How come your reply is the opposite of what you said yesterday? in Tetun
Nusaa mak ita nia resposta kontráriu malu fali ho buat ne'ebé ita hatete horiseik?
English → Tetun phrasebook
Grammar in this phrase
Aspect markers
fali — 'again' / 'back' / 'instead'
faliPlaced after the verb. Can mean 'again / back' or mark an unexpected reversal ('instead'). Context decides which.
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'.
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.
Related phrases
- Horiseik señora mai tuku hira?What time did you (senhora) come yesterday?
- Atu simu osan, tama ida-ida; la bele tama hamutuk.To receive (your) money, come in one at a time; you can’t come in together.
- Xefe aldeia dehan, “Diak liu imi subar lai, tanba milísia buka hela imi.” Nune'e prontu, ami mós halo tuir.The village head said, “You’d better hide for a while, as the militia are looking for you.” So the, we did as he said.
- Mai lalais!Come quickly!
- Horiseik ha'u telefone nia.Yesterday I rang him..
- Mai sedu, é!Come early, won't you.