Take care of this data so that it doesn’t get lost. in Tetun
Tenke kuidadu dadus ne'e atu la bele lakon.
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.
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'.
Prohibition & permission
keta / lalika / la bele — prohibition
la beleThree strengths of 'don't': 'lalika(n)' is softest — 'no need to, don't bother'. 'keta' is a direct prohibitive command. 'la bele' = 'not allowed, must not'.
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
- Imi atu bá ema nia rai tenke lori mapa, para la bele lakon.When you go to someone else’s country you should take a map, so you won’t get lost.
- Ita la'o korta dalan para to'o lalais iha uma.We’ll take a short-cut so we get home quickly.
- Ita nia ain kanek ne'e presiza bobar ligadura para fo'er la bele kona.Your injured leg needs to be bandaged so that dirt doesn’t get into it.
- Ó mate mós la lori ó nia riku, maibé lori de'it ai-kabelak ualu!When you die you won't take your wealth with you, you'll only take eight planks!
- Labarik lombriga iha nia kabun laran presiza hemu ai-moruk para nia sai tiha.Children who have intestinal worms need to take some medicine to get rid of them.
- Mezmu ó nia serbisu barak, maibé tenke atende mós labarik sira.Even though you have a lot of work to do, you still need to take care the children too.