in English, a verb is a "doing word" which describes an action - swimming, dancing, thinking, digging, climbing, writing, reading... these are all verbs.
In te reo Māori, just like in English, there are thousand of words that can act as verbs. The word oma means to run. The word hīko means to walk. The word waiata means to sing.
In te reo Māori, like in English, there are many thousands of verbs: sing, hunt, run, splash, fart, trip...
For example:
Kei te hīkoi ahau.
I am walking
Kei te tākaro koe.
You are playing.
In this lesson we are going to look at how we say things in the past tense.
There are a pile of tenses in English.
We can say thjings like:
I go
I am going
I have gone
I have been going
I went
I was going
I had gone
I had been going
I will go
I will be going
I will have gone
I will have been going
For examnple - "next year I will have been going to book club for five years".
This is complicated! Can you explain the difference between "I have gone" and "I had gone"?
Any why does the word "go" become "gone" and "went"?
This is crazy!
In English we often indicate the tense of a word - that is, whether it is past, present or future, by changing the form of the verb. For example:
I sing.
I sang.
He sings.
I have sung.
I am singing.
And so there are five forms of the word sing: sing, sang, sung, sings, singing.
Fortunately, this doesn't happen in Māori. For example, the word to sing - waiata - is always waiata, it never changes. I will waiata, I did waiata, he waiata, I will waiata - the word doesn't change.
Instead, we indicate the tense of the verb - that is, whether it is past, present or future - by putting a word or two before the verb. This is called a tense marker. For example, kei te which we have already met, is the tense marker that indicates that something is happening now.
Kei te waiata ahau.
At the moment, I am singing.
We can use the same sentence structure we learned in the first lesson - kei te pai ahau, I am good - with any of these verbs.
For example:
Kei te haere ahau.
I am going.
Kei te oma ahau.
I am running.
Kei te hīkoi ahau.
I am walking.
Kei te waiata ahau.
I am singing.
Kei te tū ahau.
I am standing.
Kei te noho ahau.
I am sitting.
Kei te kai ahau.
I am eating.
Kei te ako ahau.
I am learning.
Kei te pānui ahau.
I am reading.
Kei te tuhituhi ahau.
I am writing.
Kei te tākaro ahau.
I am playing.
Kei te tangi ahau.
I am crying.
Kei te moe ahau.
I am sleeping.
Kei te patu ahau.
I am hitting.
Kei te piki ahau.
I am climbing.
Kei te kata ahau.
I am laughing.
Kei te pakipaki ahau.
I am clapping.
Kei te kite ahau.
I am seeing.
And there are many, many more!
And we can use the same sentence to ask a question:
Kei te waiata koe?
Are you singing
Kei te noho ia?
Is she sitting?
Fortunately, Māori is a lot simpler.
When we are talking about more than one person who isn't me or you, we use the word rātou. For example:
Kei te tākaro rātou.
They are playing.
In English, when we are talking about one person, we say either "he" or "she". These days, some people don't identify with a particular gender and use "they" as their personal pronun. "They" is gender neutral.
Similarly, in te reo Māori, when we are talking about another person, we use the word ia, regardless of whether they are male or female or of a different gender.
So if we say: kei te pai ia, it can mean "he or she is good"
Vocab for this lesson
1. ia - he/she
All words so far
• kei te • ahau • au • ia • koe • āhua • ako • āwangawanga • e hoa • e noho rā • haere • haere rā • harikoa • hiainu • hiakai • hiamoe • hīkoi • hōhā • kaha • kai • katakata • katoa • kia • Kia kaha! • kia ora • kite • kōrero • mā • makariri • māuiui • moe • ngenge • noho • oma • ora • pai • pakipaki • pānui • patu • piki • pōuri • riri • tākaro • tamariki • tangi • tēnā koe • tēnā koutou • tino • tū • tuhituhi • waiata • wera • whakamā • whakarongo
Sentences for this lesson
You are listening.
He/She is running.
You are running.
She's okay.
She's talking.
He is listening.
I'm eating.
Sit down, all of you!
Is he/she running?
She is sleeping.
He or she is well.
He or she is hungry.
He or she is thirsty.
He or she is tired.
He or she is sleepy.
He or she is sick.
He or she is worried.
He or she is happy.
He or she is angry.
He or she is sad.
He or she is hot.
He or she is cold.
He or she is somewhat good.
He or she is somewhat well.
He or she is somewhat hungry.
He or she is somewhat thirsty.
He or she is somewhat tired.
He or she is somewhat sleepy.
He or she is somewhat sick.
He or she is somewhat worried.
He or she is somewhat happy.
He or she is somewhat angry.
He or she is somewhat sad.
He or she is somewhat hot.
He or she is somewhat cold.
He or she is very good.
He or she is very well.
He or she is very hungry.
He or she is very thirsty.
He or she is very tired.
He or she is very sleepy.
He or she is very sick.
He or she is very worried.
He or she is very happy.
He or she is very angry.
He or she is very sad.
He or she is very hot.
He or she is very cold.
Don't sing!
Is he/she cold?
He is embarrassed.