Our director has just resigned to become a government minister. So we must appoint someone else as permanent director, not just as an acting director. in Tetun
Ita nia diretór foin rezigna an atu sai fali ministru. Nune'e ita presiza foti fali ema seluk sai diretór definitivu, la bele foti reitór interinu de'it.
English → Tetun phrasebook
Grammar in this phrase
Aspect markers
fali — 'again' / 'back' / 'instead'
faliPlaced after the verb. Can mean 'again / back' or mark an unexpected reversal ('instead'). Context decides which.
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.
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
- Se ami hamriik tonka de'it kanotak to'o tuku lima mós, di'ak mak ne'e!Even if we have to just stand with our hands on our hips until 5 o’clock, then it's going to suck.
- Ita presiza hasa'e ita nia kompetitividade, la'ós de'it atu kompete iha rai laran, maibé atu kompete mós iha rai li'ur.We must raise our competitivity, not just to compete within the country, but also to compete overseas.
- Ita tenke hadomi ita nia funu-balun.We must love our enemies.
- Ita tenke haboot ita nia fiar.We must increase our faith.
- Ita tenke respeita ita nia inan-aman.We must respect our parents.
- Juiz tenke hatuun desizaun ne'ebé justu.Judges must make just decisions.