The hen is brooding. Don't touch it. in Tetun
Manu inan ne'e luut hela nia oan, keta book.
English → Tetun phrasebook
Grammar in this phrase
Aspect markers
hela — 'currently' or 'reside'
helaAfter a verb, 'hela' marks continuous aspect ('is ...-ing'). As a standalone verb it means 'live, reside'. Often paired with 'sei' for 'is still ...-ing'.
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.
Prohibition & permission
keta / lalika / la bele — prohibition
ketaThree 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
- Hei! La bele book!Hey! Don't touch that!
- Keta book. Ne'e ema nian.Don't touch it. It's someone else's.
- Motór nia sira nian, la bele book.This motorbike is theirs. Don’t touch it.
- La bele hanaruk tan sira nia kontratu, tanba sira servisu la di'ak!Don't extend their contract, because they don't work well!
- Keta naran du'un ema karik ita la hatene problema ne'e nia lala'ok.Don’t arbitrarily accuse people if you don’t know the problem in-depth.
- Ó keta kaer ha'u nia kabun tanba makili, se lae ita rua bele monu ho motór.Don’t touch my belly because it’s ticklish, otherwise, we crash the motorbike.