I remember the time when we played elastics together, and you sprained your ankle. It was very funny. in Tetun
Ha'u lembra fali uluk ita halimar hamutuk haksoit boraixa halo ó nia ain naksalak, komik loos.
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.
Intensifiers
Intensifiers (loos, tebes, demais, laduun)
loosPosition matters. 'loos' / 'tebes' / 'demais' follow the adjective ('barak loos' = very many). 'laduun' PRECEDES the adjective ('laduun diak' = not very good). 'liu tan' = even more.
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
- Sira servisu hamutuk hodi kaer metin prinsípiu moris ida katak, "Todan leba hamutuk, kmaan ita hi'it hamutuk."They worked together, holding firmly to the life principle that, "We carry heavy things together, we lift light things together."
- Mestre hanorin full-time ka part-time?Does the teacher teach full-time or part-time?
- Ha'u nia ain naksalak tanba monu bainhira joga bola.I sprained my ankle in a fall when playing football.
- Uma ne'e harii dezde tempu Portugal, entaun agora ita haree antigu loos ona.This house was built since Portuguese time, so now looks very old.
- Horiseik Apet haksoit tuun hosi haas huun, í nia ain naksalak.Yesterday Apet jumped down from a mango tree, and sprained his ankle.
- Atu simu osan, tama ida-ida; la bele tama hamutuk.To receive (your) money, come in one at a time; you can’t come in together.