Last night there was an earthquake, and we all stampeded out of the house, so much so that grandma fell on top of my younger brother. in Tetun
Hori kalan rai nakdoko, ami hotu halai saruntu malu ba li'ur, to'o avoo monu hanehan tan ha'u nia alin.
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.
Reciprocal
malu — 'each other'
malu'malu' follows the verb to mark reciprocal action. Common in political / news idioms: 'haree malu diak' (get on well), 'diskuti malu' (argue), 'haan malu' (oppose one another), '(liafuan) la haan malu' (testimonies don't match).
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
- Semana liu ba udan boot. To'o agora bee nalihun iha uma oin, halo susuk barak tan de'it.Last week there was heavy rain. Even now there is water pooled in front of the house, leading to an increase in mosquitoes.
- Bainhira balde monu, bee ne'e nakfakar hotu.When the bucket fell, the water all spilled out.
- Ita la'o kalan, kuidadu rama ambon.If you go out at night, watch out for metal darts.
- Nia tebe bola, monu ó! iha ne'ebá!He kicked the ball, and it fell all the way over there!
- Hori kalan Lino tua lanu tanba nia hemu barak loos iha festa kazamentu.Last night Lino was drunk because he drank so much at the wedding.
- Hori kalan ha'u hariis iha Maubisse, ha'u nakdedar loos tanba malirin pár mate.Last night I bathed in Maubisse, and shivered because it so cold there.