Why does she get angry so fast? in Tetun

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.

• 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

• La bele hirus beibeik; se lae, ferik lailais.Don’t get angry all the time; otherwise you’ll grow old quickly.
• Venâncio halai bisikleta maka'as loos atu bele to'o uma lalais.Venâncio rode his bicycle very fast so that he could get home quickly.
• Ema ne'e matan mean, keta ranxu ho nia, se lae nia raan sa'e oho fali imi.This person is a murderer. Don't mix with him, or he could get angry and kill you.
• Ha'u iha ai-sasi'ik ida: Taa rai hetan fatuk, taa fatuk hetan bee.I have a riddle: (If you) cut the earth you get a stone, (if you) cut a rock you get water.
• Foti ain la'o!Get moving!
• Ha'u la hetan doit metan ida!I didn't get any money at all!