This country will not have peace if we are not united. in Tetun
Rai ida ne'e sei la iha pás se ita la iha unidade.
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.
Aspect markers
sei — 'will' or 'still'
seiTetun has no verb conjugation. Aspect and tense are marked by particles. 'sei' sits immediately before the verb — marking a definite future ('will') or a continuative ('still'). Combine with 'hela' after the verb for ongoing action. Negation is 'sei la' = 'will not'.
Conditionals
se / karik — conditionals
se'se' opens a definite conditional ('if X, then Y'). 'karik' sits at the end of a clause and hedges it ('perhaps'); it can also mark an uncertain conditional.
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
- Ha'u nia rain Timor, ha'u sei la soe ó.My country Timor, I will never leave you.
- Ita nia nasaun ne'e repúblika la'ós monárkia.Our country is republic country not monarchy.
- Konflitu iha ita nia rai laran halo ita moris la hakmatek.Conflict in our country makes us unable to live in peace and quiet.
- Sira sei halo kordenasaun ho sira nia xefe depois mak fó desizaun.They will coordinate with their boss, then they will make a decision.
- Governu sei hatuun dekretu lei hodi regulariza arte marsiais iha rai laran.The government will bring out a decree law to regulate martial arts in this country.
- Ita sei liu iha imigrasaun hodi revista ita nia sasán hotu mak foin ita bele sai ba li'ur.We will go through immigration where they will inspect our goods before we can go outside.