Instant noodles taste best eaten still hot. Don't wait until it cools down. in Tetun
Supermi han manas-manas mak di'ak, la bele hein to'o malirin.
English → Tetun phrasebook
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'.
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.
Possibility & probability
bele / parese / dala ruma / kala — possibility
beleTetun 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.
Translate your own text with the free English ↔ Tetun translator or look up individual words in the Tetun dictionary.
Related phrases
- Agora ó nia laran sei manas. Di'ak liu hein to'o laran malirin foin bá ko'alia ho nia.You're still angry. You should wait until your anger has cooled before going to talk with him.
- Kuidadu! Standar tuun hela.Be careful! The stand is still down.
- La bele taka janela tanba rai manas loos.Don’t close the windows because the weather is very hot.
- La bele hanaruk tan sira nia kontratu, tanba sira servisu la di'ak!Don't extend their contract, because they don't work well!
- Se ita la tesi haas huun ne'e, nia abut sei estraga ita nia uma.If we don’t cut down this mango tree, its roots will damage our house.
- Keta naran du'un ema karik ita la hatene problema ne'e nia lala'ok.Don’t arbitrarily accuse people if you don’t know the problem in-depth.