I just heard the news that the parliament has approved the 2018 state budget. in Tetun

Grammar in this phrase

• Aspect markers

  ona — 'already' (perfective)

  ona

  Placed after the verb (or after the object), 'ona' marks that something has already happened. Cannot stand alone — must belong to a sentence. See also 'tiha ona' for a stronger completed aspect.

• Possession

  nia / nian — possession

  nian

  '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.

• Time expressions

  Temporal connectors

  foin

  Common time words: 'bainhira / kuandu' = when; 'molok / antes' = before; 'depois' and 'liu tiha' = after; 'kedas' = immediately; 'foin' = only just, very recently; 'kleur' = a long time.

More patterns like these in the Tetun grammar guide.

Related phrases

• Parlamentu Nasional maka fiskaliza ezekusaun orsamentu jerál du estadu.It is the National Parliament which monitors the execution of the state budget.
• Lei ne'e hetan ona aprovasaun hosi Parlamantu Nasionál. Agora hein de'it lori ba Prezidente da Repúblika atu promulga ka veta.This law has been approved by the National Parliament. Now it just needs to be taken to the President of the Republic to either promulgate or veto.
• Parlamentu debate orsamentu jerál estadu iha jeneralidade loron tolu, iha espesialidade loron sanulu.The parliament will debate the general state budget in generality (comparable to a first reading in Westminster parliaments) for three days, then in specifics for ten days.
• Parlamentu Nasionál apresia dadaun orsamentu jerál estadu.The National Parliament is currently evaluating the annual budget.
• Ó tuur hanesan bos de'it, la hatene halo servisu, hein han de'it!You're just sitting there like a boss, not working, just waiting to be fed!
• Se orsamentu aprova, ami sei kontrata tan funsionáriu na'in lima.If the budget is approved, we will give employ another five staff on contracts.