We're all related, yet treat each other as outsiders! in Tetun
Ita mesak raan ida de'it mak haree malu hanesan fali ema seluk!
English → Tetun phrasebook
Grammar in this phrase
Aspect markers
fali — 'again' / 'back' / 'instead'
faliPlaced after the verb. Can mean 'again / back' or mark an unexpected reversal ('instead'). Context decides which.
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'.
Reciprocal
malu — 'each other'
malu'malu' follows the verb to mark reciprocal action. Common in political / news idioms: 'haree malu diak' (get on well), 'diskuti malu' (argue), 'haan malu' (oppose one another), '(liafuan) la haan malu' (testimonies don't match).
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
- Sira hirus malu to'o ida-ida buka fatuk hodi tuda malu.They were angry at each other, to the extent that they each looked for rocks and threw them at each other.
- Ami hotu hela bes-besik malu.We all live close to each other.
- Dulce ho Joana seidauk koñese malu.Dulce and Joana don’t know each other yet.
- Hotu-hotu hamriik halo kabuar atu bele haree malu.All stand in a circle so you can see each other.
- Sira tuda malu ho fatuk, ha'u mak kona pankada.They were throwing stones at each other, but it was I who copped a blow.
- Maun-alin tenke hela dodook malu para saudades malu nafatin.Brothers and sisters should live far apart so that they keep missing each other.