Foreigner Mateus eloped with a girl to his homeland. They were a couple for two years before her family knew where she was. in Tetun
Malae Mateus lori halai feto ba nia rain. Sira na'in rua hola malu tinan rua ona mak foin feto nia família hatene nia iha ne'ebé.
English → Tetun phrasebook
Grammar in this phrase
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.
Aspect markers
ona — 'already' (perfective)
onaPlaced after the verb (or after the object), 'ona' marks that something has already happened. Cannot stand alone — must belong to a sentence. See also 'tiha ona' for a stronger completed aspect.
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'.
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
- Mateus agora de'ut hela nia matan, tanba ai-luruk mak tama.Mateus is rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands, because a prickle has gotten into his eye.
- Nia namoradu ne'e hais nia to'o lima sén mós la iha nia isin!Her boyfriend bled her dry till she didn't even have five cents left on her!
- Alin feto ne'e uza koroa iha nia ulun ba simu primeira komuñaun.The little girl is wearing a crown on her head to receive her first communion.
- Tiu Domingos sempre rei nia oan ho nia kaben molok nia bá servisu.Uncle Domingos always kisses his children and his wife before leaving for work.
- Atoi fihir feto ida tanba nia gosta atu sai nia doben.Atoi is looking intently at a girl because he’d like her to become his girlfriend.
- Fernando lakon iha fulan Janeiru 1998, no to'o agora nia família la hatene nia paradeiru.Fernando disappeared in January 1998. To date his family don't know his whereabouts.