The child wants to brush his teeth but doesn’t have a toothbrush. in Tetun
Labarik ne'e atu kose nehan maibé nia la iha eskova.
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.
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
- Uza eskova nehan ida ne'e hodi kose nehan didi'ak molok toba.Use this toothbrush to brush your teeth well before going to sleep.
- 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.
- Labarik ne'e kesi ikun ba nia inan-aman.The child depends on his parents.
- Nia saláriu hakerek klaru iha kontratu laran.His salary is clearly written in his contract.
- Janio monu ho motor, nia ain tohar.Janio fell off his motorbike and broke his leg.
- Labarik hemu bee malirin halo nia inus been sulin.The child drank cold water, making his nose run.