Asking and saying when something happened in the past

You have already learnt how to ask and say when something will happen in the future using the Ā hea … ai structure.

Hei tauira:

Ā hea koe haere ai ki Ahipara?	When will you go to Ahipara?
Ā tērā Mane, ā te whā o Pipiri.	Next Monday, the fourth of June.

Asking and saying when something happened in the past follows the same sentence pattern with two differences. Nō or i indicates past time, while ā indicates future time therefore Nōnahea is used at the start of the question not ā hea.

The second difference is that i is placed in front of the verb followed by ai.

Nōnahea koe i haere ai ki Ahipara?

When did you go to Ahipara?

Note that there are dialectual variations for nōnahea such as nōnawhea, inahea and inawhea. Look at the following examples for further clarification using nōnahea.

Nōnahea koutou i hoki mai ai ki te kāinga?	When did you all return home?
Nō te 8 o Mei i hoki mai mātou.	We returned on the 8th of May.
Nōnahea tō irāmutu i whānau ai?	When was your niece born?
Nō te 23 o Hānuere i te tau 1997 tāku irāmutu i whānau ai.	My niece was born on the 23 of January 1997.
Nōnahea koe i tīmata ai i te whare wānanga.	When did you start university?
Nō te tau rua mano.	In 2000.

For further explanations and exercises see Te Kākano p.85, Te Kākano Pukapuka Tātaki p.52, Te Kākano CD's Mahi 76 and 77.

Pānuitia ngā kōrero nei mō Rangimārie Hetet, ka whakautu ai i ngā pātai.

He kōrero mō Rangimārie Hetet

I whānau a Rangimārie i Oparure i te tau 1892. Nō Ngāti Kinohaku hapū o Ngāti Maniapoto ia. Ko Mere Te Rongopāmamao tōna whaea, ko Charles Hursthouse tōna pāpā.

Nā tōna whaea me ngā kuia o tōna rohe a Rangimārie i ako ki ngā mahi raranga whāriki, whatu kākahu, me ngā mahi katoa mō te mahi harakeke. He wahine rongonui ia mō ēnei mahi.

Nā Te Rōpū Wāhine Māori Toko i te Ora ia i tono ki te whakaako i ngā wāhine ki ngā mahi nei. I whakawhiwhia ia ki te MBE i te tau 1973, ā, nō te tau 1984 i whakawhiwhia ia ki te CBE.

I te Rātapu, te 14 o ngā rā o Tīhema i te tau 1986, ka whakanuia a Rangimārie e Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato ki te Tohu Tākuta. Kei tōna marae i Oparure te hui. Ko Oparure te ingoa o tōna marae, ā, ko Te Waipatoto 2 te wharenui.

I mate a Dame Rangimārie Hetet i te tau 1995, ā, 103 ōna tau i tana matenga.