If someone walks past on the road, our dog always barks. in Tetun
Se ema ida la'o liu iha estrada, ami nia asu sempre hatenu.
English → Tetun phrasebook
Grammar in this phrase
Comparison
liu — comparison 'more / most'
liuTetun comparison uses 'X liu Y' not 'mais X' — the adjective stays put and 'liu' follows. With a focus 'mak' it becomes superlative. Avoid Portuguese-style 'melhor' or 'mais boot'.
Conditionals
se / karik — conditionals
se'se' opens a definite conditional ('if X, then Y'). 'karik' sits at the end of a clause and hedges it ('perhaps'); it can also mark an uncertain conditional.
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 nia asu hahoris asu oan haat.Our dog gave birth to four puppies.
- Bainhira ami te'in na'an asu sempre uza du'ut morin.When we cook dog meat we always use lemon grass.
- Iha ami nia aldeia ami uza jeradór bainhira presiza karega telefone.In our village, we use a generator to charge our phones.
- Tuir ami nia lisan, ami la bele han na'an asu.According to our traditional law, we can't eat dog meat.
- Rai monu iha estrada, halo ita liu ho kareta la di'ak.There was a landslide on the road, so we couldn’t go past by car.
- Treinu fíziku ajuda ita nia isin, treinu espirituál ajuda ita nia klamar.Physical training helps our bodies, spiritual training helps our souls.