Ngā Tohutohu
Nā wai tērā mea? - Speaking about acquired ownership
Nā has already been encountered in Te Kākano as part of the sentence pattern used to stress who or what did something. Likewise nō has been used with hea as in the following examples.
Hei tauira:
Nā wai tēnei ahi i tahu? Who lit this fire?
Nā te tangata rā. That man did.
Nō hea koe? Where are you from?
Nō Waikato. From the Waikato tribe.
Nā and nō mean ‘belonging to’ or ‘of’. They indicate that possession has already taken place. Whether nā or nō is used is determined by the category of the thing that you are talking about. Here are some examples.
Hei tauira:
Nō Te Hererīpene tērā motokā. That car belongs to Te Hererīpene.
Nā tēhea wahine ēnei tamariki? Which woman do these children belong to?
Nā wai te kurī rā? Who does that dog belong to?
Nā Raimona. It’s Raimona’s.
For further explanations and examples see Te Pihinga pp. 22 – 23.
Kei raro iho ētahi rerenga kōrero i roto i te reo Māori, engari kua hē katoa ngā kupu. Whakatikahia te whakatakotoranga o ngā kupu kia tika ai te rerenga kōrero.
Below are some Māori sentences that have been all jumbled up. Rearrange the order of the words, so that the sentence is correct.
whare nō tērā Wiremu
Correct answer: Nō Wiremu tērā whare
NOTE: For all exercises make sure you use commas, question marks, and fullstops where appropriate. You will also need to use macrons (ā,ē,ī,ō, and ū) when necessary, such as in kōrua or tēnā.
