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A question should be answered using the same sentence strcture. For example if a person asks:
Kei te pēhea koe?
How are you?
It shoud be answered in the same way:
Kei te pai ahai.
I am well.
If, on the other hand, someone asks:
E pēhea ana koe?
How are you?
Then the person should not answer using kei te but should use the same e... ana structure:
E pai ana ahau.
I am well.
This applies to other question/answer structures as well. For example, if someone asks a question with he aha? then it should be aswered with he and not kei te:
Ha aha koe i kore ai e haere?
Why didn't you go?
Incorrect: I ngenge ahau.
I was tired.
Correct: He ngenge nōku.
Because I was tired.
The same rules applies with other kinds of questions such as "when?"
Nōnahea koe tae mai ai?
When did you arrive?
Incorrect: I te Rāhina ahau i tae mai.
I arrived on Monday.
This uses i te (past time marker) instead of matching the nō... structure.
Correct: Nō te Rāhina ahau tae mai ai.
I arrived on Monday.
This matches the question’s nōnahea / nō te structure exactly.
Similrly, questions asked with ko should be answered with ko:
Ko tēhea te mea pai?
Which one is the best?)
Incorrect: Kei te pai tērā.
That one is good.
Correct: Ko tērā te mea pai.
That one is the best.
Often a question can be asked in different ways with different sentence structures. Again, the reply must match the question:
Mā wai e horoi i ngā rīhi?
Who will wash the dishes?
Mā Rangi e horoi i ngā rīhi.
Rangi will wash the dishes.
Ko wai ka horoi i ngā rīhi?
Who will wash the dishes?
Ko Rangi ka horoi i ngā rīhi.
Rangi will wash the dishes.
He tama a Hēmi?
Is Hēmi a son?
He tama a Hēmi.
Hēmi is a son.
Ko Hēmi te tama?
Is Hēmi the son?
Ko Hēmi te tama.
Hēmi is the son.