In Dili, once it is evening, minibuses no longer travel around. in Tetun
Iha Dili, kuandu kalan ona, mikrolét la sirkula ona.
English → Tetun phrasebook
Grammar in this phrase
Aspect markers
ona — 'already' (perfective)
onaPlaced after the verb (or after the object), 'ona' marks that something has already happened. Cannot stand alone — must belong to a sentence. See also 'tiha ona' for a stronger completed aspect.
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.
Time expressions
Temporal connectors
kuanduCommon time words: 'bainhira / kuandu' = when; 'molok / antes' = before; 'depois' and 'liu tiha' = after; 'kedas' = immediately; 'foin' = only just, very recently; 'kleur' = a long time.
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
- Situasaun iha Dili laran normal, ita bele la'o iha tempu kalan.The situation in Dili is normal, so we can travel around in the night time.
- Ha'u sa'e bisikleta bá pasiar iha Dili laran.I rode a bike for an outing around Dili.
- Sira na'in rua nia oan boot ona mak foin kaben igreja.Only once their children were no longer small did the two of them get married in church.
- Nia lohi padre dehan moras, maibé nia mai halimar fali iha Dili.He lied to the priest saying he was sick, but in reality he came and hung around in Dili.
- Ha'u hosi Dili.I am from Dili.
- Maria eskola iha Dili.Maria was educated in Dili.