My duties as a husband include cooking, cleaning the house and looking after the children. in Tetun
Ha'u nia knaar nu'udar kaben mane mak hanesan te'in, hamoos uma laran no tau matan ba labarik.
English → Tetun phrasebook
Grammar in this phrase
Focus
mak — focus marker
mak'mak' focuses the preceding constituent — used when English would bold or cleft ('it was X who...'). Also forms the superlative with 'liu'.
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
- Ita hatene ema ruma buka uma atu aluga ka?Do you know anyone looking for a house to rent?
- Madre sira iha Bebonuk tau matan ba labarik defisiente.The nuns in Bebonuk look after disabled children.
- Horiseik labarik sira ra'ut fo'er iha uma oin.Yesterday the children scooped up the rubbish in front of the house.
- Ita presiza uma provizóriu ida atu hela to'o ita bele harii ita nia uma rasik.We need a temporary house to stay in until we can build our own house.
- Feto ne'e nia matan kle'uk. Nia haree hela ita maibé ita hanoin kala haree buat seluk.This girl is cross-eyed. She is looking at us, but we think perhaps she’s looking at something else.
- Ha'u nia viziñu halo moru aas hale'u uma tanba ta'uk ema tuda.My neighbour build a high wall around the house out of fear that people would throw rocks (at the house).