The police decided to shoot dead this crocodile so that it couldn't bite other people when they went scavenging on the tidal flats. in Tetun
Pntl deside tiru mate tiha lafaek ne'e para la bele tata fali ema seluk waiñira bá meti iha tasi.
English → Tetun phrasebook
Grammar in this phrase
Aspect markers
fali — 'again' / 'back' / 'instead'
faliPlaced after the verb. Can mean 'again / back' or mark an unexpected reversal ('instead'). Context decides which.
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'.
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
- Sira hotu han to'o bosu. Han tiha, sira mós fahe malu.They all ate until they were satisfied. Having eaten, they went their separate ways.
- Sira hirus malu to'o ida-ida buka fatuk hodi tuda malu.They were angry at each other, to the extent that they each looked for rocks and threw them at each other.
- 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.
- Se ita nia lider iha kompleksu dé inferioridade maka'as, sei susar tebes defende interese povu nian, tanba la brani kontra ema hosi grupu seluk.If our leaders have a strong inferiority complex, it is difficult for them to defend the interests of the people, because they don't have the courage to oppose people from other groups.
- Sira somente lori formuláriu mai de'it, ema seluk mak prienxe.They only brought forms, it was other people who filled them in.
- Populasaun Oecusse hetan ajudu hosi governu tanba hetan dezastre naturais.The people of Oecusse received aid from the government because they went through a natural disaster.