João is working hard at mathematics because it is very difficult for him. in Tetun
João fera ulun ba matéria matemátika tanba difisil loos ba nia.
English → Tetun phrasebook
Grammar in this phrase
Intensifiers
Intensifiers (loos, tebes, demais, laduun)
loosPosition matters. 'loos' / 'tebes' / 'demais' follow the adjective ('barak loos' = very many). 'laduun' PRECEDES the adjective ('laduun diak' = not very good). 'liu tan' = even more.
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.
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
- Ha'u nia kareta Pajero nia mudansa toos loos.The gear of my Pajero car is very hard.
- Ajuda kehe ha'u lai, tanba kosar loos ne'e.Please fan me, because I am very sweaty.
- Kusta loos atu komprende nia hahalok.It’s very difficult to understand his attitude.
- Paulo laran moras tanba nia kolega lohi nia.Paulo is upset because his friend deceived him.
- Agora dadaun internét la'o ladún di'ak.At present the internet isn’t working very well.
- Ema ne'e sensitivu loos, ne'ebé keta ba book nia.This person is very sensitive. Don’t hassle him.