Tetun Translator

I’m telling you the truth. Why don’t any of you believe me?! in Tetun

Ha'u ko'alia lia loos. Nusaa mak imi hotu la fiar?!

English → Tetun phrasebook

Grammar in this phrase

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'.
Intensifiers
Intensifiers (loos, tebes, demais, laduun)
loos
Position matters. 'loos' / 'tebes' / 'demais' follow the adjective ('barak loos' = very many). 'laduun' PRECEDES the adjective ('laduun diak' = not very good). 'liu tan' = even more.
Negation
la — 'not' (general negation)
la
Placed 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.

More patterns like these in the Tetun grammar guide.

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