José likes boasting that he is smarter than everyone else. in Tetun
José gosta gaba an dehan nia matenek liu ema hotu-hotu.
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'.
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
- Ema hotu-hotu hakarak moris felis.Everyone wants to live happily.
- Imi nia uma boot liu ami nian.Your house is bigger than ours.
- Ha'u boot liu nia lori tinan neen.I am six years older than he is.
- Keta book. Ne'e ema nian.Don't touch it. It's someone else's.
- Demokrásia katak ema hotu-hotu bele ko'alia.Democracy means that everyone can speak.
- Ha'u fiar ba José tanba nia ema ne'ebé onestu.I trust José because he is an honest man.