Editing Māori language (section)

== Grammar and syntax ==
Māori has mostly a [[Verb–subject–object word order|verb-subject-object]] (VSO) [[word order]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.maorilanguage.info/mao_lang_desc1.html |title=Brief (200) Word Description of the Māori Language |first=Peter J. |last=Keegan |date=2017 |access-date=16 September 2019 |archive-date=21 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190921113949/http://www.maorilanguage.info/mao_lang_desc1.html |url-status=live }}</ref> It is also [[Isolating language|analytical]], featuring almost no [[inflection]], and makes extensive use of grammatical particles to indicate grammatical categories of tense, mood, aspect, case, topicalization, among others. The personal pronouns have a distinction in [[clusivity]], singular, dual and plural numbers,{{sfn|Biggs|1998|pages= 32–33}} and the genitive pronouns have different classes (''a'' class, ''o'' class and neutral) according to whether the possession is [[Alienable and inalienable possession|alienable]] or the possessor has control of the relationship (''a'' category), or the possession is [[Inalienable possession|inalienable]] or the possessor has no control over the relationship (''o'' category), and a third [[Possessive determiner|neutral class]] that only occurs for singular pronouns and must be followed by a noun.{{sfn|Biggs|1998|pages=46–48}} There is also [[Subject–object–verb word order|subject-object-verb]] (SOV) word order used in agent emphatic sentences.<ref>{{Cite web |date=8 April 2025 |title=The Agent Emphatic |url=https://kupu.maori.nz/sentences/the-agent-emphatic |url-status=live |access-date=8 April 2025 |website=Kupu o te Rā |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250218091656/https://kupu.maori.nz/sentences/the-agent-emphatic |archive-date=Feb 18, 2025 }}</ref> Examples of this include ''Nāku te ngohi i tunu'' ("I cooked the fish"; literally ''I the fish cooked'') and ''Mā wai te haka e kaea?'' ("Who will lead the haka?"). Agent emphatic sentences can also take the [[Subject–verb–object word order|subject-verb-object]] (SVO) word order.{{sfn|Biggs|1998|page=87}} In this order the example sentences would be rendered as ''Nāku i tunu te ngohi'' and ''Mā wai e kaea te haka?''

=== Bases ===
Biggs (1998) developed an analysis that the basic unit of Māori speech is the phrase rather than the word.{{sfn|Biggs|1998|page=3}} The lexical word forms the "base" of the phrase. Biggs identifies five types of bases.

'''Noun''' bases include those bases that can take a definite article, but cannot occur as the nucleus of a verbal phrase; for example: {{lang|mi|ika}} (fish) or {{lang|mi|rākau}} (tree).{{sfn|Biggs|1998|pages=54–55}} Plurality is marked by various means, including the definite article (singular {{lang|mi|te}}, plural {{lang|mi|ngā}}),{{sfn|Bauer|1997|pages=144–147}} deictic particles {{lang|mi|tērā rākau}} (that tree), {{lang|mi|ērā rākau}} (those trees),{{sfn|Bauer|1997|pages=153–154}} possessives {{lang|mi|taku whare}} (my house), {{lang|mi|aku whare}} (my houses).{{sfn|Bauer|1997|pages=394–396}} A few nouns lengthen a vowel in the plural, such as {{lang|mi|wahine}} (woman); {{lang|mi|wāhine}} (women).{{sfn|Bauer|1997|page=160}} In general, bases used as qualifiers follow the base they qualify, e.g. "matua wahine" (mother, female elder) from "matua" (parent, elder) "wahine" (woman).{{sfn|Biggs|1998|page=153}}

'''Universal''' bases are verbs which can be used passively. When used passively, these verbs take a passive form. Biggs gives three examples of universals in their passive form: {{transliteration|mi|inumia}} (drunk), {{transliteration|mi|tangihia}} (wept for), and {{lang|mi|kīa}} (said).{{sfn|Biggs|1998|page=55}}

'''Stative''' bases serve as bases usable as verbs but not available for passive use, such as ''ora'', alive or ''tika'', correct.{{sfn|Biggs|1998|page=55}} Grammars generally refer to them as "stative verbs". When used in sentences, statives require different syntax than other verb-like bases.{{sfn|Biggs|1998|pages=23–24}}

'''Locative''' bases can follow the locative particle ''ki'' (to, towards) directly, such as ''runga'', above, ''waho'', outside, and placenames (''ki Tamaki'', to Auckland).{{sfn|Biggs|1998|page=57}}

'''Personal''' bases take the personal article ''a'' after ''ki'', such as names of people (''ki a Hohepa'', to Joseph), personified houses, personal pronouns, ''wai?'' who? and ''mea'', so-and-so.{{sfn|Biggs|1998|page=57}}

=== Particles ===
Like all other Polynesian languages, Māori has a rich array of particles, which include verbal particles, pronouns, locative particles, articles and possessives.

Verbal particles indicate aspectual, tense-related or modal properties of the verb which they relate to. They include:

* ''i'' (past)
* ''e'' (non-past)
* ''i te'' (past continuous)
* ''kei te'' (present continuous){{sfn|Biggs|1998|pages=107–108}}
* ''kua'' (perfect)
* ''e ... ana'' (imperfect, continuous)
* ''ka'' (inceptive, future)
* ''kia'' (desiderative)
* ''me'' (prescriptive)
* ''kei'' (warning, "lest")
* ''ina'' or ''ana'' (punctative-conditional, "if and when"){{sfn|Bauer|1997|pages=84–100}}
* ''kāti'' (cessative){{sfn|Bauer|1997|page=447}}
*''ai'' (habitual){{sfn|Bauer|1997|page=98}}

Locative particles (prepositions) refer to position in time and/or space, and include:

*''ki'' (to, towards)
*''kei'' (at)
*''i'' (past position)
*''hei'' (future position){{sfn|Bauer|1997|page=30}}

Possessives fall into one of two classes of prepositions marked by ''a'' and ''o'', depending on the dominant versus subordinate relationship between possessor and possessed: ''ngā tamariki a te matua'', the children of the parent but ''te matua o ngā tamariki'', the parent of the children.{{sfn|Biggs|1998|pages=42}}

=== Determiners ===
==== Articles ====
{| class="wikitable"
!
! Singular
! Plural
|-
! Definite
|      ''te''
|  ''ngā''
|-
! Indefinite<sup>1</sup>
| colspan="2" | ''he''
|-
! Indefinite<sup>2</sup>
| ''tētahi''
| ''ētahi''
|-
! Proper
| colspan="2" | ''a''
|}

The definite articles are {{lang|mi|te}} (singular) and {{lang|mi|ngā}} (plural).{{sfn|Biggs|1998|pages=7–8}}{{sfn|Harlow|2007|page=141}} Several other determiners termed definitives are related to the singular definite article {{lang|mi|te}}, such as the definitive [[#Possessive pronouns|possessive constructions]] with {{lang|mi|tā}} and {{lang|mi|tō}} and the [[#Demonstrative_determiners_and_adverbs|demonstrative determiners]].{{sfn|Biggs|1998|pages=46–48}}

The Māori definite articles are frequently used where the equivalent, ''the'', is not used in English, such as when referring generically to an entire class. In these cases, the singular {{lang|mi|te}} can even be used with a morphologically plural noun, as in 
{{interlinear|indent=2| lang = mi
| te tamariki
| DEF.SG child.PL
|"children (in general)"}}
as opposed to 
{{interlinear|indent=2| lang = mi
| ngā tamariki
| DEF.PL child.PL
|"the (specific group of) children"}}{{sfn|Harlow|2007|page=141}}

In other syntactic environments, the definite article may be used to introduce a noun-phrase which is pragmatically indefinite due to the restrictions on the use of {{lang|mi|he}} as discussed below.{{sfn|Harlow|2007|page=141}}

The indefinite article {{lang|mi|he}} is used most frequently in the predicate and occasionally in the subject of the sentence, although it is not allowed in subject position in all sentence types.{{sfn|Harlow|2007|pages=143, 144}} In the predicate, the indefinite article {{lang|mi|he}} can introduce either nouns or adjectives.{{sfn|Harlow|2007|page=143}} The article either can be translated to the English 'a' or 'some', but the number will not be indicated by {{lang|mi|he}}. With nouns that show morphological number, {{lang|mi|he}} may be used either with singular or plural forms. The indefinite article {{lang|mi|he}} when used with mass nouns like water and sand will always mean 'some'.{{sfn|Biggs|1998|page=7}}

{| class="wikitable"
| {{lang|mi|he tāne}}
| a man
| some men
|-
| {{lang|mi|he kōtiro}}
| a girl
| some girls
|-
| {{lang|mi|he kāinga}}
| a village
| some villages
|-
| {{lang|mi|he āporo}}
| an apple
| some apples
|-
| {{lang|mi|he tangata}}
| a person
| –
|-
| {{lang|mi|he tāngata}}
| –
| some people
|}

The indefinite article {{lang|mi|he}} is highly restricted in its use and is incompatible with a preceding preposition. For this reason, it cannot be used in the grammatical object of the sentence as these are marked prepositionally, either with {{lang|mi|i}} or {{lang|mi|ki}}. In many cases, speakers simply use the definite articles {{lang|mi|te}} and {{lang|mi|ngā}} in positions where {{lang|mi|he}} is disallowed, however the indefinite articles {{lang|mi|tētahi}} and {{lang|mi|ētahi}} may be used in these situations to emphasise the indefiniteness.{{sfn|Harlow|2007|page=144}}

{{interlinear|indent=2| lang = mi
| I kite ahau i '''te''' kurī.
| PST see 1S ACC '''DEF.SG''' dog
|"I saw '''the''' dog."<br />("I saw '''a''' dog.")}}

{{interlinear|indent=2| lang = mi
| I kite ahau i '''tētahi''' kurī.
| PST see 1S ACC '''INDEF.SG''' dog
|"I saw '''a''' dog."}}

In positions where both {{lang|mi|he}} and {{lang|mi|tētahi}}/{{lang|mi|ētahi}} may occur, there are sometimes differences of meaning between them as the following examples indicate.{{sfn|Harlow|2007|page=145}}

{{interlinear|indent=2| lang = mi
| Kāore '''tētahi''' '''tangata''' i haere mai.
| NEG '''SG.INDEF''' '''person.SG''' PST go towards.speaker
|(1) "'''Someone''' didn't come." / "'''A particular person''' didn't come."<br />(2) "'''Nobody''' came."}}

{{interlinear|indent=2| lang = mi
| Kāore '''he''' '''tangata''' i haere mai.
| NEG '''INDEF''' '''person.SG''' PST go towards.speaker
|"'''Nobody''' came."}}

The proper article {{lang|mi|a}} is used before personal and locative nouns acting as the subject of the sentence or before personal nouns and pronouns within prepositional phrases headed by prepositions ending in ''i'' (namely {{lang|mi|i}}, {{lang|mi|ki}}, {{lang|mi|kei}} and {{lang|mi|hei}}).{{sfn|Harlow|2007|page=144}}

{{interlinear|indent=2| lang = mi
| Kei hea '''a''' '''Pita'''?
| PRES.LOC where '''ART''' '''Peter'''
|"Where is '''Peter'''?"}}

{{interlinear|indent=2| lang = mi
| Kei hea '''ia'''?
| PRES.LOC where '''3S'''
|"Where is '''he'''?"}}

{{interlinear|indent=2| lang = mi
| Kei {Tāmaki Makaurau} '''a''' '''Pita'''
| PRES.LOC Auckland '''ART''' '''Peter'''
|"'''Peter''' is in Auckland."}}

{{interlinear|indent=2| lang = mi
| Kei {Tāmaki Makaurau} '''ia'''
| PRES.LOC Auckland '''3S'''
|"'''He''' is in Auckland."}}

{{interlinear|indent=2| lang = mi
| I kite ahau '''i''' '''a''' '''Pita'''
| PST see 1S '''ACC''' '''ART''' '''Peter'''
|"I saw '''Peter'''."}}

{{interlinear|indent=2| lang = mi
| I kite ahau '''i''' '''a''' '''ia'''
| PST see 1S '''ACC''' '''ART''' '''3S'''
|"I saw '''him'''."}}

The personal nouns are not accompanied by definite or indefinite articles unless they are an intrinsic part of the name, as in [[Te Rauparaha]].{{sfn|Biggs|1998|pages=8–9}}

{{interlinear|indent=2| lang = mi
| Kei hea '''a''' '''Te''' '''Rauparaha'''?
| PRES.LOC where '''ART''' '''Te''' '''Rauparaha'''
|"Where is '''Te''' '''Rauparaha'''?"}}

{{interlinear|indent=2| lang = mi
| Kei t-ō-ku kāinga '''a''' '''Te''' '''Rauparaha'''.
| PRES.LOC DEF.SG-INAL-1s home '''ART''' '''Te''' '''Rauparaha'''
|"Te Rauparaha is at my home."}}

Proper nouns are not preceded by the proper article when they are neither acting as the subject of the sentence nor in a prepositional phrase headed by {{lang|mi|i}}, {{lang|mi|ki}}, {{lang|mi|kei}} or {{lang|mi|hei}}. For example, after the focusing particle {{lang|mi|ko}}, the proper article is not used.

{{interlinear|indent=2| lang = mi
| '''Ko''' '''Rāwiri''' t-ō-ku ingoa.
| '''FOC''' '''Rāwiri''' DEF.SG-INAL-1S name
|"My name is '''Rāwiri'''."}}

{{interlinear|indent=2| lang = mi |abbreviations=DIST:distal
| '''Ko''' '''Te''' '''Rauparaha''' tērā tangata.
| '''FOC''' '''Te''' '''Rauparaha''' DEM.SG.DIST person.SG
|"That person (over there) is '''Te Rauparaha'''."}}

==== Demonstrative determiners and adverbs ====
Demonstratives occur after the noun and have a deictic function, and include {{lang|mi|tēnei}}, this (near me), {{lang|mi|tēnā}}, that (near you), {{lang|mi|tērā}}, that (far from us both), and {{lang|mi|taua}}, the aforementioned (anaphoric). These demonstratives, having a connection to the definite article {{lang|mi|te}} are termed definitives. Other definitives include {{lang|mi|tēhea?}} (which?), and {{lang|mi|tētahi}}, (a certain). The plural is formed just by dropping the ''t'': {{lang|mi|tēnei}} (this), {{lang|mi|ēnei}} (these). The related adverbs are {{lang|mi|nei}} (here), {{lang|mi|nā}} (there, near you), {{lang|mi|rā}} (over there, near him).{{sfn|Bauer|1997|pages=152–154}}

Phrases introduced by demonstratives can also be expressed using the definite article {{lang|mi|te}} or {{lang|mi|ngā}} preceding a noun followed by one of the deictic particles {{lang|mi|nei}}, {{lang|mi|nā}} or {{lang|mi|rā}}. The ''t'' of the singular definite article appears in the singular demonstratives but is replaced by ''∅'' in the plural, having no connection with {{lang|mi|ngā}} in the majority of dialects.

{{interlinear|indent=2| lang = mi |abbreviations=PROX:proximal
| te whare nei {{=}} tēnei whare
| DEF.SG house PROX {{=}} DEM.SG.PROX house
|"this house"}}

{{interlinear|indent=2| lang = mi |abbreviations=PROX:proximal
| ngā whare nei {{=}} ēnei whare
| DEF.PL house PROX {{=}} DEM.PL.PROX house
|"these houses"}}{{sfn|Harlow|2007|page=142}}

However, in dialects of the [[Waikato]] area, plural forms of demonstratives beginning with ''ng-'' are found, such as {{lang|mi|ngēnei}} 'these' instead of the more widespread {{lang|mi|ēnei}} (as well as and [[#Possessive_pronouns|possessives]] such as {{lang|mi|ng(e)ōku}} 'my (plural, inalienable)' instead of {{lang|mi|ōku}}).{{sfn|Harlow|2007|page=48}}

The following table shows the most common forms of demonstratives across dialects.

{| class="wikitable"
!
!Singular
!Plural
!Adverb
|-
!Proximal
|{{lang|mi|tēnei}}
|{{lang|mi|ēnei}}
|{{lang|mi|nei}}
|-
!Medial
|{{lang|mi|tēnā}}
|{{lang|mi|ēnā}}
|{{lang|mi|nā}}
|-
!Distal
|{{lang|mi|tērā}}
|{{lang|mi|ērā}}
|{{lang|mi|rā}}
|-
!Aforementioned
|{{lang|mi|taua}}
|{{lang|mi|aua}}
|
|}

=== Pronouns ===

==== Personal pronouns ====
Pronouns have singular, dual and plural number. Different first-person forms in both the dual and the plural are used for groups inclusive or exclusive of the person(s) addressed.

[[File:Pronouns In New Zealand Te Reo Māori.svg|thumb|upright=1.5|Diagram of pronouns in Māori. Grammatical person: {{hlist
 | class=inline
 | {{legend-inline|green|1}}
 | {{legend-inline|blue|2}}
 | {{legend-inline|grey|3}}
}}]]

{| class="wikitable" 
|-
! colspan="2" | 
! Singular
! Dual
! Plural
|-
! rowspan="2" | 1st person
! {{small|exclusive}}
| rowspan="2" | {{wikt-lang|mi|au}} / {{wikt-lang|mi|ahau}}
| {{wikt-lang|mi|māua}}
| {{wikt-lang|mi|mātou}}
|-
! {{small|inclusive}}
| {{wikt-lang|mi|tāua}}
| {{wikt-lang|mi|tātou}}
|-
! colspan="2" | 2nd person
| {{wikt-lang|mi|koe}}
| {{wikt-lang|mi|kōrua}}
| {{wikt-lang|mi|koutou}}
|-
! colspan="2" | 3rd person
| {{wikt-lang|mi|ia}}
| {{wikt-lang|mi|rāua}}
| {{wikt-lang|mi|rātou}}
|}

Like other Polynesian languages, Māori has three [[Grammatical number|numbers]] for pronouns and possessives: singular, [[dual (grammatical number)|dual]] and plural. For example: {{lang|mi|ia}} (he/she), {{lang|mi|rāua}} (those two), {{lang|mi|rātou}} (they, three or more). Māori pronouns and possessives further distinguish exclusive "we" from inclusive "we", second and third. It has the plural pronouns: {{lang|mi|mātou}} (we, exc), {{lang|mi|tātou}} (we, inc), {{lang|mi|koutou}} (you), {{lang|mi|rātou}} (they). The language features the dual pronouns: {{lang|mi|māua}} (me and another), {{lang|mi|tāua}} (me and you), {{lang|mi|kōrua}} (you two), {{lang|mi|rāua}} (those two). The difference between [[Clusivity|exclusive and inclusive]] lies in the treatment of the person addressed. {{lang|mi|Mātou}} refers to the speaker and others but not the person or persons spoken to ("I and some others but not you"), and {{lang|mi|tātou}} refers to the speaker, the person or persons spoken to and everyone else ("you, I and others"):{{sfn|Bauer|1997|pages=261–262}}

* {{lang|mi|Tēnā koe}}: hello (to one person)
* {{lang|mi|Tēnā kōrua}}: hello (to two people)
* {{lang|mi|Tēnā koutou}}: hello (to more than two people)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.maorilanguage.net/maori-words-phrases/greetings-mihi/ |title=Greetings – Mihi |website=MāoriLanguage.net |access-date=22 September 2019 |archive-date=22 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190922103146/http://www.maorilanguage.net/maori-words-phrases/greetings-mihi/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== Possessive pronouns ====
The possessive pronouns vary according to person, number, [[clusivity]], and possessive class (a class or o class). Example: {{lang|mi|tāku pene}} (my pen), {{lang|mi|āku pene}} (my pens). For dual and plural subject pronouns, the possessive form is analytical, by just putting the possessive particle ('''tā/tō''' for singular objects or '''ā/ō''' for plural objects) before the personal pronouns, e.g. {{lang|mi|tā tātou karaihe}} (our class), {{lang|mi|tō rāua whare}} (their [dual] house); {{lang|mi|ā tātou karaihe}} (our classes). The neuter one must be followed by a noun and only occur for singular first, second and third persons. {{lang|mi|Taku}} is my, {{lang|mi|aku}} is my (plural, for many possessed items). The plural is made by deleting the initial [t].{{sfn|Biggs|1998|pages=46–48}}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan=2 | Subject
! colspan=6 | Object
|-
! rowspan=2 | Number
! rowspan=2 | Person
! colspan=3 | Singular
! colspan=3 | Plural
|-
! a class
! o class
! neutral
! a class
! o class
! neutral
|-
! rowspan="3" scope="row" |Singular
! scope="row" |1
|tāku
|tōku
|taku
|āku
|ōku
|aku
|-
! scope="row" |2
|tāu
|tōu
|tō
|āu
|ōu
|ō
|-
! scope="row" |3
|tāna
|tōna
|tana
|āna
|ōna
|ana
|}

==== Interrogative pronouns ====
* {{lang|mi|wai}} ('who')
* {{lang|mi|aha}} ('what')
* {{lang|mi|hea}} ('where')
* {{lang|mi|nō hea}} ('whence')
* {{lang|mi|āhea}} ('when')
* {{lang|mi|e hia}} ('how many [things]')
* {{lang|mi|tokohia}} ('how many [people]')
* {{lang|mi|pēhea}} ('how')
* {{lang|mi|tēhea}} ('which'), ēhea ('which [pl.]')
* {{lang|mi|he aha ... ai}} ('why [reason]')
* {{lang|mi|nā te aha ... ai}} ('why [cause]')<ref>{{cite web |url=https://kupu.maori.nz/sentences/questions |title=Questions |publisher=Kupu o te Rā |website=kupu.maori.nz |access-date=22 September 2019 |archive-date=1 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190901113709/https://kupu.maori.nz/sentences/questions |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Phrase grammar ===
A phrase spoken in Māori can be broken up into two parts: the "nucleus" or "head" and "periphery" (modifiers, determiners). The nucleus can be thought of as the meaning and is the centre of the phrase, whereas the periphery is where the grammatical meaning is conveyed and occurs before and/or after the nucleus.{{sfn|Biggs|1998|page=4}}

{| class="wikitable"
! Periphery
! Nucleus
! Periphery
|-
| ''te''
| ''whare''
| ''nei''
|-
| ''ki te''
| ''whare''
|
|}

The nucleus {{lang|mi|whare}} can be translated as "house", the periphery {{lang|mi|te}} is similar to an article "the" and the periphery {{lang|mi|nei}} indicates proximity to the speaker. The whole phrase, {{lang|mi|te whare nei}}, can then be translated as "this house".{{sfn|Biggs|1998|page=5}}

==== Phrasal particles ====
A definite and declarative sentence (may be a copulative sentence) begins with the declarative particle ''ko''.{{sfn|Biggs|1998|pages=15–17}} If the sentence is topicalized (agent topic, only in non-present sentences) the sentence begins with the particle '''''nā''''' (past tense) or the particle '''''mā''''' (future, imperfective) followed by the agent/subject. In these cases the word order changes to subject-verb-object or subject-object-verb. These are the agent emphatic sentences discussed earlier. The agent topicalizing particles can contract with singular personal pronouns and vary according to the possessive classes: ''nāku'' can be thought of as meaning "as for me" and behave like an emphatic or dative pronoun.{{sfn|Biggs|1998|pages=87–89}}

{| class="wikitable"
|+Agent topic pronouns
!
!Past
!Future
|-
!1S
|nāku/nōku
|māku/mōku
|-
!2S
|nāu/nōu
|māu/mō
|-
!3S
|nāna/nōna
|māna/mōna
|}

==== Case particles ====
* Nominative: ko{{sfn|Bauer|1997|page=181}}
* Accusative: i{{sfn|Bauer|1997|pages=175–176}}
* Dative/directional locative: ki{{sfn|Bauer|1997|pages=176–179}}
* Genitive: a/o{{sfn|Bauer|1997|pages=183–184}}

=== Negation ===
Forming negative phrases in Māori is quite grammatically complex. There are several different negators which are used under various specific circumstances.{{sfn|Bauer|Evans|Parker|2001|page=139}} The main negators are as follows:{{sfn|Bauer|Evans|Parker|2001|page=139}}

{| class="wikitable"
!Negator
!Description
|-
|{{lang|mi|kāo}}
|Negative answer to a polar question.
|-
|{{lang|mi|kāore/kāhore/kāre}}
|The most common verbal negator.
|-
|{{lang|mi|kore}}
|A strong negator, equivalent to 'never'.
|-
|{{lang|mi|kaua e}}
|Negative imperatives; prohibitive 
|-
|{{lang|mi|ehara}}
|Negation for copulative phrases, topicalized and equative phrases
|}

{{lang|mi|Kīhai}} and {{lang|mi|tē}} are two negators which may be seen in specific dialects or older texts, but are not widely used.{{sfn|Bauer|Evans|Parker|2001|page=139}} The most common negator is {{lang|mi|kāhore}}, which may occur in one of four forms, with the {{lang|mi|kāo}} form only being used in response to a question.{{sfn|Bauer|Evans|Parker|2001|page=139}} Negative phrases, besides using {{lang|mi|kāore}}, also affect the form of verbal particles, as illustrated below.

{| class="wikitable"
|+Verbal particles{{sfn|Bauer|Evans|Parker|2001|page=139}}
!
!Positive
!Negative
|-
!Past
|i
|i
|-
!Future
|ka
|i/e
|-
!Present
|kei te
|i te
|-
!Imperfect
| colspan="2" |e...ana
|-
!Past perfect
|kua
|kia
|}

The general usage of {{lang|mi|kāhore}} can be seen in the following examples. The subject is usually raised in negative phrases, although this is not obligatory.{{sfn|Bauer|Evans|Parker|2001|page=141}} Each example of a negative phrase is presented with its analogue positive phrase for comparison.

{{Col-begin}}
{{Col-2}}
{{interlinear|indent=3|lang=mi|E haere ana tātou āpōpō|{{gcl|T/A|tense/aspect}} move {{gcl|T/A|tense/aspect}} 1PL.INCL tomorrow|'We are going tomorrow'{{sfn|Bauer|Evans|Parker|2001|page=140}} }}
{{interlinear|indent=3|lang=mi|Kua tae mai he tāngata|{{gcl|T/A|tense/aspect}} arrive hither a people|'Some people have arrived'{{sfn|Bauer|Evans|Parker|2001|page=140}} }}
{{Col-2}}
{{interlinear|lang=mi|'''Kāhore''' tātou e haere ana āpōpō|'''NEG''' 1PL.INCL {{gcl|T/A|tense/aspect}} move {{gcl|T/A|tense/aspect}} tomorrow|'We are not going tomorrow'{{sfn|Bauer|Evans|Parker|2001|page=140}} }}
{{interlinear|lang=mi|'''Kāhore''' anō he tāngata kia tae mai|'''NEG''' yet a people SUBJ arrive hither|'Nobody has arrived yet'{{sfn|Bauer|Evans|Parker|2001|page=140}} }}
{{Col-end}}

=== Passive sentences ===
The passive voice of verbs is made by a suffix to the verb. For example, -ia (or just -a if the verb ends in [i]). The other passive suffixes, some of which are very rare, are: -hanga/-hia/-hina/-ina/-kia/-kina/-mia/-na/-nga/-ngia/-ria/-rina/-tia/-whia/-whina/.{{sfn|Harlow|2015 |page= 113}} The use of the passive suffix -ia is given in this sentence: ''Kua hanga'''ia''' te marae e ngā tohunga'' (The marae has been built by the experts). The active form of this sentence is rendered as: ''Kua hanga ngā tohunga i te marae'' (The experts have built the marae). It can be seen that the active sentence contains the object marker 'i', that is not present in the passive sentence, while the passive sentence has the agent marker 'e', which is not present in the active sentence.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://kupu.maori.nz/sentences/passive-sentences |publisher=Kupu o te Rā |title=Passive sentences |website=kupu.maori.nz |access-date=14 September 2019 |archive-date=1 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190901100616/https://kupu.maori.nz/sentences/passive-sentences |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Polar questions ===
Polar questions (yes/no questions) can be made by changing the intonation of the sentence. The answers may be āe (yes) or kāo (no).{{sfn|Bauer|1997|pages=424–427}}

=== Derivational morphology ===
Although Māori is mostly analytical there are several derivational affixes:

* -anga, -hanga, -ranga, -tanga (-ness, -ity) (the suffix depends on whether the verb takes, respectively, the -ia, -hia, -ria or -tia passive suffixes) (e.g. ''pōti'' 'vote', ''pōtitanga'' 'election')
* -nga (nominalizer){{sfn|Bauer|1997|pages=517–524}}
* kai- (agentive noun){{sfn|Bauer|1997|pages=25–26}} (e.g. ''mahi'' 'work', ''kaimahi'' 'worker/employee')
* ma- (adjectives){{sfn|Harlow|2015|page=112}}
* tua- (ordinal numerals){{sfn|Bauer|1997|pages=282–283}} (e.g. ''tahi'' 'one', ''tuatahi'' 'first/primary')
*whaka- (causative prefix){{sfn|Bauer|1997|pages=44–45}}