Leaving Shared Information Unsaid

Level 6

Location, responsible-actor, and not-yet expressions can stand as replies.

How It Works

A short reply can give a location, responsible actor, or completion status without repeating the question's subject and event. Retained particles identify the relationship: kei marks present location, nā retains past responsibility, and kāore anō says the established event has not happened yet.

In Kei hea ngā kōtiro? — Kei te māra, the garden phrase answers about the previously mentioned girls. It does not itself encode “the girls”. Likewise, Nā Hine identifies the actor responsible for the tidying in the question.

A fuller expansion must preserve the construction. Kāore anō tō matua kia hoki uses the not-yet negative rather than retaining affirmative kua. Question–answer viewpoint can also change: “you two” can become exclusive “we two”. Recoverability comes from context; it does not license unrestricted omission.

Examples (3)

  1. Kei hea ngā kōtiro? — Kei te māra.

    Where are the girls? — In the garden.

    The reply is a location fragment whose subject is recoverable.

  2. Nā wai i whakapai te rūma? — Nā Hine.

    Who tidied the room? — Hine did.

    The reply is an actor fragment retaining past-responsibility marking.

  3. Kua hoki tō matua? — Kāore anō.

    Has your parent returned? — Not yet.

    The reply leaves the established return event understood.

How It Connects

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

Leaving Shared Information UnsaidLevel 6

Learn This First

Read the information supplied by a short reply through its question and retained markers, without assuming one uniquely deleted sentence.