I felt sad when I heard that you have to leave us again to work overseas. in Tetun
Ha'u nia laran triste waiñira ha'u rona ó tenke husik fali ami hodi bá servisu iha rai li'ur.
English → Tetun phrasebook
Grammar in this phrase
Permission
husik / hataan / foo — permission verbs
husikThree 'let / allow' verbs. 'husik' = leave, let, allow, abandon; 'husik hela' = leave behind. 'hataan' = agree, permit formally. 'foo' = let, give — also heads compound verbs like 'foo haan' (feed), 'foo hatene ba' (inform).
Aspect markers
fali — 'again' / 'back' / 'instead'
faliPlaced after the verb. Can mean 'again / back' or mark an unexpected reversal ('instead'). Context decides which.
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
- Ita servisu iha rai li'ur, bele manán osan boot maibé servisu todan.If we work overseas, we can earn a lot of money, but the work is hard.
- Pelumenus ó mate, husik hela obra ruma.At least if you die, you'll leave some results of your work behind.
- La bele husik ha'u mesak iha ne'e.Don't leave me alone here.
- Ha'u rona katak Atino moras.I heard that Atino is sick.
- Loron ida ha'u servisu oras ualu.I work eight hours per day.
- Ema atus rua servisu iha ne'e.Two hundred people work here.