Yesterday when I looked for lice on my niece, I squeezed a lot of lice dead. in Tetun
Horiseik ha'u buka subriña nia utu, ha'u hedi utu barak loos.
English → Tetun phrasebook
Grammar in this phrase
Intensifiers
Intensifiers (loos, tebes, demais, laduun)
loosPosition matters. 'loos' / 'tebes' / 'demais' follow the adjective ('barak loos' = very many). 'laduun' PRECEDES the adjective ('laduun diak' = not very good). 'liu tan' = even more.
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
- Horiseik Carlos hamoos uma laran, rai rahun barak loos, halo nia inus metin.Yesterday Carlos cleaned the house, and there was a lot of dust, which gave him a blocked nose.
- Horiseik ha'u telefone nia.Yesterday I rang him..
- Horiseik ami komesa hanorin.Yesterday we started teaching.
- Ha'u nia liman fuan boot kanek no ran maka'as.My thumb is wounded and bled a lot.
- Horiseik señór ida mai vizita ha'u.Yesterday a man came and visited me.
- Nia isin tuun loos tanba moras TB.She’s lost a lot of weight as she has TB.