Exercise Six

Using me before verbs

Me hari ahau i ēnei ki te motokā

Me is used before a verb as a weak command to suggest that one had better, or should do something. Look at the following examples that demonstrate its use.

Me haere koe.You had better go.
Me noho ahau.I had better stay.
Me hari ahau i ēnei.I had better carry these.

For further explanations see Te Kākano p15.

Whakakīa ngā āputa kia rite te rerenga kōrero Māori ki te rerenga kōrero Ingarihi.
Fill in the gaps so that the Māori sentences match the English sentence.

Kei wareware ki te whakamahi i ngā piko, ngā tohu pātai, ngā kopi me ngā tohutō i ngā wāhi e tika ana.

koe.

English translation: You had better go.

ia.

English translation: She/he had better stay.

kōrua.

English translation: You two had better go back.

ia.

English translation: She/he had better run.

te kuia.

English translation: The elderly lady had better walk.

a Te Hererīpene ki
.
English translation: Te Hererīpene had better go to the beach.

a Neihana ki te
.

English translation: Neihana had better run to school.

a Eruera i te aihikirīmi.

English translation: Eruera had better eat the ice cream.

koe i ngā
.

English translation: You had better collect the cents.

ahau i ēnei ki te
.
English translation: I had better carry these to the car.