How do you say "It was still dark when Julieta got up." in Tetun?

"It was still dark when Julieta got up." in Tetun is "Rai sei nakukun bainhira Julieta hadeer husi nia toba fatin.".

Tetun Translator

It was still dark when Julieta got up. in Tetun

Rai sei nakukun bainhira Julieta hadeer husi nia toba fatin.

English → Tetun phrasebook

Aspect markers
sei — 'will' or 'still'
sei
Tetun has no verb conjugation. Aspect and tense are marked by particles. 'sei' sits immediately before the verb — marking a definite future ('will') or a continuative ('still'). Combine with 'hela' after the verb for ongoing action. Negation is 'sei la' = 'will not'.
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.
Time expressions
Temporal connectors
bainhira
Common 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.