My son wrecked someone’s car, but it’s I who took the blame. in Tetun
Ha'u nia oan halo ema nia kareta aat tiha, maibé ha'u mak lori todan fali.
English → Tetun phrasebook
Grammar in this phrase
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.
Aspect markers
fali — 'again' / 'back' / 'instead'
faliPlaced after the verb. Can mean 'again / back' or mark an unexpected reversal ('instead'). Context decides which.
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'.
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
- Kareta ne'e ha'u nian privadu, la'ós estadu nian.This car is my private car, not a government one.
- Apoli nia kareta mola fraku. Kuandu tama rai kuak halo isin moras hotu.The suspension of Apoli’s car is very weak. When the car hits a pothole we feel sore all over.
- Ne'e ha'u nia kareta.This is my car.
- Kareta ne'e ha'u nian.This car is mine.
- Sé mak lamas tiha ha'u nia osan?Who took my money?
- Kareta ne'e Marcos nian.This car is Marcos'.