When you go to someone else’s country you should take a map, so you won’t get lost. in Tetun

Grammar in this phrase

• 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.

• 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.

• Possibility & probability

  bele / parese / dala ruma / kala — possibility

  bele

  Tetun hedges less than English, but has a cluster of markers. 'bele' before the verb = can / may. 'parese' at the start = 'seems'. 'dala ruma' at the start of a clause = 'perhaps, sometimes'. 'kala / kal' before a number = 'approximately'.

More patterns like these in the Tetun grammar guide.

Related phrases

• Tenke kuidadu dadus ne'e atu la bele lakon.Take care of this data so that it doesn’t get lost.
• Ó mate mós la lori ó nia riku, maibé lori de'it ai-kabelak ualu!When you die you won't take your wealth with you, you'll only take eight planks!
• Ferik balu dehan, se sukaer musan kona, entaun foti batar kose hadulas dala hitu. Depois tuku rahun tiha batar ne'e, se lae, hodi batar ne'e soe tiha ba fahi han.Some older women say, if you have swollen glands, then you should take a (cob of) corn and swirl it around the gland seven times. Then smash the corn, or else throw it to the pigs to eat.
• Keta book. Ne'e ema nian.Don't touch it. It's someone else's.
• Ita nia nasaun ne'e repúblika la'ós monárkia.Our country is republic country not monarchy.
• Ita la'o korta dalan para to'o lalais iha uma.We’ll take a short-cut so we get home quickly.