Don’t leave the bicycle outside, as it will rust quickly. in Tetun
La bele rai bisikleta iha li'ur tanba ferujen lalais.
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.
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'.
Prohibition & permission
keta / lalika / la bele — prohibition
la beleThree strengths of 'don't': 'lalika(n)' is softest — 'no need to, don't bother'. 'keta' is a direct prohibitive command. 'la bele' = 'not allowed, must not'.
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
- Na'an la bele rai iha li'ur, se lae lalar hobur barak tan de'it.Don’t leave meat out, or lots of flies will gather around it.
- Ita sei liu iha imigrasaun hodi revista ita nia sasán hotu mak foin ita bele sai ba li'ur.We will go through immigration where they will inspect our goods before we can go outside.
- La bele husik ha'u mesak iha ne'e.Don't leave me alone here.
- Ha'u nia rain Timor, ha'u sei la soe ó.My country Timor, I will never leave you.
- Keta ko'us labarik sai ba li'ur, se lae anin tama.Don't carry the child outside, or she'll get sick.
- Bebé isin manas hela. Lalika lori nia la'o sai ba li'ur.The baby has a temperature. Don’t take her outside.