Younger sister, heat up some coffee for our visitors to drink. in Tetun
Alin, hamanas lai kafé fó ba ita nia bainaka hemu.
English → Tetun phrasebook
Grammar in this phrase
Aspect markers
lai — 'first' / polite request
laiAfter the verb or object, 'lai' means 'first, for a moment' — often softens a request by implying the action won't last long.
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
- Bá hola kafé rahun iha loja para ita halo kafé hemu.Go and get some powdered coffee from the shop so we can make some coffee to drink.
- Kafé ne'e ita hemu la di'ak tanba moruk loos. Tenke tau masin midar uitoan.This coffee isn’t good to drink because it is too bitter. You need to add some sugar.
- Naza kaan loos atu hemu kafé.Naza craves to drink coffee.
- Ema balu gosta baria, balu la gosta.Some people like bitter gourd, some don’t.
- Alin, ó bá ne'ebé?'Younger brother/sister', where are you going?
- Dadeer-dadeer ha'u nia alin sempre dasa rai.My younger sister does the sweeping every morning.