When you write rules, you can't just blindly copy them from the rules of other institutions! 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

  nian

  '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

• Nasaun seluk la bele lori sira nia lei mai aplika iha Timor.Other nations can't take their laws here and apply them in Timor.
• Ó la bele konta sai ba ema seluk tanba ida ne'e buat uma laran nian.You can't tell other people, because this is just within the family.
• Sira na'in rua konslet hela, la bele bolu mai tuur hamutuk.The two of them are aren't talking, you can't call them to sit together.
• Haas huun boot ne'e nia fuan barak mangál ona, ita bele ku'u hodi han.This large mango tree has lots of nearly-ripe fruit. We can pick them and eat them.
• Neras ne'e ó kose ka, hoban de'it iha omu been foti ba habai ona?!Did you scrub the nappies, or just soak them in soapy water and then take them out to dry?
• 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.