The police have warned the youth that they should not go out at night. in Tetun
Polísia alerta ona ba joven sira atu la bele sai iha tempu kalan.
English → Tetun phrasebook
Grammar in this phrase
Aspect markers
ona — 'already' (perfective)
onaPlaced after the verb (or after the object), 'ona' marks that something has already happened. Cannot stand alone — must belong to a sentence. See also 'tiha ona' for a stronger completed aspect.
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
- Ita la'o kalan, kuidadu rama ambon.If you go out at night, watch out for metal darts.
- 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 ne'e oportunista de'it. Uluk rai susar, sira halai sai ba rai li'ur, maibé agora sira mai fali buka pozisaun iha governu.They are just opportunists. In the past when it was hard, they fled overseas, but now they have come back seeking positions in the government.
- Ami servisu to'o kosar metan sai.They worked hard such that their sweat poured out.
- Sira sempre xave odamatan waiñira sira sai husi uma.They always lock the door when they leave the house.
- Sira hotu riku. Maski nune'e, sira lakoi ajuda ami.They are all rich. Nevertheless, they refused to help us.