mate

Having to Do Something

Level 5

Kua mate + subject + ki te + active action.

How It Works

In this idiom, kua mate expresses a necessity that has arisen. Follow it with the person who must act and ki te plus an active action. Kua mate tāua ki te tatari means “We two have to wait”: circumstances make waiting the required response.

The subject identifies the person or group without adding agreement endings to mate. A preceding sentence can establish the obstacle, such as unavailable transport or rain preventing an outdoor activity. Learn kua mate as a complete expression for necessity arising from circumstances.

Distinguish it from te mate, a problem, and lexical uses concerning illness or death. Those meanings do not themselves introduce obligation. Me can give advice or a directive, while this idiom presents necessity arising from the situation.

Examples (3)

  1. Kāore he waka. Kua mate tāua ki te tatari.

    There is no vehicle. We two have to wait.

    The lack of transport creates necessity; tāua includes the addressee.

  2. Kei te ua. Kua mate ngā tamariki ki te noho ki roto.

    It is raining. The children have to stay inside.

    The weather supplies the practical reason.

  3. Kua ngaro te pene. Kua mate au ki te kimi i tētahi atu.

    The pen is lost. I have to find another one.

    The active action kimi retains its i-marked object.

How It Connects

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

mateLevel 5Having to Do Something

Learn This First

Introduce kua mate ... ki te through practical obstacles that make waiting, staying inside or finding a replacement necessary. Keep this circumstance-driven idiom distinct from lexical illness, death or problem meanings, without inventing an all-tense paradigm.