Their wedding day is now close, but they still haven’t attended a pre-marriage course. in Tetun
Sira na'in rua nia loron kazamentu besik ona, maibé seidauk tuir formasaun kazamentu nian.
English → Tetun phrasebook
Grammar in this phrase
Possession
nia / nian — possession
nianian'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.
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
seidauk — 'not yet'
seidaukSingle word covering English 'not yet / hasn't ... yet'. Goes before 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
- 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.
- Sira sempre manifesta sira nia fidelidade ba sira nia lider.They always demonstrate their faithfulness to their leader.
- Sira servisu oin la moos hotu tanba simu subornu.They are not doing their work properly because they received bribes.
- Sira sei halo kordenasaun ho sira nia xefe depois mak fó desizaun.They will coordinate with their boss, then they will make a decision.
- Loja na'in nia jestaun osan aat tebes, ho nune'e sira tenke hapara sira nia negósiu.This shop’s financial management was very poor, with the result that they had to close down their business.