kei te + verb
An Action Happening Now
Kei te presents an action happening now.
How It Works
Kei te pānui au says I am reading now. With an object, Kei te pānui au i te pukapuka adds what I am reading.
Do not translate kei alone as a tense ending. The full frame kei te + verb supplies this ongoing reading. Kei te kāinga au instead has a location noun phrase, so identifying the base remains essential.
Examples (3)
- Kei te pānui au.
I am reading.
- Kei te kai koe.
You are eating (one person).
- Kei te tākaro ngā tamariki.
The children are playing.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Introduce kei te as the complete opening for an ongoing present activity. Put the action phrase before its subject in these basic clauses, keep the verb base unchanged across participants, and distinguish this frame from a location noun phrase.
- kei + placeSaying Where Something Is
The location frame gives the essential contrast between kei plus te kāinga and the complete activity opening kei te before pānui.
Level 1 - au / ahauI and Me
Recognizing au as the speaker subject supports parsing Kei te pānui au as the ongoing predicate followed by its participant.
Level 1
Related Patterns
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
Practice kei te + verb in Bubblegum
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