Today when I saw Alcina on the road, I beeped her, but she didn't look my way. in Tetun
Ohin ha'u haree Alcina iha dalan, ha'u klakson nia mós, la hateke mai.
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
- 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!
- Tia sikat ulsuku iha fuuk.Auntie stuck her hairpin through her hair.
- Ina ohin la bá eskola, tanba moras.Ina didn't go to school today, as she is sick.
- Pedro haree feto ida oin di'ak loos, no gosta namora ho nia.Pedro saw a good-looking girl and wants to date her.
- Maria sateia hela de'it nia amá tanba osan.Maria keeps hassling her mother (to give her) money.
- Ohin Maria la mai servisu. Dala ruma nia moras.Today Maria didn’t come to work. Perhaps she is sick.