Normally you don't go near a church, but when someone is close to death you go and look for a priest. in Tetun
Loron baileet imi la besik igreja, tempu agonia ona mak imi buka padre.
English → Tetun phrasebook
Grammar in this phrase
Aspect markers
ona — 'already' (perfective)
onaPlaced after the verb (or after the object), 'ona' marks that something has already happened. Cannot stand alone — must belong to a sentence. See also 'tiha ona' for a stronger completed aspect.
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.
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
- Keta book. Ne'e ema nian.Don't touch it. It's someone else's.
- Han ga lae mak ne'e, ó nia isin ruin maran loos hanesan ne'e!Don’t you eat? You look extremely skinny!
- Liaun ne'ebá si'ak loos. Keta bá hamriik besik.That lion is very fierce. Don’t stand near it.
- La bele taka janela tanba rai manas loos.Don’t close the windows because the weather is very hot.
- Kultu Domingu iha igreja Hosana hahú tuku 9.The Sunday church service in Hosana church starts at 9am.
- La bele hanaruk tan sira nia kontratu, tanba sira servisu la di'ak!Don't extend their contract, because they don't work well!