Giving orders using passive endings

You have already learnt how to use commands when there is no goal or object. We will now look at giving commands for which there is an object.

Hei tauira

E kume!	Pull!
Kumea!	Pull it!
Patua te kiore!	Kill the rat!/Hit the rat!
Inumia tō pia!	Drink your beer!

From the examples above you can see that the first command is simply to pull something, whereas the other examples have an object to the action either stated or implied. This is done by using a passive ending.

Ordinary verbs (but not statives) have their own particular passive endings such as:
-a, -na, -nga, -ia, -tia, -hia, -ngia, -kia, -mia, -ria, -whia, -ina, -whina, -kina.

Some verbs will take a number of these passive endings. It is important to learn the appropriate endings for each verb. It is also important to know that there are tribal variations to particular passive endings. For example Ngāti Porou tend to use -ngia as the preferred passive ending whereas Ngāi Tūhoe prefer the use of -hia.

Hei tauira

Horahia te tēpu!	Set the table!
Āwhinatia ngā tamariki hou!	Help the new children!
Whāngaihia te pēpe.	Feed the baby.
Whāngaia te pēpe.	Feed the baby.
Kumea mai te waka ki uta!	Pull the canoe to shore.

-tia is probably the most frequently used passive ending used for most commands. However, there are three passive endings that have restricted usage.

1. The passive ending -nga is used only with a few verbs ending in ai.

Kainga ō huarākau, e tama!	Eat your fruit, boy!
Hāpainga!	Lift it!

2. The passive ending -mia appears to be confined to words ending in o and u while -ina is used only with words ending ina.

Inumia tō inu!	Drink your drink!
Tanumia ngā tomato!	Plant the tomatoes!
Utaina ngā pēke ki runga i te taraka!	Load the bags onto the truck!

It is also important to note that some words change their form when the passive ending is used.

Hei tauira:

tatari	(to wait) becomes tāria
pupuhi	(to shoot, blow) becomes pūhia
pupuri	(to hold) becomes purihia
titiro	(to look) becomes tirohia

Some words take a long vowel or a different vowel when the passive ending is added:

Hei tauira

whai	(to chase, pursue) becomes whāia
rongo	(to hear, feel, smell, sense) becomes rangona or rongona
tiki	(to fetch) becomes tīkina
riri	(to scold, angry) becomes rīria
whakarere	(to reject, cast away) becomes whakarērea

There are three words which do not usually take a passive ending they are homai, hoatu, and waiho.

Hei tauira

Homai koa he pereti!	Pass me a plate, please!
Hoatu ō kī ki a ia!	Give your keys to him!
Waiho ngā taonga rā!	Leave those treasures over there alone!

For further explanations and exercises see Te Kākano pp. 65 – 67, Te Kākano Pukapuka Tātaki pp.43-45.

Whakakīa ngā āputa kia mārama ai.
Insert the correct command so that the sentence makes sense.