When the bell rings twice, this is a sign that the candidate's time (to talk) is over. in Tetun
Waiñira sinu dere dala rua, ne'e sinál katak kandidatu nia tempu hotu ona.
English → Tetun phrasebook
Grammar in this phrase
Aspect markers
ona — 'already' (perfective)
onaPlaced after the verb (or after the object), 'ona' marks that something has already happened. Cannot stand alone — must belong to a sentence. See also 'tiha ona' for a stronger completed aspect.
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
- Mestre hanorin full-time ka part-time?Does the teacher teach full-time or part-time?
- Manu aman kokoreek hanesan sinál katak loro-matan nakfera tiha ona.Roosters were crowing as a sign that the sun had poked over the horizon.
- Fó netik tempu ruma oituan mai ha'u atu ko'alia lai ho ha'u nia oan molok imi lori ha'u ba komarka.Just give me a little time to talk to my son before you take me to prison.
- Ha'u lakon tempu barak bá kursu, maibé la aprende buat ida.I have wasted time so much time attending a course, but didn’t learn anything.
- Nia moras riins kleur ona, agora tenke bá ospitál fasi raan semana ida dala rua.He's had kidney disease for a long time, now he has to go to the hospital for dialysis twice a week.
- Nia idade sesenta í tál anus.She's over 60.