Ngā Tohutohu
Ko tā te rangatira kai he kōrero
More on the use tā and tō and their plural forms
Fluent speakers will sometimes use tā and tō and their plural forms ā and ō as alternatives to the combinations of te . . . o, te . . . a, ngā . . . o, ngā . . .a. You will see the two types of sentences in the following examples.
Ko te mahi a te kuia he karanga.
The elderly women’s job is to call.
Ko tā te kuia mahi he karanga.
Ko te kāinga o Waimārie ko Te Papaioea
Waimārie’s home is Palmerston North.
Ko tō Waimarie kāinga ko Te Papaioea.
Ko ngā whenua o Mīria kei Kāwhia.
Mīria’a lands are at Kāwhia.
Ko ō Mīria whenua kei Kāwhia.
While this alternative form is used less frequently, it often avoids the speaker having to repeat themselves.
He paruparu ake ō rāua kākahu i ō Neihana.
Their clothes are dirtier than those of Neihana.
For further explanations and examples see Te Pihinga p.126
Tirohia ngā rerenga kōrero e whai ake nei, ā, whakamahia te rerenga kia rite ai ki tērā o ngā tauira i runga rā.
Look at the following sentences, your job is to re-arrange the sentences so that they use the same structure as the examples above.
