There must be no manipulation, intimidation or terror campaigns to win the election. in Tetun
La bele iha manipulasaun, intimidasaun no terór atu manán eleisaun.
English → Tetun phrasebook
Grammar in this phrase
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'.
Prohibition & permission
keta / lalika / la bele — prohibition
la beleThree strengths of 'don't': 'lalika(n)' is softest — 'no need to, don't bother'. 'keta' is a direct prohibitive command. 'la bele' = 'not allowed, must not'.
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
- STAE hasai esteitmentu katak eleisaun ne'e iha sala maibé la iha manipulasaun.STAE released a statement that the election had involved errors but that there had been no manipulation.
- Se governu ida monu, tenke halo eleisaun antisipada.If a government falls, we must have an early election.
- Iha eskola tenke eziste interasaun ne'ebé di'ak entre profesór ho alunus.At school there must be good interaction between teachers and pupils.
- Tenke iha konsisténsia entre saida mak ita planeia ho saida mak ita implementa.There must be consistency between what we plan and what we implement.
- Ita halo funu durante 24 anus, la'ós insusesu de'it, susesu mós iha.During those 24 years that we fought, there weren't just failures, there were also successes.
- Semana liu ba udan boot. To'o agora bee nalihun iha uma oin, halo susuk barak tan de'it.Last week there was heavy rain. Even now there is water pooled in front of the house, leading to an increase in mosquitoes.