#121: Negating ko
Negating "ko" sentences with ehara.
Negating ko — Ehara i te
In te reo Māori, he and ko sentences (non-verbal sentences) are both negated with ehara. For example, He maunga tērā (“That is a mountain”) becomes Ehara tērā i te maunga (“That is not a mountain”), and Ko te maunga tērā (“That is the mountain”) is negated the same way. Because both structures use ehara, the negation looks identical. The difference between he and ko is that he classifies something, while ko emphasizes or identifies it. However, in practice you can simply use ehara to negate either type.