Exercise Seven
The passive sentence
I tuhia ... e ...
Look carefully at these two sentences with the translations:
I whakahoki a Mere i ngā pereti ki te marae.
Mary returned the plates to the marae.
I whakahokia ngā pereti e Mere ki te marae.
The plates were returned to the marae by Mary.
The first sentence is an active sentence because the subject of the sentence (a Mere) did the action (i whakahoki). What follows the second i is the object of the action.
The second example is a passive sentence because the subject (ngā pereti) is passive and not doing the action (i whakahokia). In this passive sentence the person doing the ‘returning’ follows e (Mere). Notice that the second i of the active sentence is not present in the passive sentence.
Thus when using the passive sentence structure there are three main things to remember:
A passive ending is added to the verb, except if me (must, had better) is the verbal marker. There are 14 different passive endings (see Te Kākano p. 66) but each ordinary verb has a particular passive ending. These are given in parentheses after the verb in the vocabulary lists of the Te Whanake books and in Te Aka Māori-English, English-Māori Dictionary and Index, e.g. inu (-mia).
The word e precedes the person or agent of the sentence.
There is no i preceding the object of the action.
Hei tauira:
| I inumia te wai e au. | The water was drunk by me. |
| Ka horoia ngā rīhi e Hine. | The dishes will be washed by Hine. |
| I whāia te ngeru e te kurī. | The cat was chased by the dog. |
| Me whakairi ngā kākahu e koe. | The clothes should be hung up by you. |
This is an important grammatical pattern in Māori. You should refer to the following for further explanations, examples and exercises: Te Kākano pp. 84-85; Te Kākano Pukapuka Tātaki p. 53; Te Kākano CDs Mahi 74.
Whakakīa ngā āputa.
Whakapākehātia ngā rerenga kōrero.
Don’t forget to use commas, question marks, and fullstops and macrons where appropriate (ā,ē,ī,ō, and ū).
I
The ceiling was raised by the carpenter.
I
The dog was hit by that man.
Ka
The breakfast will be cooked by Hinemauria.
I
The house was built by Amorangi.
Ka
The ground will be covered by the snow.
I rangona
The birds were heard by the child.
I
The visitors were welcomed by the host people.
Ka
The bell will be rung by Harawira.
I waiatatia te waiata e ia.
Kua kainga te mīti e te kurī.
I whakatikaina te rūma e te wahine.
Ka taraiwatia tō mātou motokā e Pāpā.
I tuhia te pukapuka Te Kākano e John Moorfield.
I whatia tōna waewae e Hoani.
Ka mākatia ngā whakamātautau e Kārena.
I horoia tōku paihikara e te ua.