This money is not enough to meet my needs. in Tetun
Osan ne'e la to'o atu responde ba ha'u nia nesesidade.
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
- Ha'u hakarak atu sosa kamera Canon ida maibé osan la iha.I would like to buy a Canon camera but I don’t have enough money.
- Iha tempu uluk, osan seidauk iha, Antonio fó manu troka ho Maria nia fós.In the past, before there was money, Antonio gave money in exchange for Maria's rice.
- Ropa fa'an iha Timor Plaza karun demais, ita nia osan la to'o atu sosa.Clothes sold at Timor Plaza are too expensive. We don’t have enough money to purchase them.
- Osan sei manán justisa mundu nian, tanba hodi osan ema sala bele sai ba loos.Money will defeat justice in the world, as with money people who have done wrong can be (judged) right.
- Sé mak lamas tiha ha'u nia osan?Who took my money?
- Ha'u tenke sura osan ne'e.I have to count this money.