Certain verbs (action words) in te reo Māori can be used ‘actively’ or ‘passively’.
Active sentences place the focus on the person doing the action.
I sawthe man. I kite ahau ki te tangata.
Passive sentences place the focus on the action or the person or thing receiving the action.
The man was seenby me. I kitea te tangata e ahau.
Eg Sometimes the agent (doer of the action) is completely omitted.
Kua kitea he tikanga. A plan has been found.
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HOW TO MAKE AN ACTIVE VERB PASSIVE?
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Active verbs are made passive by adding a passive ending. Eg. Pānui (active) – Pānuitia (passive)
In the online Māori dictionary (Te Aka) there are 15 different passive endings but usually one one or two of those can be used with a particular verb so you will have to check for each verb until you become familiar with them.
The endings are as follows: -a, -hia, -hina, -ia, -ina, -kia, -kina, -mia, -nga, -na, -ngia, -ria, -tia, -tina, -whia, -whina
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Not all verbs can be used passively but when you look a verb up in the dictionary, if you see one or more of the passive endings shown in brackets, that means that the verb can be used passively.
pānui
1.(verb)(-hia,-tia) to announce, notify, advertise, publish, proclaim.
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OTHER CHANGES
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If your base (active) verb includes a repetition that is dropped in the passive form.
Eg. Titiro (to look) Tirohia (to be look at)
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Some passive forms include a lengthened vowel:
Eg: Whai (to chase, pursue) Whāia (to be chased, pursued)
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Some passive forms include both a lengthened vowel and a repetition being dropped:
Eg: Tatari (to wait) Tāria (to be waited for)
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ONLY TRANSITIVE VERBS CAN BE USED IN A PASSIVE FORM
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Verbs that need an ‘object’ to make sense are called transitive verbs (tūmahi whiti).
The object is usually added with ‘i’ or ‘ki’.
Eg. The boy kicked …. doesn’t really make much sense, it needs an object ….
The boy kicked the ball. … is much better.
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Transitive verbs (tūmahi whiti) are the only ones that can take the passive endings.**
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A SPECIAL NOTE
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Because te reo Māori doesn’t have a word for ‘it’, using a transitive verb in the passive verb form alerts the hearer to the fact that there is an object whether it’s ‘it’, ‘him’, ‘her’ etc. So just by using that passive ending you are adding the object.
E kume! Pull! Kumea! Pull it!
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Kua pānui koe i tēnā pukapuka? Have you read that book?
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Āe, kua pānuitia e au. Yes, I’ve read it. Āe, kua kitea. Yep, read it.
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I mihia e koutou? Did you guys thank her?
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Kāore e roa, ka rangona e ia.
It won’t be long until he hears about it. (lit. it is heard by him).
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Kua tāhaengia? Have they been stolen?
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WHICH PASSIVE ENDING TO USE?
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In the online Māori dictionary (Te Aka) there are 15 different passive endings but usually one one or two of those can be used with a particular verb so you will have to check for each verb until you become familiar with them.
The endings are as follows: -a, -hia, -hina, -ia, -ina, -kia, -kina, -mia, -nga, -na, -ngia, -ria, -tia, -tina, -whia, -whina.
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pānui
1.(verb)(-hia,-tia) to announce, notify, advertise, publish, proclaim.
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Eg: Pānui (to read) has the passive verb forms ‘pānuitia’ or ‘pānuihia’ (to be read).
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I read the book. I pānui ahau i te pukapuka.
The book was read by me. I pānuitia te pukapuka e ahau. I pānuihia te pukapuka e ahau.
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HOW ARE PASSIVE VERB FORMS USED?
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1. They are often the preferred sentence structure and they serve to take the focus off of the person or thing doing the action of the verb and instead focusing on the action itself.
2. In some instances passives can also be used as commands – ie. telling someone to do something.
Inumea te miraka. Drink the milk.
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HOW TO FORM PASSIVE SENTENCES
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Take the active sentence: Ikatite tamaitiite kuaha. The boy closed the door.
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1. Keep the tense marker …
2. Add the passive ending to the verb …
3. Drop the object marker ‘i’
4. Move the object (the person or thing that verb is action on) straight after the verb
5. Finish off with the agent (doer of the action) introduced with ‘e’.
I katiate kuahae te tamaiti.
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NB: Don’t include the object marker ‘i’ in commands.
Ie: Huakina te wini/ te matapihi. Not … Huakina ‘i’ te wini/matapihi.
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YOU TRY!
Active sentence: Iwhanate tamaite pōro. The boy kicked the ball.
Make a passive form of this sentence and then make a command using the passive form. Kick the ball!
(Answers at the bottom of the post)
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HOW TO USE PASSIVE VERBS AS COMMANDS
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Passive verb forms can be used as commands when the object is included in the command.
Open the window!
Huakina (passive verb form of ‘huaki’ to open) te wini / te matapihi (the object ‘the window’)
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EXTRA INFORMATION
Although only transitive verbs can be used passively it’s important to know that some verbs can be used transitively and intransitively.
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Eg: Haere = to go (intransitive) I haere ngā tangata. The men went.
Haerea (to be gone/travelled over) Kua haerea te ara nei. This path has been travelled over.
**Also intransitive verbs can also become transitive when the prefix ‘whaka’ is added.
Eg: whakahaere = to cause to go, to organize
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Kua whakahaerea te hui e ngā tāngata. The meeting has been organized by the men.
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ANY TIMES THE PASSIVE FORM OF A TRANSITIVE VERB CAN’T BE USED AS A COMMAND?
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Yes. If your command includes a person as the object you can’t use the passive form of the verb, you just stick to the regular verb form and you will also need to retain the object marker ‘i’.
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Horoii a koe. Wash yourself.
NB: Not … Horoia i a koe.
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Also, if the transitive verb (tūmahi whiti) uses ‘ki’ as the object marker (instead of ‘i’) you will need to include the marker in the command and just use the regular verb form of the verb, not a passive form.
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Titiroki ngā tamariki. Look at the children.
Hākiroto. Breathe in. Hākiwaho.Breatheout.
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THERE ARE OTHER COMMAND FORMS
KAI 1.(verb)(-nga,-ngia) to eat, consume, feed (oneself), partake, devour.
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For verbs like ‘kai’ you would only use the passive command form when you are also including the object. But remember, you will need to drop the object marker ‘i’ if you use the pass.
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Kaingate āporo. Eatthe apple.
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If you were just saying ‘Eat!’ you would use
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E kai! (as described below)
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Other command forms include those that start with ‘e’ (for short intransitive verbs (tūmahi poro) that have no more than two short or one long and one short vowel).
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Eg. E noho! Sit! E oma! Run.
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Keep in mind that if you add a directional marker (such as ‘rā, atu, iho etc) to a short verb (apart from ‘noho’)that will increase the verb count so …
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‘E piki!’= Climb
but‘Piki atu!’= Climb up!’
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‘E noho rā!’ = Goodbye (to those staying).
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