him just anywhere.
• Iha ne'e rai lolon maka'as, kuidadu keta monu.Here the slope is very steep. So be careful you don’t fall.