Martinho went to collect money from those who had borrowed from him. in Tetun
Martinho bá kobra nia osan iha ema ne'ebé deve nia.
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.
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
- Sira lori nia ba Dare, í nia eskola iha ne'ebá.They brought him to Dare, and he went to school there.
- Ema fó sala ba nia dehan nia mak oho labarik ne'e.People accused him saying it was he who had killed the child.
- Nia aman la fó osan nia ne'e mak nia tanis halo bulak rai tiha de'it ne'e.When his father didn't give him money he just cried intensely.
- Madalena huu nia liman ida ohin bee manas kona.Madalena blew on her hand which had just had hot water touch it.
- Hori-kalan ha'u atu estuda, maibé la iha livru, entaun ha'u deskansa de'it.Last night I intended to study, but had no books, so I just had a rest.
- Iha tempu uluk, osan seidauk iha, Antonio fó manu troka ho Maria nia fós.In the past, before there was money, Antonio gave money in exchange for Maria's rice.