In our work place we can only wear jeans on Fridays. in Tetun

Grammar in this phrase

• Focus

  mak — focus marker

  mak

  'mak' focuses the preceding constituent — used when English would bold or cleft ('it was X who...'). Also forms the superlative with 'liu'.

• 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.

• Possibility & probability

  bele / parese / dala ruma / kala — possibility

  bele

  Tetun hedges less than English, but has a cluster of markers. 'bele' before the verb = can / may. 'parese' at the start = 'seems'. 'dala ruma' at the start of a clause = 'perhaps, sometimes'. 'kala / kal' before a number = 'approximately'.

More patterns like these in the Tetun grammar guide.

Related phrases

• Ita servisu iha rai li'ur, bele manán osan boot maibé servisu todan.If we work overseas, we can earn a lot of money, but the work is hard.
• La bele han ai-fuan ne'e lai, tanba sei tara hela horok. Aban liurai sei hasai horok mak bele han.You can't eat the fruit yet, because it is still under the horok taboo. You can only eat the fruit once the king removes the horok.
• Mana Ester isin rua hela, ne'ebé nia la bele kaer servisu todan.Ester is pregnant, so she can’t do heavy work.
• Ha'u hatais saia sakat hodi bele hakat ho livre.I wear a split skirt so I can step out freely.
• Ha'u hamoris hela motór atu bá serbisu.I’m turning on the motorbike so I can go to work.
• Nia la'o lemo rai de'it, la iha fatin atu hela.He travels all over the place, with no place to live.