Exercise Five

Saying ‘if not’

Ki te kore koutou e whakarongo, kāore koutou e pāhi
Saying ‘if not

There is a special negative pattern for ki te which uses kore. Ki te kore along with e completes this form of a negative sentence. You can see the pattern in the following examples.

Hei tauira:

Ki te kore koe e whakarongo, ka riri te kaiako.
If you don’t listen, the teacher will get angry.

Ki te kore a Tāmati e mutu tana tangi, kāore tātou e moe.
If Tāmati doesn’t stop his crying, we won’t get any sleep.

You should notice that the person or actor of the sentence always lies between ki te kore and e.

For further explanations and examples see Te Pihinga p. 67.

Whakamāoritia, whakapākehātia rānei ngā rerenga kōrero e whai ake nei.
Translate the following sentences into either Māori or English.

Don’t forget to use commas, question marks, and fullstops and macrons where appropriate (ā,ē,ī,ō, and ū).

If he doesn’t stop singing, I’m going outside.

Ki te kore a Pita e haere ki te mahi, ka pōhara ia.

If mum doesn’t cook food, we’ll be hungry.

Ki te kore āu mahi e oti i a koe, ka mahue koe i ō hoa.

Ki te kore e mutu te ua, kāore tāua e haere.


Ki te kore a Te Hererīpene e kai i ana huawhenua, kāore ia e whiwhi aihikirīmi.

If she doesn’t sit down, her mum will get angry.


If John doesn’t go to Auckland, he’ll be left behind.