I'm thinking back on the Luis Cardoso book which I read in school. in Tetun
Ha'u relembra fila fali livru Luis Cardoso nian ne'ebé ha'u lee iha eskola.
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.
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.
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
- Ha'u presiza hola livru ho nia títulu “Jestaun Finansa” atu lee ba eskola.I need to purchase a book titled “Finance Management” to read for school.
- Ha'u la gosta hanoin fila fali tempu susar pasadu nian.I don’t like thinking back to the difficult times in the past.
- Luis Cardoso autór ida ne'ebé hakerek livru barak ona kona ba Timor.Luis Cardoso is an author who has written many books about Timor.
- Ó hola livru mahar hanesan ne'e, bele lee hotu ka lae?You bought a very thick book like this one, will you be able to read it all?
- Ó bá fali uma!Go back home!
- Nia fó livru mai ha'u.He gave me a book.