Today many horses came and ate all the corn in Tina’s garden. Now their owner has to repay her. in Tetun
Ohin kuda barak mai han hotu mana Tina nia batar iha toos laran, kuda nia na'in tenke selu fali.
English → Tetun phrasebook
Grammar in this phrase
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.
Aspect markers
fali — 'again' / 'back' / 'instead'
faliPlaced after the verb. Can mean 'again / back' or mark an unexpected reversal ('instead'). Context decides which.
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
- Imi kuda batar oin hira? - Ami kuda oin rua: batar lais ho batar boot.How many types of corn did you plant? - We planted two types: ‘quick’ corn and ‘big’ corn.
- Nia namoradu ne'e hais nia to'o lima sén mós la iha nia isin!Her boyfriend bled her dry till she didn't even have five cents left on her!
- 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.
- Menina ne'e haluha prega butaun faru nian, halo ema hotu fihir nia.The young lady forgot to button up her shirt button, with the result that many people stared at her.
- Agora ita hotu goza paz ho estabilidade.Now we all enjoy peace and stability.
- Mestre hotu-hotu ohin bá Baucau.All the teachers went to Baucau today.