The population of Dili is now over two hundred thousand. in Tetun
Sidade Dili nia populasaun liu ona ema rihun atus rua.
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.
Comparison
liu — comparison 'more / most'
liuTetun comparison uses 'X liu Y' not 'mais X' — the adjective stays put and 'liu' follows. With a focus 'mak' it becomes superlative. Avoid Portuguese-style 'melhor' or 'mais boot'.
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
- Ema atus rua servisu iha ne'e.Two hundred people work here.
- Ha'u iha osan dua ribu dolar iha banku.I have two thousand dollars in the bank.
- Ne'e dolar rihun ida atus lima.This is one thousand five hundred dollars.
- Semana kotuk padre fó sarani labarik hamutuk atus rua.Last week the priest christened two hundred children.
- Partisipante iha ami nia kursu Inglés kuaze atus rua.There are almost two hundred participants in our English course.
- Ha'u atu fotokopi surat-tahan ezame atus rua, nune'e presiza rim ida.I am going to photocopy two hundred exam papers, so I need a ream of photocopy paper.