My family will celebrate Christmas in Dili. 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'.

• 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.

Related phrases

• Aban ha'u sei tuir korida bisikleta hosi Dili ba Aileu.Tomorrow I will join a bicycle race from Dili to Aileu.
• Família ne'e sai hosi Dili bá hela fali iha foho.The family moved from Dili to live in the mountains again.
• Sira sei halo kordenasaun ho sira nia xefe depois mak fó desizaun.They will coordinate with their boss, then they will make a decision.
• Di'ak liu eskalda tiha na'an ne'e mak lori ba Dili, se lae bele dois.You should scald the meat before taking it to Dili, otherwise it will go smelly.
• Padre lee sai naran estudante sira ne'ebé sei simu prezente iha Natál.The priest read out the names of students who will receive their presents in Christmas.
• 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.