Ngā Tohutohu
'Asking how many': E hia?
E hia? is used to ask how many things there are.
Hei tauira:
a E hia ō ngeru?
How many cats do you have?
E rua aku ngeru.
I have two cats.
e E hia ana pene?
How many pens does he/she have?
E iwa ana pene.
She/He has nine pens.
Remember that ‘e’ is used only if the word for the number (or the first word of the number) has only one long vowel or two short vowels. If the answer begins with the numbers kotahi (one) or tekau (10) omit the ‘e’. With kotahi remember to use te rather than ngā.
Hei tauira:
a E hia ō whare?
How many houses do you have?
Kotahi taku whare.
I have one house.
e E hia ō kau?
How many cows do you have?
Tekau mā rua aku kau.
I have twelve cows.
Whakautua ngā pātai.
