Ngā Tohutohu
The question word, or interrogative, pēhea?, and its dialectal variation pēwhea?, have already been encountered in the greetings, Kei te pēhea koe? and E pēwhea ana koe? in earlier chapters. Pēhea and pēwhea translate as ‘how about?’, ‘what about?’, ‘what sort?’, or ‘how?’. These two words are used as ordinary verbs, and are sometimes referred to as universals, thus the verbal particles ka, kua, e … ana, me and i may precede them and the passive ending -tia may be used.
Hei tauira:
| Pēhea ngā toenga kai nei? |
What about the left over food? |
| Pēhea a Hone? |
How about John? |
| I pēhea te kura i tēnei rā? |
How was school today? |
| Ka pēhea he kapu tī? |
What about a cup of tea? |
| He pēhea āu mahi-ā-kura? |
How is your homework going? |
| E pēhea ana te nanekoti? |
How is the nanny goat? |
| Pēheatia ai e rātau ngā hua ōriwa? |
How do they treat the olives? |
Further explanations and examples: Te Kākano p. 99.
Whakamāoritia ēnei rerenga kōrero.
