Whoever works hard will get a bonus. in Tetun
Sé mak servisu badinas, nia hetan bonus.
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
- Estuda maka'as, para bele hetan valór di'ak.Study hard, so you will get good marks.
- Ita bá Same agora, araska, tanba dalan kotu.It’s hard to get to Same at present, as the road is cut.
- Sé mak servisu iha governu, ful-fulan simu saláriu.Whoever works in the government receives a salary every month.
- Jina ema ida ne'ebé badinas loos, nia servisu maka'as, dadeer to'o kalan.Jina is a very diligent person. She works hard from morning to night.
- Sira sei halo kordenasaun ho sira nia xefe depois mak fó desizaun.They will coordinate with their boss, then they will make a decision.
- Rama oan tama ó nia isin, sai araska, tenke koá sai.If an arrow goes into your body, it’s hard to get it out. It has to be cut out.