| Previous | Back | Next |
Typically, the tense marker ka is used to indicate that something will happen in the future. However, when telling a story, ka is often used to indicate that something happened next. Usually this will be in a situation where we have already established that the events are in the past. In the following example, the word inanahi sets the event in the past, and therefore ka is translated as a past event:
Inanahi, ka haere au ki Te Tai Rāwhiti.
Yesterday, I went to town.
Ka whakatika atu ētahi ki te pōwhiri i waho o te pā.
Some stood to wave outside the pā.Ka kite a Tawa i te kōrua.
Tawa saw the crayfish.Ka haere a Te Kooti.
Te Kooti goes.Ka mutu te mahi inanahi, ka haere mātou ki te tāone.
When yesterday's work was finished, we went to town.Ka kite au i a ia, ka aroha atu.
When I saw her I was moved.Ka rere mai ngā waka i tai ki uta.
The canoes came from the sea to the shore.Ka tae te ope rā ki ā rātou mea i mahia mai rā i Āwhitu.
The group took their things which had been made in Āwhitu.Ka tangi te pere ākuanei.
The bell has rung.Ka hoki te ope rā ki tana pā.
That group returned to its pā.Ka roherohea taua moana e rātou.
That sea was divided up by them.Ka aha koe i ngā hararei?
What do you do in the holidays?Ka haere noa atu te iwi whenua ki ō rātou kāinga.
The local tribe went to their home.Ka mau ki te kākahu o waho.
And took hold of her outer garment.Ka takaia, ka kawea, ka whakairia ki runga ki te kauere.
They wrapped him up and took him and suspended him in a puriri tree.Ka haere ki Zealandia mō te kawhe.
I went to Zealandia for a coffee.Ka mau ki tana mere pounamu, ke hoatu ki te tamaiti ariki o taua ope nei.
[He] took his greenstone mere and gave it to the young leader of this group.Ka kite atu ngā tāne o tēnei i ngā wāhine o tērā.
The men of this [tribe] saw the women of that [tribe].Ka heke iho ko ngā roimata.
The tears fall down (representing the rain).Ka mahana haere ngā pō.
The nights get warmer.Ka puta a Pihihuia me te wai.
Puhihuia appeared with the water.Ka herea e ia tā tāua kurī.
He tied up our dog.Ka kiriweti ia ki ngā mahi whakapātaritari a tōna tungāne.
She gets annoyed with the teasing antics of her brother.Ka māharahara te rōpā rā ki te mate whakamomori o tana ariki.
That slave was anxious that his master might commit suicide.Ka kapo au i te pū.
I snatched the gun.Ka kite a Tū i te mamaha e puta ake ana i mua o te tereina.
Tū saw the steam rising from the front of the train.Ka tū ngā tamāhine i te mataihi katau o te marae.
The daughters stood at the front right of the marae.Ka puta katoa ki waho ngā tāngata o te pā ki te tahu kai.
All the people of the pā came outside to cook food.Ka tae mai te taraka o Ari me ngā tēpu, me ngā tūru.
Ari's truck arrived with the tables and the chairs.Ka nui taku hiahia kia kite i a koe!
I greatly desire to see you.Ka tū mai te tumuaki ki te mihi ki a rātou.
The headmaster stood up to greet them.Ka oma mai ngā tamariki i muri i te whare.
The children ran up from behind the house.Ka kōrero ia ki tētahi atu āpiha.
He talked to another officer.Ka hoki atu ngā tamariki ki te kura āpōpō.
The children are returning to school tomorrow.Ka mahana haere te kaimoana i te rā.
The seafood is getting warm in the sun.Ka tū mai tētahi o aua wāhine rā.
One of those women stood up.Ka mea atu te kotiro rā ki tana whaea...
That girl said to her mother...Ka tuhi ia i ngā kupu.
He wrote the words.Ka kitea kua puta i tētahi taha o te pā, kua haere whakatētahi taha o te pā.
They were seen emerging from one side of the pā, going towards the other side.Ka puta taua tini rā ki waho o te pā.
That group went out of the pā.Ka mutu te kai, ka kī ia...
When the meal was over, he said...Ka mea atu a Kupe ki a Hotu,
Kupe said to Hotu, "We must return".Ka rongo a Aria i te whakapū ahi.
Aria heard the fire siren.Ka tū atu anō he wahine.
Another woman stood up.Ka tae tētahi tauhou ki te kāinga.
A certain stranger came to the village.Ka kite ia i te tīwaiwaka.
He sees the fantail.Ka waiho tonu tātou hei tinihangatanga mā tō tātou whaea.
We are always left cheated by our mother.Ka tū a ia, ka karanga mai i waho i te whare.
He stood and called from outside the house.Ka tītaha a Matariki ki te uru.
The Pleiades had descended to the west from its highest point.Ka titiro a Mia ki te parani i runga i te pounamu.
Mia looked at the brand on the bottle.Ka noho au ki te moenga inu ai i taku kawhe.
I sat in bed and drank my coffee.Ka whakatika aua wāhine nei, ka whai atu i taua tokotoru.
Those women stood up and followed those three.Ka kuhu mai te hoa o Mere.
Mere's friend comes in.Ka pahure te pā rā.
They passed the pā.Ka haere i te ara i runga i te rangitoto.
They went along the path over the coria.Ka kīa e te taitamariki he mea mahi ki te mākutu.
The young people said it was done with black magic.Ka rongo tana whaea i tana ui ki te hinu rautangi.
His mother listened to his question about scented oil.Ka rongo ahau i tētahi waiata pai i tēnei rā.
I heard a nice song today.Ka haere mātou ki te tāone i nga Tāite.
We go to town on Thursdays.Ka riro i te hai hāte a Paki.
It was taken by Paki's ace of hearts.Ka hoki te kōrero ki a Hotu i ruku rā i te punga o tō rāua waka.
The story returns to Hotu who had dived for the anchor of their canoe.Ka mutu tonu te kōrero ki konei.
The story finishes right here.Ka whakatika te ope tamariki nei, ka tātou i a rātou mō te haere.
The group of young people got ready and girded themselves for the journey.Ka mātihe a Nikau.
Nikau sneezed.Ka umere me te kata.
They shouted and laughed.Ka patua taua kai rā e ia ki te manga o te kawakawa.
He struck that food with the branch of the kawakawa.Ka mutu ōna tohu, ka noho ki raro.
When his instructions were ended, he sat down.Ka mataku ngā kararehe i te whatitiri.
Thunder frightens animals.Ka tū ia, ā, ka kōrero.
He stood and spoke.Ka karakia ia i ngā karakia mō ngā taniwha moana.
He chanted the incantations for the taniwha of the sea.Ka kauhoe ia i Rotorua ki Mokoia.
She swam from Rotorua to Mokia.Ka kīa e te tatamariki he mea mahi ki te mākutu.
The young people said it was done with black magic.Ka pupihi te hau, ha hingahinga ngā rākau, ka rere ngā tīni o te whare.
The wind blew, the trees blew over and roofing iron blew off.Ka pōwhiri ki ana ringaringa.
She beckoned with her hands.Ka noho ia i tētahi rākau e noho rā he tāngata i raro.
[He] came to rest in a tree under which some people sat.Ka pahemo te awa o Tōrere.
He passed Tōrere's stream.Ka whāngaia ngā manu e ia.
The birds were fed by her.Ka haere te ope o Ngāti-Kahukoka i mua o ēnei.
The Ngāti-Kahukoka group went in front of them.Ka whakatika te kōtiro rā, ka mua ki te kīaka.
The girl got up and took a calabash.Ka whakarongo puku a Ponga.
Pongo listened in silence.Ka mau anō te kōtiro rā i te ipu.
That girl picked up the calabash again.Ka kite mai a Rangi-uru-hinga, he taniwha tēnei kei Moana-ariki e noho ana, i te kino o te mahi a Kupe ki a Hotu.
Rangi-uru-hinga, who was a taniwha living in Moana-ariki, saw the wickedness of Kupu's treatment of Hotu.Ka mau ana te ururoa ka kaha whawhai ia kia ora ake anō.
Whenever a shark was caught it put up a terrific fight to survive and personifies the epitome of striving.Ka puta mai te mate moe ki a Te Tahi.
Te Tahi became sleeopy.Ka tae ki te teihana, ā, ka hīkoi mātou i te taha moana ki Te Papa.
We arrived at the station and we walked by the sea to Te Papa Tongarewa National Museum.Ka kite o reira taitamariki rangatira i taua kōtiro nei, i a Puhihuia,.
The young chiefs from there was this girl, Puhihuia.Ka hoki ake anō te kotiro rā ki te pā.
The girl returned once more to the pā.Ka hapū anō hoki ia i muri iho i a Kōpako.
She conceived again after Kōpako.Ka pōwhiri ia i a Pongo.
She beckoned to Pongo.Ka pātōtō ia ki te kūaha.
She knocks on the door.Ka patua katoatia.
All [the people] were killed.Ka rongo tētahi tangata i ngā kōrero a taua tangata nei.
A man heard what this man here said.Ka tū mai tētahi wahine anō me te mere pounamu i te ringa.
Another woman stood and came forward with a greenstone mere in her hand.Ka puta te iwi rā i te pā.
The tribe emerged from the pā.Ka mamae aku turi, ngā wāhi katoa ōku, engari kāore e heke taku taumaha.
They hurt my knees, and every other part of me, yet I don't seem to lose any weight.Ka pangaa atu to pāoro e Taika ki a Amaru.
Taika passes the ball to Amaru.Ka whakawhanaunga koe ki a ia?
Do you relate to him?Ka mōhio taku hoa ki te tangata rā.
My friend knows that man.Ka mutu te kōrero.
The discussion finished.Ka nui te mīti, te hēki me te tuna.
There's plenty of meat, eggs and eels.Ka kite mātou i te Wind Wand, ā, ka hīkoi i te ara moana.
We saw the Wind Wand, and walked on the beach walkway.Ka rite i te tokomaha te whakataāe te rā hei hokinga mō rātou.
The many young people reached agreement on the day for their return.Ka pīrangi ia ki ngā mea katoa.
He wants all the things.Ka hoe mai whaka te tauranga waka i Onehunga.
They rowed through the canoe anchorage at Onehunga.Ka nui taku aroha ki a koe.
My love for you knows no bounds.Ka maremare rawa atu ahau.
I had to cough.Ka roa, ka haere atu ia.
After a while, he left.Ka tūpeke a ia i reira.
He jumped into the air there.Ka karanga atu te rōpū whakaeke ki ngā tangata whenua.
The group ascending onto the marae calls back to the people of the land/marae.Ka oho te tini i roto i te whare manuhiri.
The party at the visitor's house woke up.Ka tātua i a rātou mō te haere.
They girded themselves for the journey.Ka tangi ngā tamāhine ki tō rātou pāpā.
The daughters mourned for their father.Ka mea atu a Kupe ki a Hotu...
Kupe said to Hotu...Ka tono tonu ia i ngā turituri.
He kept hearing noises.Ka hoki mai nā roto i te nehenehe.
They returned by way of the patch of bush.Ka waiho he wāhi kia tuwhera ana i waenganui i ngā taiepa kōhatu nei.
A place was left open between the stone walls.Ka mīharo rātou, me te tino whakamihi.
They were all full of admiration, and very grateful.Ka karanga ki tana rōpā ki te wai ki a ia.
He called to his slave to get water for him.Ka tino kaha rawa tōna tangi ki tōna mamae.
She mourned deeply for her pains.Ka hokona e ua te koti rā mō te whā rau tāra.
She bought that coat for four hundred dollars.Ka mea atu te rōpā rā, 'He kai.'
The slave said, 'Food!'.Ka piki puku atu hoki a Ponga i muri i a ia.
Ponga also climbed up silently behind her.