Who got my son/daughter drunk? in Tetun
Sé mak fó lanu ha'u nia oan ne'e?
English → Tetun phrasebook
Grammar in this phrase
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'.
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
- Sira soe malu ona.They got divorced
- Oan, lolo masin mai ha'u atu ha'u bele uza.Son, hand me the salt so I can use it.
- Rai sei nakukun bainhira Julieta hadeer husi nia toba fatin.It was still dark when Julieta got up.
- Ha'u nia oan feto ikun seidauk tama eskola.My youngest daughter has not yet started school.
- Nia bá tato ai-funan iha nia liman.He went and got a tattoo of a flower on his arm.
- Ha'u nia ropa fo'er barak loos, tenke fasi agora!I have got many dirty clothes. I have to wash them now!