I’ve forgotten what he looks like, because we haven’t seen each other for a long time. in Tetun
Ha'u haluha nia oin tanba kleur loos la hetan malu.
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.
Negation
la — 'not' (general negation)
laPlaced 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.
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
- Ha'u sei ko'alia halimar hela ho alin Caetano, tanba kleur la hetan malu.I’m chatting with my younger brother Caetano, because we haven’t seen each other in a long time..
- Sira hirus malu to'o ida-ida buka fatuk hodi tuda malu.They were angry at each other, to the extent that they each looked for rocks and threw them at each other.
- Ha'u gosta foka vídeo, tanba ajuda ha'u hanoin fali waiñira ha'u haluha buat ne'ebé mak ha'u haree tiha ona.I like taking videos, because they help me remember when I forget what I’ve seen.
- Ha'u nia viziñu sira baku malu tanba du'un malu buan.My neighbours had a fight because they accused each other’s (wives) of being witches.
- Ami nia inan rasik mate kleur ona, nune'e ami nia inan hakiak mak tau matan ba ami.Our own mother died a long time ago, so it is our adoptive mother who looks after us.
- Ami hotu hela bes-besik malu.We all live close to each other.