i / ā + time phrase

Earlier and Later Times

Level 2

Compare i te + clock time with ā te + clock time for past and future settings.

How It Works

Keep the whole time expression together. In I te ono karaka, ka tīmata te hui, the initial phrase supplies a past clock time and ka presents the event within that setting. Changing the time phrase to ā te ono karaka establishes a future setting without changing the verbal base.

The final two examples use relative-time expressions. I muri iho means ‘afterwards’, relative to an established reference point. Ā muri ake nei points to a later future time. Preserve each expression rather than exchanging individual particles mechanically.

Articles belong to particular constructions: these clock-time phrases contain te, while these relative-time expressions do not. There is no universal rule that every time expression takes i or ā. Future hei and past-time nō also occur in their own supported constructions.

Examples (4)

  1. I te ono karaka, ka tīmata te hui.

    At six o’clock, the meeting began.

    The initial time phrase gives ka a past setting.

  2. Ā te ono karaka, ka tīmata te hui.

    At six o’clock, the meeting will begin.

    Ā te supplies a future clock-time setting.

  3. I muri iho, i hoki māua ki te kāinga.

    Afterwards, the two of us, excluding you, returned home.

    The relative-time expression links the return to an earlier reference point.

  4. Ā muri ake nei, ka kōrero tāua.

    Later on, the two of us, including you, will talk.

    The complete expression supplies a later future setting.

How It Connects

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

i / ā + time phraseLevel 2Earlier and Later Times

Learn This First

Introduce whole temporal constituents, especially i te and ā te with clock times. Teach the relative-time expressions as complete phrases too; their articles and particles cannot be exchanged by a universal past/future substitution rule.