kua ... kē

An Event Already Completed

Level 4

For these simple predicates: kua + head + kē + subject.

How It Works

In these simple clauses, kua precedes the predicate head and kē follows it; the subject comes next. This introductory pattern does not prescribe the order of every possible modifier or directional particle. Neither particle changes with subject number or person.

Kua presents an achieved event or resulting state. In the reading taught here, kē emphasizes that it is already established, often sooner than expected or before another relevant event. Compare Kua oti taku reta, reporting completion, with Kua oti kē taku reta, emphasizing that the letter is already finished.

The reference point may be now or an earlier narrative moment. Kua does not invariably mean that an activity has stopped: the predicate determines what has been achieved or begun. Kē also expresses difference or an alternative in other contexts, so “already” is a reading of this construction rather than its universal translation.

Examples (3)

  1. Kua kai kē ngā tamariki.

    The children have already eaten.

    Eating has occurred by the relevant reference point.

  2. Kua oti kē taku reta.

    My letter is already finished.

    Oti explicitly expresses completion.

  3. Kua hoki kē a Hana.

    Hana has already returned.

    The ordinary name subject takes a.

How It Connects

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

kua ... kēLevel 4An Event Already Completed

Learn This First

Develop the already-established reading of kua with kē after a simple predicate head. Eating, finishing and returning illustrate different achievements, assessed relative to a current or narrative reference point.