i te + verb

An Activity in the Past

Level 2

Build i te + verb + subject, followed by any complements the verb requires.

How It Works

Keep i te together before the verbal base. The subject normally follows the predicate. Personal names normally take a here; pronoun subjects normally do not. The verb does not acquire person or number endings, and objects retain their usual marking.

Compare I te tuhi a Maia i tētahi reta, ‘Maia was writing a letter’, with I tuhi a Maia i tētahi reta, ‘Maia wrote a letter’. The first presents writing in progress; the second reports a past event without specifying that viewpoint. Neither alone explicitly establishes completion of the entire letter.

The construction also accommodates states: NZQA illustrates an earlier feeling of embarrassment. For negation, use kāore + subject + i te + verb. That negative construction can describe either present or past ongoing situations; recover its time from context.

Examples (3)

  1. I te tuhi a Maia i tētahi reta.

    Maia was writing a letter.

    The writing is presented as ongoing at an earlier time.

  2. I te moe te kurī i te kāinga.

    The dog was sleeping at home.

    The predicate precedes its singular subject and location phrase.

  3. I te tākaro ngā tamariki inanahi.

    The children were playing yesterday.

    Inanahi explicitly supplies the past day.

How It Connects

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

i te + verbLevel 2An Activity in the Past

Learn This First

Keep i te together before the predicate to present an earlier ongoing activity or state. This viewpoint does not establish whether the activity later finished, and its negative counterpart recovers present or past time from context.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.