My neighbours had a fight because they accused each other’s (wives) of being witches. in Tetun
Ha'u nia viziñu sira baku malu tanba du'un malu buan.
English → Tetun phrasebook
Grammar in this phrase
Reciprocal
malu — 'each other'
malu'malu' follows the verb to mark reciprocal action. Common in political / news idioms: 'haree malu diak' (get on well), 'diskuti malu' (argue), 'haan malu' (oppose one another), '(liafuan) la haan malu' (testimonies don't match).
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
- Sira hirus malu to'o ida-ida buka fatuk hodi tuda malu.They were angry at each other, to the extent that they each looked for rocks and threw them at each other.
- Sira servisu oin la moos hotu tanba simu subornu.They are not doing their work properly because they received bribes.
- Sira tuda malu ho fatuk, ha'u mak kona pankada.They were throwing stones at each other, but it was I who copped a blow.
- Maun-alin tenke hela dodook malu para saudades malu nafatin.Brothers and sisters should live far apart so that they keep missing each other.
- Sira hotu han to'o bosu. Han tiha, sira mós fahe malu.They all ate until they were satisfied. Having eaten, they went their separate ways.
- Ha'u haluha nia oin tanba kleur loos la hetan malu.I’ve forgotten what he looks like, because we haven’t seen each other for a long time.