He lied to the priest saying he was sick, but in reality he came and hung around in Dili. in Tetun

Nia lohi padre dehan moras, maibé nia mai halimar fali iha Dili.

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'

    fali

    Placed after the verb. Can mean 'again / back' or mark an unexpected reversal ('instead'). Context decides which.

More patterns like these in the Tetun grammar guide.

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