e ... nei

An Event Near the Speaker

Level 4

Head noun + e + predicate phrase + nei + remaining participants.

How It Works

Place e before the predicate and nei after its phrase. Directionals and manner particles precede nei. A person head can supply the actor, leaving no repeated subject; a place head can supply the location while the event keeps an expressed subject. Nei is unchanged with singular and plural heads.

Compare te tangata e tatari ana, “the person who is waiting”, with te tangata e tatari nei, “the person waiting here”. The progressive pattern presents activity as ongoing; the nei pattern draws attention to its immediate setting. “Here” can describe conversational proximity as well as physical position.

Nei is not a present-tense ending and also occurs with other predicate markers. Choose the complete relative construction: progressive circumstance relatives do not simply take an added nei after ana. Event time follows the predicate and context.

Examples (3)

  1. He kaiako te wahine e kōrero nei ki ngā tamariki.

    The woman speaking to the children here is a teacher.

    The woman supplies the relative subject.

  2. Kua tae mai ngā waka e tū nei i waho.

    The vehicles standing here outside have arrived.

    Nei is unchanged with a plural head.

  3. He hōhonu te roto e kauhoe nei ngā tama.

    The lake where the boys are swimming here is deep.

    The lake supplies location; the boys supply the subject.

How It Connects

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

e ... neiLevel 4An Event Near the Speaker

Learn This First

Introduce e ... nei through the contrast between a person waiting and a person waiting here. Nei gives the event immediate, usually speaker-associated framing; it also permits a place head with a separately expressed subject.