Your injured leg needs to be bandaged so that dirt doesn’t get into it. in Tetun
Ita nia ain kanek ne'e presiza bobar ligadura para fo'er la bele kona.
English → Tetun phrasebook
Grammar in this phrase
Negation
la — 'not' (general negation)
laPlaced before verbs and adjectives to negate them. For contrastive 'not X but Y' use 'laós'; for 'not yet' use 'seidauk'; for 'no longer' wrap 'la ... ona' around the verb.
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
beleTetun 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.
Translate your own text with the free English ↔ Tetun translator or look up individual words in the Tetun dictionary.
Related phrases
- Tenke kuidadu dadus ne'e atu la bele lakon.Take care of this data so that it doesn’t get lost.
- Soares bá kura nia ain kanek iha klínika Cindranita.Soares went to cure his injured leg at Cindranita clinic.
- Ha'u nia oin presiza kose kreme Citra para nia hetan nutrisiaun kulit.My face needs some Citra cream to be applied for it to get good skin nutrition.
- Rama oan tama ó nia isin, sai araska, tenke koá sai.If an arrow goes into your body, it’s hard to get it out. It has to be cut out.
- Foti lai lona mai satán netik ai-maran para udan been la bele kona.Fetch a tarpaulin here to cover the firewood so that the rainwater won't get into it.
- Avoo mane nia matan malahuk ona, nia presiza kaer ai-tonka hodi la'o.Grandfather doesn’t see well any more. He needs to hold on to a walking stick to walk.