When you dry meat, it mustn't be too dry. When you see it is nearly dry, get it (inside). in Tetun

Grammar in this phrase

• Aspect markers

  ona — 'already' (perfective)

  ona

  Placed 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.

• Comparison

  liu — comparison 'more / most'

  liu

  Tetun comparison uses 'X liu Y' not 'mais X' — the adjective stays put and 'liu' follows. With a focus 'mak' it becomes superlative. Avoid Portuguese-style 'melhor' or 'mais boot'.

• Negation

  la — 'not' (general negation)

  la

  Placed 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.

Related phrases

• Ami haree asu nia ain fatin iha uma laran.We see dog footprints inside the house.
• Sees hosi ha'u nia uma! Ha'u la gosta haree ó nia oin.Get away from my house! I don’t like to see your face.
• Na'an fahi ne'e nia mina barak, ita han halo bokur ita nia isin.This pig meat has a lot of oil in it. If we eat it, we'll get fat.
• Ha'u habai ropa iha li'ur para loro matan kona hodi halo maran lalais.I hung the clothes outside so that they get some sunlight and dry quickly.
• Ha'u nia matan hateke dook la moos, maibé se ha'u uza okulu haree moos loos.I can’t see clearly in the distance. But if I put a glasses, I can see clearly.
• Fila modo mat-matak de'it, la bele halo dodok liu!Stir-fry the vegetables only til they are al dente, don't let them get too soft!