Ngā Tohutohu
Showing possession using tā tāua/tō tāua (yours and my, our), tā māua/tō māua (his/her and my), tā kōrua/tō kōrua(your - 2 people), tā rāua/tō rāua (their - 2 people).
Previously you have learnt how to use singular possessive determiners like tāku/tōku, tāu/tōu and tāna/tōna. Now it is time to learn the dual possessive determiners. While the singular possessives have special words, the dual possessive determiners have tō or tā preceding them.
Notice how the English ‘our’ has two possible translations in Māori using dual possessive determiners.
| Kua pau tā tāua moni. |
Our (yours and my) money has run out. |
| Kua mutu tā māua waiata. |
Our (hers/his and my) song has ended. |
Here are some more examples to illustrate the use of dual possessive determiners and ā and ō categories:
| Kei te oma atu tā tāua kurī. |
Our dog is running away. |
| Nō Whakatū tō tāua koroua. |
Our grandfather is from Nelson. |
| Ko Iri te ingoa o tā māua ngeru. |
Iri is the name of our cat. |
| Ko Hēni tō māua māmā. |
Jane is our mother. |
| Kua tae mai tō kōrua māmā. |
Your mother has arrived |
| Whakahokia tā kōrua pukapuka. |
Return your book. |
| Kei hea tā rāua ngeru? |
Where is their cat? |
| Anei tō rāua motokā. |
Here is their car. |
These possessive determiners also indicate whether there is one or more than one, of the objects being talked about. If the first t of the possessive determiner is retained then there is only one thing, but if the t is omitted there is more than one thing being spoken about. It is important to note that with the singular possessive determiners, the neutral forms may be used with all words when the ā and ō categories do not apply. However, with dual possessive determiners the ā and ō categories must be used. Remember, distinguishing which category to be used is a very important part of the language and must be practiced a lot before the use of them is fully mastered.
For further explanations and exercises see Te Kākano pp. 52-56, 140-142 and Te Aka.
He tauira:
| our (your and my) dog |
tā tāua kurī |
| their (2) anger |
tō rāua riri |
Whakamāoritia ngā kōrero e whai ake nei.
