Using tā, tō, ā and ō

Ko tā te rangatira kai he kōrero
More on the use tā and tō and their plural forms

Fluent speakers will sometimes use tā and tō and their plural forms ā and ō as alternatives to the combinations of te . . . o, te . . . a, ngā . . . o, ngā . . .a. You will see the two types of sentences in the following examples.

Ko te mahi a te kuia he karanga.
The elderly women’s job is to call.

Ko tā te kuia mahi he karanga.

Ko te kāinga o Waimārie ko Te Papaioea
Waimārie’s home is Palmerston North.

Ko tō Waimarie kāinga ko Te Papaioea.

Ko ngā whenua o Mīria kei Kāwhia.
Mīria’a lands are at Kāwhia.

Ko ō Mīria whenua kei Kāwhia.
While this alternative form is used less frequently, it often avoids the speaker having to repeat themselves.

He paruparu ake ō rāua kākahu i ō Neihana.
Their clothes are dirtier than those of Neihana.

For further explanations and examples see Te Pihinga p.126

Tirohia ngā rerenga kōrero e whai ake nei, ā, whakamahia te rerenga kia rite ai ki tērā o ngā tauira i runga rā.

Look at the following sentences, your job is to re-arrange the sentences so that they use the same structure as the examples above.