He'd already married one, then went and too another as his mistress. In the end the two women fought because of him! in Tetun
Nia kaben tiha ida, bá kait fali ida seluk. To'o ikus feto na'in rua baku malu tanba nia!
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
fali — 'again' / 'back' / 'instead'
faliPlaced after the verb. Can mean 'again / back' or mark an unexpected reversal ('instead'). Context decides which.
Reciprocal
malu — 'each other'
malu'malu' follows the verb to mark reciprocal action. Common in political / news idioms: 'haree malu diak' (get on well), 'diskuti malu' (argue), 'haan malu' (oppose one another), '(liafuan) la haan malu' (testimonies don't match).
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.
- Paulo laran moras tanba nia kolega lohi nia.Paulo is upset because his friend deceived him.
- Wingky sente laran kanek tanba nia doben tolok nia.Wingky is hurt because his girlfriend swore at him.
- Ha'u nia kolega feto ida oho an tanba nia la'en hola fali feto seluk.One of my female friends committed suicide because her husband took another wife.
- Atoy tuku nia kolega nia kabun mamar to'o monu fatin.Atoy punched his colleague in the centre of his stomach, making him fall down on the spot.
- Afonso hasoru problema finanseiru, halo nia la bele kontinua nia estudu iha universidade.Afonso faced financial problems, making him unable to continue his his study at university.