We chased the thief but were unable to catch up. in Tetun
Ami duni na'ok-teen la toman.
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.
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 nia ruin siin loos, halo ha'u toba mós la di'ak.I have got terrible arthritis, making me unable to sleep well.
- Alita gugulai, nia uza jestu hodi komunika ho ita.Alita is unable to speak, she uses gestures to communicate with us.
- Ami bá kaer boek iha mota laran hodi lori bá uma halo modo.We went to catch shrimps in the river to bring home and cook them .
- Konflitu iha ita nia rai laran halo ita moris la hakmatek.Conflict in our country makes us unable to live in peace and quiet.
- Sira duni fahi ne'e, tuda dima ba, borus liu.They chased the pig, threw a spear at it, and it went right through.
- Hori kalan na'ok-teen selok ami nia odamatan hodi tama mai na'ok sasán.Last night a thief forced open our door (with a lever) and came in to steal things.