18. Mā Wai E … / Nā Wai I …
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The two structures that we are going to learn now mirror each other in two different tenses:
Mā wai e …? Asks who will do something (future tense)
Nā wai i …? Asks who has done something (past tense)
The answers to these questions can form helpful sentences for teachers to use – describing what is being done in the classroom
For your Kete
Waiata
Ma wai ra e taurima
Te marae i waho nei?
Ma te tika, ma te pono
Me te aroha e.
Who will tend
To the marae (out) here?
Truth, honesty
And love will.
This song is often sung at pōwhiri and tangi. It is sung by the hosts and begins with the grammatical structure we are learning – asking who will do something. (The ‘ra’ is poetic, for the metre of the song.)
You can listen to a version of it here.
It is in fact one verse that forms part of a longer lament, the different versions of which can be heard here.
Karakia
E te Kaihanga, ka inoi ki a koe
kia manaakitia mai mātou i tēnei ra (ata/ahiahi/pō).
Kia manaakitia ō mātou whānau kei ngā kainga maha.
Manaakitia ērā e māuiui ana, e rawakore ana, e pani ana.
Ūhia mai ō tō mairangi atawhai ki runga i a mātou katoa i tēnei rā.
Korōria ki tōu ingoa tapu.
Āmine.
Revise this karakia timatanga used to open times of gathering together. Spend some time comparing it to the karakia we learnt. What phrases do you recognise, which words are familiar? You might like to create your own karakia timatanga by putting some of these different phrases together.
Whakataukī
Revise this whakataukī that is foundational in our programme:
Ki te kāhore he whakakitenga ka ngaro haere te iwi.
Without foresight or vision the people will be lost.
Use the subject specific reo that you have learnt to create sentences relevant for your classroom – and practise using them!
Mā wai e …? Asking who will do something
In this sentence “wai” is the question word “who”.
The question can be answered by replacing “wai” with the actor.
This can be a NAME, or a NOUN – for example “te kuia”, or a PRONOUN (Remember: tātou, koutou, korua etc).
If you want to use a single pronoun the form alters as follows:
Mā ahau … becomes … Māku e kōrero. (I will speak.)
Mā koe … becomes … Māu e kōrero. (You will speak.)
Mā ia … becomes … Māna e kōrero. (He/She will speak.)
Note: The order of the verb and object can be swapped.
For example, Māku e timata te waiata, can also be said, Māku te waiata e timata.
This is mirrored in the past tense – Nā wai i …? Asking who did something:
Again, in this sentence “wai” is the question word “who”.
The question can be answered by replacing “wai” with the actor.
This can be a NAME, or a NOUN – for example “te kuia”, or a PRONOUN (Remember: tātou, koutou, korua etc).
If you want to use a single pronoun the form alters as follows:
Nā ahau … becomes … Nāku i kōrero. (I spoke.)
Nā koe … becomes … Nāu i kōrero. (You spoke.)
Nā ia … becomes … Nāna i kōrero. (He/She spoke.)
Note: The order of the verb and object can be swapped.
For example, Nā Hana i tiki te poro, can also be said, Nā Hana te poro i tiki.
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