Mister Estanislau wasn't present at this week's meeting because he was ill. in Tetun
Señór Estanislau la marka prezensa iha enkontru semana ida ne'e nian tanba moras.
English → Tetun phrasebook
Grammar in this phrase
Negation
la — 'not' (general negation)
laPlaced before verbs and adjectives to negate them. For contrastive 'not X but Y' use 'laós'; for 'not yet' use 'seidauk'; for 'no longer' wrap 'la ... ona' around the verb.
Possession
nia / nian — possession
nian'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
- Semana-semana Maria iha enkontru ho nia xefe.Every week Maria has a meeting with her boss.
- Ha'u sosa prezente ida atu fó ba kolega ne'ebé mak sei kazamentu iha semana oin.I bought a present for my friend who is going to get married next week.
- Semana kotuk konsellu pastorál hala'o enkontru hodi deside oráriu loron boot Paskua nian.Last week the pastoral council held a meeting to decide the schedule for the Easter season.
- Ohin ha'u atu bá partisipa hotu, komu alin feto moras, entaun la bele marka prezensa.Today I was going to participate too, however because my younger sister was sick, I could not be present.
- Uluk ema respeitu ó tanba ó servisu ho onestu, maibé agora ó nia naran aat ona tanba ó na'ok.People used to respect of you because you worked honestly, but now you have a bad reputation because you stole.
- Deskulpa! Sein kerér!Sorry! It wasn't on purpose!