You’d better button up your shirt, because it is open. in Tetun
Di'ak liu prega tiha ó nia kamiza nia butaun, tanba nakloke hela.
English → Tetun phrasebook
Grammar in this phrase
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.
Aspect markers
hela — 'currently' or 'reside'
helaAfter a verb, 'hela' marks continuous aspect ('is ...-ing'). As a standalone verb it means 'live, reside'. Often paired with 'sei' for 'is still ...-ing'.
Comparison
liu — comparison 'more / most'
liuTetun comparison uses 'X liu Y' not 'mais X' — the adjective stays put and 'liu' follows. With a focus 'mak' it becomes superlative. Avoid Portuguese-style 'melhor' or 'mais boot'.
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
- Menina ne'e haluha prega butaun faru nian, halo ema hotu fihir nia.The young lady forgot to button up her shirt button, with the result that many people stared at her.
- Uluk ema respeitu ó tanba ó servisu ho onestu, maibé agora ó nia naran aat ona tanba ó na'ok.People used to respect of you because you worked honestly, but now you have a bad reputation because you stole.
- Loke odamatan lai.Open the door.
- Odamatan ne'e loke halo nusaa?How do you open this door?
- Ha'u nia faru mean pár ho ha'u nia kalsa.My red shirt matches my pants.
- Odamatan nakloke ba ita boot sira hotu.The door is open to all of you.