Editing Māori language (section)

==== 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'''."}}