kei ... ka

Lest Something Happens

Level 4

Precaution + kei tūpono ka + event predicate and participants.

How It Works

The complete pattern is kei tūpono ka followed by an unwanted event. A preceding recommendation states the precaution, while the following clause identifies its motivation. Closing the window, for example, guards against rain entering.

Keep tūpono and ka in this formation. The event retains its participant structure: an expressed subject follows the predicate, as in ka uru mai te ua. Directional mai belongs to the entering phrase. The coldness example leaves the already named group understood; the forgetting example explicitly includes both the forgetter and ki tō ingoa, what might be forgotten. Predicates take no person or number endings.

Compare the shorter kei + predicate warning. Keep tūpono and ka together in this formation; the shorter kei warning follows its own pattern. This possibility clause neither reports a completed event nor guarantees successful prevention.

Examples (3)

  1. Me kati te matapihi, kei tūpono ka uru mai te ua.

    We should close the window in case the rain gets in.

    The precaution’s actor is understood; the warning names the entering rain.

  2. Me mau tātou i ngā koti, kei tūpono ka mātao.

    We should wear the coats in case we get cold.

    The warning’s understood subject is the inclusive group tātou.

  3. Me tuhi au i tō ingoa, kei tūpono ka wareware au ki tō ingoa.

    I should write your name down in case I forget it.

    The forgetting clause explicitly supplies its experiencer and ki-marked complement.

How It Connects

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

kei ... kaLevel 4Lest Something Happens

Learn This First

Teach the accepted lesson's complete kei tūpono ka pattern after a precaution. Retain tūpono and ka, and track the unwanted event's expressed or understood participants and complements.