Some people put candlenut on the baby's fontanel so that cold won't get in. in Tetun
Ema balu taka bebé nia baboton ho kamii para malirin la bele tama.
English → Tetun phrasebook
Grammar in this phrase
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.
Possibility & probability
bele / parese / dala ruma / kala — possibility
beleTetun 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.
Translate your own text with the free English ↔ Tetun translator or look up individual words in the Tetun dictionary.
Related phrases
- Ema balu gosta baria, balu la gosta.Some people like bitter gourd, some don’t.
- Ema balu kose kamii ba isin hodi kura isin manas.Some people rub candlenut on the skin to cure fever.
- Ema boot servisu iha parlamentu, balu han matak povu nia osan.Some senior people who work in the parliament swindle the people of their money.
- Bá hola kafé rahun iha loja para ita halo kafé hemu.Go and get some powdered coffee from the shop so we can make some coffee to drink.
- Iha krize 2006 ema balu dehan, "Povu duni kaixaun, boot sira duni kadeira."During the 2006 crisis some people said, "The common people chase death, the leaders chase seats (of power)."
- Kuandu ema hala'o edukasaun sívika, sira hanorin povu kona ba lia polítiku nian, no mós kona ba direitu no responsabilidade reinu nian, atu foti povu nia konsiénsia polítiku.When people conduct civic education, they teach the people about political affairs, and also about the rights and responsibilities of the people, to raise their political awareness.