Just because he has a gun, he is imposing conditions on the judiciary (instead of the other way around)! in Tetun
Tanba de'it nia iha kilat mak nia impoin fali kondisaun ba judisiáriu!
English → Tetun phrasebook
Grammar in this phrase
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.
Aspect markers
fali — 'again' / 'back' / 'instead'
faliPlaced after the verb. Can mean 'again / back' or mark an unexpected reversal ('instead'). Context decides which.
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'.
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
- Ó la bele konta sai ba ema seluk tanba ida ne'e buat uma laran nian.You can't tell other people, because this is just within the family.
- Kolega Jinha ko'alia aat ha'u iha ema seluk nia oin tanba de'it nia laran moras ha'u.My friend Jinha bad-mouthed me in front of other people just because she is jealous of me.
- Ohin ami haree bani semo iha ami nia uma leten.We just saw a bee flying around in our house.
- Nia loron-kalan halimar de'it.He just plays around all the time (he doesn't work).
- Kareta nakdoko tanba dalan aat.The car shakes/bounces around because the road is rough.
- Tina nia kakorok laran katar tan de'it nia hemu bee torneira.Tina’s throat is very itchy just because she drank tap water.