A Question Inside a Statement

Level 5

Identify who understands and whose origin is discussed.

How It Works

Use the construction e mārama ana nō hea rātou, understanding where people are from. The containing predicate identifies the person understanding; the embedded nō hea construction supplies the origin whose answer is understood.

Compare Nō hea ngā tamariki?, a direct request for the children's origin, with E mārama ana te kaiako nō hea ngā tamariki, a statement about the teacher's understanding. The teacher and children have different roles. When the sentence ends with nō hea rātou, context determines the pronoun's referent.

The predicates do not change to agree with participant number. Nō hea concerns origin, whereas kei hea asks about present location. This origin construction does not supply a universal method for embedding identity, location or yes/no questions. Learn the complement-taking predicate together with its supported construction.

Examples (3)

  1. E mārama ana te kaiako nō hea ngā tamariki.

    The teacher understands where the children are from.

    The teacher understands; the children's origin supplies the embedded content.

  2. E mārama ana au nō hea koe.

    I understand where you are from.

    The origin content concerns the addressee.

  3. E mārama ana ngā tamariki nō hea rātou.

    The children understand where they are from.

    On the intended reading, rātou refers back to the children.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

A Question Inside a StatementLevel 5

Learn This First

Separate the person understanding from the people whose origin is understood. Teach the supported mārama ... nō hea construction without extending it into a universal method for embedding all question types.