Pedro is traumatized as the militia shot dead his father right in front of him. in Tetun

Grammar in this phrase

• Intensifiers

  Intensifiers (loos, tebes, demais, laduun)

  loos

  Position matters. 'loos' / 'tebes' / 'demais' follow the adjective ('barak loos' = very many). 'laduun' PRECEDES the adjective ('laduun diak' = not very good). 'liu tan' = even more.

• 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.

• Verb sequences

  Result-verb sequences (baku mate, tiru mate)

  tiru mate

  Transitive verb + intransitive verb = action + result. 'baku mate' = beat to death; 'tiru mate' = shoot dead; 'duni sai' = chase out. Keep the two verbs adjacent.

More patterns like these in the Tetun grammar guide.

Related phrases

• Polísia tiru milísia ida, kona nia ain.The police shot a militia, and (the bullet) struck his leg.
• Nia aman la fó osan nia ne'e mak nia tanis halo bulak rai tiha de'it ne'e.When his father didn't give him money he just cried intensely.
• Atoy tuku nia kolega nia kabun mamar to'o monu fatin.Atoy punched his colleague in the centre of his stomach, making him fall down on the spot.
• Afonso hasoru problema finanseiru, halo nia la bele kontinua nia estudu iha universidade.Afonso faced financial problems, making him unable to continue his his study at university.
• Mateus agora de'ut hela nia matan, tanba ai-luruk mak tama.Mateus is rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands, because a prickle has gotten into his eye.
• Problema ne'e nia fukun iha ne'ebé? - Nia fukun tanba nia apá uluk la husu deskulpa ba nia avoo sira.Where does this problem derive from? - Its roots are that his father didn't ask forgiveness of his grandparents.