Now that Martinho has become a member of parliament, he wears a tie to work. in Tetun
Martinho sai ona deputadu, agora nia uza gravata ba servisu.
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.
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
- Atu sai ema, ita presiza serbisu maka'as.To become mature, you must work hard.
- Agora ita servisu tol-tolu lai.Now we’ll work in groups of three for a while.
- Nusaa ó inkomoda loos ha'u ne'e!? Agora atu servisu mós la di'ak!Why are you bothering me so much!? Now I can’t even work!
- Uluk Paulo ha'u nia kolega di'ak, agora sai fali inimigu.Paulo used to be my good friend. Now he’s become my enemy.
- Ita servisu iha rai li'ur, bele manán osan boot maibé servisu todan.If we work overseas, we can earn a lot of money, but the work is hard.
- Deputadu Martinho haree hetan Prado, matan lakan loos!When member of parliament saw a Prado (vehicle), his eyes really lit up!