He speaks a very mixed Tetun. He throws in Indonesian words, and then English! in Tetun

Nia ko'alia Tetun rabaraba. Orsida tau tan liafuan Indonézia, orsida tau Inglés!

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.

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.

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