kē
An Unexpected Alternative
Read kē with the phrase carrying the contrast.
How It Works
Kē follows material carrying a contrast. A descriptive predicate can correct a suggested property; an ownership phrase can correct an assumed owner. With kua, it can highlight an event already completed or begun at the relevant reference point. It has no person or number endings.
Compare Kua kati te toa, “The shop has closed,” with Kua kati kē te toa, “The shop has already closed.” The second places closure against an expectation. In He whero kē te pouaka, “The box is actually red,” context supplies the rejected colour.
Passive modifier agreement is separate: you may also encounter kētia accompanying a passive verb. That form is not a person or number ending.
Examples (3)
- He whero kē te pouaka.
The box is actually red.
Corrects a previously suggested colour.
- Nā Hine kē tēnei pukapuka.
This book actually belongs to Hine.
Contrasts Hine with an assumed owner.
- Kua tīmata kē te konohete.
The concert has already started.
The start has occurred by the reference point.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Read kē beside the material carrying a contrast: a colour, an owner or an achieved event. Recover the expectation from context and introduce the already reading within kua without assigning that translation to every occurrence.
- kua + verbA Result or Completed Change
An achieved event or established state supplies the baseline for interpreting kua with kē as already established relative to expectation.
Level 1 - nā / nō ownershipAsking Whose It Is
The ownership frame identifies whose book is being discussed, so kē can be understood as correcting the assumed owner.
Level 2
Related Patterns
Practice kē in Bubblegum
Poppy, your AI tutor, writes Māori lessons at your level. Tap any grammar point in a lesson to see its full explanation.
