mai / atu

Movement and Viewpoint

Level 3

Directionals follow the verb and precede ana in e ... ana.

How It Works

Place mai or atu after the verb. In an ongoing phrase, use e + verb + directional + ana. Neither particle changes with subject person or number. In movement, mai commonly points toward the speaker's viewpoint and atu away from it.

Compare haere mai, “come,” with haere atu, “go.” Communication can also be oriented toward or away from the speaker. In trading, hoko mai and hoko atu conventionally distinguish buying and selling. Ordinary written homai and hoatu incorporate direction.

Directionals also occur without physical movement. Their interpretation depends on the scene and viewpoint; no universal emotion or facing-direction rule accounts for every occurrence. Read the whole predicate. A phrase with ki can name the endpoint while the directional supplies orientation.

Examples (3)

  1. E oma mai ana te kurī ki ahau.

    The dog is running toward me.

    Mai precedes ana and points toward the speaker.

  2. I waea atu au ki a Pita.

    I phoned Pita.

    Atu orients the communication toward another person.

  3. Kua hoko mai a Hana i tētahi paihikara.

    Hana has bought a bicycle.

    Hoko mai expresses acquisition toward the buyer's viewpoint.

How It Connects

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

mai / atuLevel 3Movement and Viewpoint

Learn This First

Extend directional viewpoint beyond haere. Read incoming movement, outward communication and conventional hoko mai/hoko atu meanings through the whole predicate, with endpoint phrases providing separate information.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.