Other nations can't take their laws here and apply them in Timor. in Tetun

Grammar in this phrase

• Negation

  la — 'not' (general negation)

  la

  Placed 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.

• 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.

• Possibility & probability

  bele / parese / dala ruma / kala — possibility

  bele

  Tetun 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.

Related phrases

• Sira na'in rua konslet hela, la bele bolu mai tuur hamutuk.The two of them are aren't talking, you can't call them to sit together.
• Haas huun boot ne'e nia fuan barak mangál ona, ita bele ku'u hodi han.This large mango tree has lots of nearly-ripe fruit. We can pick them and eat them.
• Neras ne'e ó kose ka, hoban de'it iha omu been foti ba habai ona?!Did you scrub the nappies, or just soak them in soapy water and then take them out to dry?
• Ita hakerek regulamentu, la bele copy-paste de'it hosi regulamentu instituisaun seluk nian!When you write rules, you can't just blindly copy them from the rules of other institutions!
• 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.
• Neras ne'e, ó kose ka lae? Ka hoban de'it iha omo been foti bá habai ona?Did you scrub these swaddling cloths? Or did you just rinse them in soap suds and then take them out to dry?