This boy is timid, too scared to speak in the front. in Tetun
Labarik mane ne'e mentál la iha, nia ta'uk atu ko'alia iha oin.
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.
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
- Tenke ko'alia sukat ibun, la bele ko'alia tuir ó nia hakarak.You must weigh up your words. Don’t just speak as you want to speak.
- Favór ida, ko'alia Tetun.Please, speak Tetun.
- Favór ida, ko'alia neineik.Please, speak slowly.
- Keta tanis resik tanba ha'u!Don't cry too much for me!
- Ha'u bá hotu.I went too (with the others).
- António hamoos du'ut iha uma oin.António weeded the front yard.