In the distant past, before the continents all separated, there was a super-continent. in Tetun
Uluk liu, kontinente hotu-hotu seidauk fahe malu, iha super kontinente ida.
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'.
Negation
seidauk — 'not yet'
seidaukSingle word covering English 'not yet / hasn't ... yet'. Goes before the verb.
Reciprocal
malu — 'each other'
malu'malu' follows the verb to mark reciprocal action. Common in political / news idioms: 'haree malu diak' (get on well), 'diskuti malu' (argue), 'haan malu' (oppose one another), '(liafuan) la haan malu' (testimonies don't match).
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
- Iha tempu uluk, osan seidauk iha, Antonio fó manu troka ho Maria nia fós.In the past, before there was money, Antonio gave money in exchange for Maria's rice.
- Ami hotu hela iha ne'ebá.We all stayed there.
- Antes dé funu tama, ami halai hotu ba Darwin.Before the war erupted, we all escaped to Darwin.
- Nia tebe bola, monu ó! iha ne'ebá!He kicked the ball, and it fell all the way over there!
- Ita hotu iha pasadu ne'ebé susar. Maibé la bele moris iha pasadu ne'e.We all have difficult pasts. But we mustn’t live in this past.
- Labarik sira iha hotu. Só ida de'it mak falta.The children were all present; there was only one who was absent.