Whose phone is ringing? in Tetun
Sé nia telefone mak lian?
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
- Ha'u koir hela pulsa atu enxe ba telefone, para telefone ba ferik lai.I scrape off the phone recharge card to top up my phone, so I can call my mother.
- Xá ne'e sé nian?Whose is this tea?
- Ne'e sé nia uma?Whose house is this?
- Ita ko'alia via telefone.We talked over the phone.
- Ó nia númeru telefone hira?What is your phone number?
- Ne'e ha'u nia telefone, ida ne'ebá ó nian.This is my phone, the one there is yours.