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#149: I listened to the woman who sang

ai
Using ai to specify a general cause — (vberb) ai
In te reo Māori, “ai” marks punctiliar (one-off) past actions in relative clauses, similar to “who” or “that” in English. It contrasts with continuous “e… ana”. For example, “I listened to the woman who sang” uses “ai”, but not for “who was singing”. Past punctiliar + subclause = “ai”.

Video

Vocabulary

ā • āe • ahau • āhua • ake • ake, ake, ake • āku • āna • ātaahua • atu • au • āwangawanga • e hoa mā • e tū • ehara ehara • engari • haere mā raro • haunga • hiahia • hiainu • hiakai • hiamoe • hīkoi • hoa • hōhā • hōiho • hou • i • ia • iho • iti • ka • kaha • kāore • katoa • kau • keke • kēkē • ki • kia • Kia kaha! • kia ora • kino • ko wai • koe • koro • kōrua • koutou • kōwhai • kua •  • mai • māua • māuiui • ngenge • noho • nui • ō • oma • ora • pai • pango • pēhea? •  • rātau • rāua • rūma moe • taku • tama • tamaiti • tamariki • tana • tātou • tāua • tere • tino •  • wāhine • waiata • whaea • whero
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