Even though she wore four layers of clothing, she still felt cold. in Tetun

Grammar in this phrase

• Aspect markers

  sei — 'will' or 'still'

  sei

  Tetun has no verb conjugation. Aspect and tense are marked by particles. 'sei' sits immediately before the verb — marking a definite future ('will') or a continuative ('still'). Combine with 'hela' after the verb for ongoing action. Negation is 'sei la' = 'will not'.

• 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.

More patterns like these in the Tetun grammar guide.

Related phrases

• Labarik ne'e kalan boot ona mós matan lakan nafatin.Even though it is late at night, this child is still wide awake.
• Mezmu ó nia serbisu barak, maibé tenke atende mós labarik sira.Even though you have a lot of work to do, you still need to take care the children too.
• Ropa ne'e sei bok-bokon hela, Atoy obriga hatais de'it, tanba nia tarde ona bá eskola.Even though his clothes were still somewhat wet, Atoy had to wear them, because he was late for school.
• Ha'u tenke la'o de'it, biar eskola dook.I have to walk, even though the school is far away.
• Nia bá tiha malae nia rain mós, fehuk nafatin.Even though he went to Portugal, he remained ignorant.
• Bele iha difikuldade oioin, mas ha'u enkoraja ita para la'o ba oin nafatin.Even though there are various difficulties, I encourage us all to keep moving forward.