Daily Activities

Master the fundamentals of Daily Activities

Module 4: Numbers and Counting

Skill 1 – Basic Numbers (0-20)

Numbers are essential in daily life — whether you're buying something at the market, telling the time, or giving your phone number. In this lesson, you will learn how to count from 0 to 20 in Tetum and use them naturally in short conversations. You'll also practice simple question-and-answer patterns to make counting feel natural in real-life situations.

You will learn to:

  • Say numbers from 0 to 20 in Tetum.
  • Use numbers for counting and giving information.
  • Ask and answer simple quantity questions.

1. Key Vocabulary: Numbers (0–20)

Tetum English Tetum English
0. zero zero 11. sanulu-resin ida eleven
1. ida one 12. sanulu-resin rua twelve
2. rua two 13. sanulu-resin tolu thirteen
3. tolu three 14. sanulu-resin haat fourteen
4. haat four 15. sanulu-resin lima fifteen
5. lima five 16. sanulu-resin neen sixteen
6. neen six 17. sanulu-resin hitu seventeen
7. hitu seven 18. sanulu-resin ualu eighteen
8. ualu eight 19. sanulu-resin sia nineteen
9. sia nine 20. rua-nulu twenty
10. sanulu ten

2. Examples & Mini Dialogues

Dialogue 1 – Asking quantity

A: Ita-boot iha banana hira? (How many bananas do you have?)

B: Hau iha banana lima. (I have five bananas)

Dialogue 2 – At the market

A: Ida nee folin hira? (How much is this one?)

B: dollar sanulu

Dialogue 3 – Talking about age

A: Ita tinan hira? (How old are you?)

B: Hau-nia tinan sanulu-resin hitu. (I am seventeen years old)

3. Practice

A. Fill in the blanks:
  1. Ida nee folin ______? (How much is this one?)
  2. Sura husi ida, ______, tolu, ______, lima. (Count from 1 to 5)
  3. Hau-nia tinan ______. (I am eleven years old)
  4. Ida nee dollar ______. (This is 10 dollar)
B. Translate to Tetum:
  1. Six
  2. Fourteen
  3. Twenty

4. Answer Key & Explanation

A. Fill in the blanks
  1. Ida nee folin hira? (How much is this one?)
  2. Rua, Haat → "ida, rua, tolu, haat, lima."
  3. Sanulu-resin ida → "Hau tinan sanulu-resin ida."
  4. Sanulu → "Ida nee dolar sanulu."
B. Translation
  1. neen
  2. sanulu-resin haat
  3. rua-nulu
Definition of "resin":

Resin in Tetun language means "more than" or "add". When used with the number ten (sanulu), it means "more than ten" or "add to ten".

Examples:

  • sanulu-resin ida = sanulu + ida (11)
  • sanulu-resin rua = sanulu + rua (12)
  • sanulu-resin tolu = sanulu + tolu (13)

Therefore, when we want to count numbers between 11 and 19, we always use "sanulu-resin" and add the smaller number at the end.

Explanation:
  • Numbers after ten are built with sanulu-resin + the smaller number (e.g., sanulu-resin rua = twelve).
  • rua-nulu means twenty (literally "two-ten").
  • Numbers are used directly after nouns (e.g., tinan sanulu = "ten years old").
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