I spat from inside the house and it hit Domingos’ face. in Tetun
Ha'u tafui kabeen hosi uma laran ba li'ur kona loos ba Domingos nia oin.
English → Tetun phrasebook
Grammar in this phrase
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
- Ami haree asu nia ain fatin iha uma laran.We see dog footprints inside the house.
- Sees hosi ha'u nia uma! Ha'u la gosta haree ó nia oin.Get away from my house! I don’t like to see your face.
- Ita presiza uma provizóriu ida atu hela to'o ita bele harii ita nia uma rasik.We need a temporary house to stay in until we can build our own house.
- Feto ne'e oin aat loos. Nia presiza make-up para halo oin di'ak oituan.This woman has a very ugly face. She needs makeup to beautify her face a bit.
- Ita rezolve problema, di'ak liu ko'alia oin ho oin, la bele iha kotukotuk.When resolving problems, it's better to talk face to face, not behind people's backs.
- Ha'u nia viziñu halo moru aas hale'u uma tanba ta'uk ema tuda.My neighbour build a high wall around the house out of fear that people would throw rocks (at the house).