Money will defeat justice in the world, as with money people who have done wrong can be (judged) right. in Tetun

Grammar in this phrase

• Aspect markers

  sei — 'will' or 'still'

  sei

  Tetun has no verb conjugation. Aspect and tense are marked by particles. 'sei' sits immediately before the verb — marking a definite future ('will') or a continuative ('still'). Combine with 'hela' after the verb for ongoing action. Negation is 'sei la' = 'will not'.

• Intensifiers

  Intensifiers (loos, tebes, demais, laduun)

  loos

  Position matters. 'loos' / 'tebes' / 'demais' follow the adjective ('barak loos' = very many). 'laduun' PRECEDES the adjective ('laduun diak' = not very good). 'liu tan' = even more.

• 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.

Related phrases

• Ema boot servisu iha parlamentu, balu han matak povu nia osan.Some senior people who work in the parliament swindle the people of their money.
• Ita sei liu iha imigrasaun hodi revista ita nia sasán hotu mak foin ita bele sai ba li'ur.We will go through immigration where they will inspect our goods before we can go outside.
• Kuandu ema hala'o edukasaun sívika, sira hanorin povu kona ba lia polítiku nian, no mós kona ba direitu no responsabilidade reinu nian, atu foti povu nia konsiénsia polítiku.When people conduct civic education, they teach the people about political affairs, and also about the rights and responsibilities of the people, to raise their political awareness.
• Oinsá mak ita bele hetan osan atu selu eskola?How can we get money to pay for schooling?
• Ita tenke matan moris neon na'in para ema la bele manipula ita.We need to be alert, so people can’t manipulate us.
• Iha Tasi Tolu nenee, ema la bele hariis, tanba tasi ne'e lulik.Here in Tasi Tolu, people can’t bathe, as it taboo.