rānei

Offering an Alternative

Level 2

He kapu, he pereti rānei offers a cup or a plate; activity alternatives can place rānei after the second verb.

How It Works

Rānei marks an alternative. A nominal choice can put it after the second option: he kapu, he pereti rānei, ‘a cup or a plate’. Retain the marking required by each option rather than deleting its article mechanically.

In an activity choice, the particle can follow the second verb before its object: kei te tunu rānei i te kai. It need not be the final word. Each alternative retains its predicate framing, while a shared participant can remain understood.

Compare the nominal fragment with Kei te pānui koe, kei te tunu rānei i te kai?, ‘Are you reading or cooking food?’ This question invites a choice. Alternatives also occur in statements and instructions, so rānei does not itself make every clause a question. The particle has no agreement ending, and it does not determine the event’s time; the predicate and context do that.

Examples (3)

  1. he kapu, he pereti rānei

    Choice fragment: a cup or a plate.

    Rānei follows the second nominal option.

  2. Kei te pānui koe, kei te tunu rānei i te kai?

    Are you reading or cooking food?

    Rānei follows the second verb and precedes its object.

  3. Ka waea mai koe, ka haere mai rānei.

    You will telephone or come here.

    Read in a future-arrangement context: ka does not independently require future time. The second clause shares koe.

How It Connects

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

rāneiLevel 2Offering an Alternative

Learn This First

Move from a choice between objects to alternatives between activities. Place rānei with the relevant option rather than assuming it must end the sentence or always create a question.