Victor studied hard every night. That’s why he got good marks in the national exams. in Tetun
Victor estuda maka'as kal-kalan. Nune'e mak nia hetan rezultadu ne'ebé di'ak iha ezame nasionál.
English → Tetun phrasebook
Grammar in this phrase
Focus
mak — focus marker
mak'mak' focuses the preceding constituent — used when English would bold or cleft ('it was X who...'). Also forms the superlative with 'liu'.
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
- Estela hetan notas di'ak iha ezame tanba nia estuda maka'as.Estela got good marks in the exam because she studied hard.
- Estuda maka'as, para bele hetan valór di'ak.Study hard, so you will get good marks.
- Ami kala-kalan buka ikan. Tanba agora ne'e kan, buka osan araska.We go fishing every night. Because after all, it’s really hard to earn money these days.
- Ami reza hamutuk kal-kalan.We pray together every night.
- Bonoiti, maun.Good evening/night, older brother.
- Ha'u nia oan mane boot ne'e matenek, nia sempre hetan valór boot iha eskola.My oldest son is smart. He always gets good marks at school.