Who took my money? in Tetun
Sé mak lamas tiha ha'u nia osan?
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
- Tia nia osan lakon, deskonfia fali ha'u mak foti.Auntie’s money has disappeared. She suspects I’m the one who took it.
- Iha tempu uluk, osan seidauk iha, Antonio fó manu troka ho Maria nia fós.In the past, before there was money, Antonio gave money in exchange for Maria's rice.
- Pedro simu osan barak hosi kompañia ida, maibé nia lori osan ne'e ba banku, falsu hotu!Pedro received a lot of money from a company, but when he took it to the bank, it was all counterfeit!
- Osan sei manán justisa mundu nian, tanba hodi osan ema sala bele sai ba loos.Money will defeat justice in the world, as with money people who have done wrong can be (judged) right.
- Nia ohin hemu ai-moruk musan rua.He took two tablets today.
- Ha'u tenke sura osan ne'e.I have to count this money.