The sun's already high in the sky. Why hasn't this kid got up yet? in Tetun
Loro aas ona. Nusaa mak labarik ne'e la hadeer de'it?
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.
Focus
mak — focus marker
mak'mak' focuses the preceding constituent — used when English would bold or cleft ('it was X who...'). Also forms the superlative with 'liu'.
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.
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
- Nia sei moris. (Nia seidauk mate.)He’s still alive. (He hasn’t died yet.)
- Jorge seidauk han. Nia hamlaha loos!Jorge hasn't eaten yet. He's very hungry!
- Kareta ne'e kualidade di'ak, nia folin moos aas loos.This car is of high quality, and its prices is also very high.
- Ó ne'e musteek mós, hakarak hatene hotu!You're just a snotty-nosed kid, and yet you want to know everything!
- Nia mehi ne'e aas loos, no agora dadaun sei imposivel atu konkretiza.His dream is very high, and is as yet impossible to turn into reality.
- Alunus sira halo barullu iha klase laran tanba mestra seidauk mai.The pupils are making a lot of noise in the classroom as the teacher hasn’t come yet.