Yeláwel híkw teli tl’á’elthe.

Yeláwel híkw teli tl’á’elthe means ‘It was bigger than me.’

Audio: Elizabeth Herrling

This phrase has the following structure:

• yeláwel – more (see yeláw)
• híkw – big
• teli – can also mean from but here translates as than
• tl’á’elthe – me – This is a variation on ta’á’elthe – me; you use use the special form tl’á’elthe, starting with tl’, after telí, and in a few other structures

Note that there are no explicit words for it was, this is just understood from context, as is normal in the language.