No one escapes from death. in Tetun
La iha ema ida mak bele halai sees hosi mate.
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'.
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.
Possibility & probability
bele / parese / dala ruma / kala — possibility
beleTetun hedges less than English, but has a cluster of markers. 'bele' before the verb = can / may. 'parese' at the start = 'seems'. 'dala ruma' at the start of a clause = 'perhaps, sometimes'. 'kala / kal' before a number = 'approximately'.
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
- Totál estudante iha eskola ne'e sentu í ún pesoas.The total number of students in this school is one hundred and one.
- Hau hameno serveja ida.I ordered one beer.
- Ita gosta livru ida ne'ebé?Which (one) book do you like?
- Ha'u ma hatete.I was the one who said (that).
- Nai, ida be Ita hadomi ne'e moras.Lord, the one You love is sick.
- Ha'u ladún gosta ida ne'e.I don’t like this one very much.