Active Sentences

In English the form of the verb changes depending on the tense, for example, go, going, went etc. In Māori only the tense marker changes, the verb always stays the same. Take for example the verb haere which means go.

Tense marker

Example

Past perfect

Kua

Kua haere au.I have been / have gone.

Past

I

I haere au.I went.

Present

Kei te

Kei te haere au.I go.

Continuous

e (verb) ana

E haere ana au.I am going.

Future

Ka

Ka haere au.I will go.

Notes

e (verb) ana - continuous tense

This tense is called a continuous tense because it can denote a verb-ing word in any tense.

I tērā tau e ako ana ia.Last year she was studying.

Note that (was) which precedes the verb (study) is past tense, e (verb) ana can be used in past tense situations like this. Kei te is only ever used for present tense.

Ka - future tense, or next action

Ka is not limited to indicating future action: it can also be used to indicate that something happens next, for example,