Today Maria didn’t come to work. Perhaps she is sick. in Tetun
Ohin Maria la mai servisu. Dala ruma nia moras.
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.
Possibility & probability
bele / parese / dala ruma / kala — possibility
dala rumaTetun 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'.
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
- Di'ak ida nia mai, di'ak ida la mai.Perhaps he'll come, perhaps he won't.
- Ina ohin la bá eskola, tanba moras.Ina didn't go to school today, as she is sick.
- Hori ohin ha'u hein ita iha kampus maibé la mai lalais, entaun ha'u fila fali ba uma.Earlier today I waited for you on campus, but you didn’t come quickly, so I went back home.
- Pora! Nusaa mak ohin nia la mai?!Good grief! Why didn't he come!
- Ohin dadeer ha'u la bá servisu.This morning I didn't go to work.
- Ha'u ohin haree hetan Maria iha Plaza laran.I spotted Maria today in the Plaza.