Students whose marks don't need the criteria of the university will be expelled. in Tetun
Estudante ne'ebé nia notas la tuir kritéria universidade nian, sei hetan DO.
English → Tetun phrasebook
Grammar in this phrase
Possession
nia / nian — possession
nianian'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.
Aspect markers
sei — 'will' or 'still'
seiTetun has no verb conjugation. Aspect and tense are marked by particles. 'sei' sits immediately before the verb — marking a definite future ('will') or a continuative ('still'). Combine with 'hela' after the verb for ongoing action. Negation is 'sei la' = 'will not'.
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.
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
- Estuda maka'as, para bele hetan valór di'ak.Study hard, so you will get good marks.
- La bele fakar susu been iha ne'e, se lae sei konvida nehek mai.Don’t pour the milk here, or it will invite ants in.
- Mestre sira la bele fó valór ba estudante lufulafu de'it!Teachers can't just randomly assign marks to students!
- La bele rai bisikleta iha li'ur tanba ferujen lalais.Don’t leave the bicycle outside, as it will rust quickly.
- La bele hanaruk tan sira nia kontratu, tanba sira servisu la di'ak!Don't extend their contract, because they don't work well!
- Ó la bele nega ó nia kolega hanesan ne'e, tempu ida sei presiza nia.Don’t deny you friend like this, as one day you’ll need him.