#120: Negations of identity sentences
ehara...
Negations of identity sentences — ehara...
In te reo Māori, negation depends on the type of sentence. Verbal sentences (those with verbs) are negated with kāore, for example Kāore ngā tamariki i te takaro (“The children are not playing”). Non-verbal sentences, such as those beginning with he or ko, are negated with ehara, for example Ehara te kurī i te pai (“The dog is not good”). In both cases the subject follows the negation, and i te often appears in present-tense negative forms.