I forgot my wallet at home, so today I’m not carrying any money. in Tetun
Ha'u nia karteira haluha hela tiha iha uma, ne'ebé ohin loron la lori osan.
English → Tetun phrasebook
Grammar in this phrase
Aspect markers
hela — 'currently' or 'reside'
helaAfter a verb, 'hela' marks continuous aspect ('is ...-ing'). As a standalone verb it means 'live, reside'. Often paired with 'sei' for 'is still ...-ing'.
Negation
la — 'not' (general negation)
laPlaced before verbs and adjectives to negate them. For contrastive 'not X but Y' use 'laós'; for 'not yet' use 'seidauk'; for 'no longer' wrap 'la ... ona' around the verb.
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
- Ohin mane ida na'ok Maria nia karteira. Agora nia la iha osan atu selu mikrolét ba uma.A man stole Maria’s wallet today. Now she doesn’t have money to pay the minibus home.
- Ha'u la hetan doit metan ida!I didn't get any money at all!
- Ha'u servisu barak iha uma, nune'e ohin loron ha'u la bele bá pasiar.I have so much work to do at home, that today I can’t go out.
- Ohin ha'u hakarak han eskrim mais osan la iha atu sosa.Today I wanted to eat ice-cream but I didn’t have money to buy some.
- Membru polísia ne'ebé hala'o nia servisu la bele inklina ba partidu polítiku ruma.Police who are carrying out their work cannot discriminate in favour of any party.
- Iha tempu uluk, osan seidauk iha, Antonio fó manu troka ho Maria nia fós.In the past, before there was money, Antonio gave money in exchange for Maria's rice.