Maria recorded her grandmother’s voice using a telephone, so that in future she can listen to it again. in Tetun
Maria grava nia avoo nia lian uza telefone, para aban-bainrua bele rona fali.
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.
Possibility & probability
bele / parese / dala ruma / kala — possibility
beleTetun hedges less than English, but has a cluster of markers. 'bele' before the verb = can / may. 'parese' at the start = 'seems'. 'dala ruma' at the start of a clause = 'perhaps, sometimes'. 'kala / kal' before a number = 'approximately'.
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 la haree ha'u nia oan nia oin, la buat ida, naran katak bele rona nia lian.If I don’t see my child, that’s OK, so long as I can hear her voice (e.g. over the telephone).
- Maria sateia hela de'it nia amá tanba osan.Maria keeps hassling her mother (to give her) money.
- Maria halo grupu estudu iha ninia uma hamutuk ho nia kolega sira.Maria has started a study group at her house together with her friends.
- Ohin dadeer Joana rakut Maria nia fuuk tanba Maria tolok nia.Joana yanked on Maria’s hair this morning because of Maria swore at her.
- Nia namoradu ne'e hais nia to'o lima sén mós la iha nia isin!Her boyfriend bled her dry till she didn't even have five cents left on her!
- Maria hirus harahun nia telefone tanba telefone loke la lakan.Maria was angry and smashed her telephone, because when she turned it on it didn’t light up.