Mum always chews betetlnut. When she has no betel pepper, she sends me to buy some. in Tetun
Amá mama dór malus. Kuandu malus la iha, nia haruka ha'u bá hola.
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
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.
Time expressions
Temporal connectors
kuanduCommon time words: 'bainhira / kuandu' = when; 'molok / antes' = before; 'depois' and 'liu tiha' = after; 'kedas' = immediately; 'foin' = only just, very recently; 'kleur' = a long time.
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
- Tia homan mama fatin para atu tau nia bua malus iha laran.Auntie wove a betel container to keep her betel nut and betel pepper in.
- Ha'u sosa lai malus futun ida para bele look ferik sira.I'll buy a bundle of betel pepper leaves so that I can offer betel nut to the old ladies.
- Loja balu iha Timor Plaza halo hela deskontu ba ropa, di'ak liu ita bá sosa agora.Some shops in the Timor Plaza have discounts on clothes. Let’s go and buy some now.
- Ha'u nia mamá sempre hotar ami kuandu nia hirus.My mum always curses us when she’s angry.
- Ema balu gosta baria, balu la gosta.Some people like bitter gourd, some don’t.
- Mama sempre hanorin ha'u atu sai feto serbí na'in.Mum always taught me to be a woman who serves others.