Your letters are like birds picking at the ground! I can't read it. in Tetun
Ó nia letra hanesan manu sukit rai! Ha'u haree la 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.
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.
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
- Atu hatene tan, ita boot sira bele sani artigu iha kraik.To know more, you can read the article below.
- Ó ne'e mane, tenke hatudu ó nia hahalok nu'udar mane, la bele hanesan fali feto.You’re a man, and should act like a man, not like a woman.
- Faru ne'e haree hanesan bosan tiha ona, la bele uza ba festa.This top looks like it’s worn out. You can’t wear it to a party.
- Labarik sira iha primeiru anu hatene ona hakerek letra Á to'o Z.The children in first grade can already write the letters A to Z.
- Mina rai bele sai bénsaun ba nasaun, maibé bele mós sai malisan.Petroleum can be a blessing to a nation, but can also become a curse.
- Ami rasik la bele ajuda ita, maibé ami bele husu ajuda ba ema seluk.We ourselves can’t help you, but we can ask for help from someone else.