Māori Grammar

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My mother is cake baking

the gerund

In English, a gerund is a verb form ending in -ing that functions as a noun: swimming, dancing, thinking, running, etc.

In te reo Māori, there is no direct equivalent of the English gerund. However, there are Māori sentence structures that may be translated into English using an -ing form.

For example, compare the following:

Kei te whakarongo ahau ki te wahine e waiata ana.
I am listening to the woman who is singing.

Kei te whakarongo ahau ki te wahine waiata.
I am listening to the singing woman.

In the first sentence, e waiata ana is a full verbal construction meaning "who is singing". In the second, waiata immediately follows wahine and describes the woman. It can therefore be translated into English using the participle singing: "the singing woman".

The same principle can occur when a verb is followed by its object.

The object of a transitive verb is typically marked with i:

Kei te tunu ahau i te keke.
I am baking the cake.

However, when the object is used in a more general or non-specific sense, i can be omitted:

Kei te tunu keke ahau.
I am cake-baking.

Here keke is still the object of tunu, but the absence of i gives the expression a more general or activity-like meaning. 

E haere waiata ana rātou.
They were walking along singing.

Kua tuhi pūrongo rāua mō tā rāua haere.
They've written a report about their trip.

E whakatō kūmera ana a Pou rāua ko Hema, e tākaro ana he rōpu tamariki i roto i te māra.
Pou and Hema were planting kūmera, and a group of children were playing in the garden.

Kei te horoi rīhi ngā tamariki.
The kids are washing the dishes.

Kei te pīnono ngā rare a Rangi.
Rangi is lolly-begging.

Kei te tope rākau ia.
He is chopping a tree.

E rapu ipo ana a Honi.
Honi is love-seeking.

E whatu hiripa ana taku kuia.
My nan is knitting slippers.

I tākaro netipōro au.
I played netball.

I tākaro rīki au.
I played rugby league.

Kei te whai kiore te ngeru.
The cat is mice-chasing.

Kei te ruku pāua a Ari.
Ari is diving for pāua.

E tunu parāoa ana a Hēmi.
Hēmi's baking bread.

Kua inu pia koe?
Have you been drinking beer?

Kei te rama tuna mātou ā te pō nei.
We are going eeling tonight.

E tuhituhi reta kā ana ahau.
I'm writing a letter.

E eke pahikara ana a Ataahua.
Ataahua is bike-riding.

Kei te hanga taiapa rāua.
They're building a fence.

E ruku pāua ana au nā te mea e haere mai ana tōku hungarei.
I'm going pāua diving because my mother-in-law is coming.

Kei te hanga whare rātou mō ō rātou mātua.
They are house building for their parents.

Kei te hī ika a Kauri.
Kauri is fishing.

E kiriweta wāhine ana ia.
He hates women.

Tēnei nā, e kōrero pukapuka ana ia.
She must be reading a book (to just by what I hear).

E inu wai ana ia.
She is drinking water.

E pōtarotaro pātītī a Manu.
Manu is lawn-mowing.

Kei te whakairi kākahu a Aria.
Aria is hanging out washing.

E pōutouto wahie ana ia.
He is chopping firewood.

Kei te whakamaroke ngā rīhi a Nikau.
Nikau is dishes-washing.

I hoko kai au.
I bought food.

I eke paihikara au.
I rode a bike.

Kei te pānui puka te kuia.
The old lady is reading a book.

E hī ika ana au ki tātahi.
I'm going to go fishing at the beach.

I whakapaipai whare au.
I did housework.