kotahi

One in Counting

Level 2

Use Kotahi te + noun, or answer a quantity question with kotahi.

How It Works

In this basic quantity pattern, kotahi stands without numerical e. The following definite noun phrase uses singular te. A descriptive modifier follows its noun, as in te pōro whero, ‘the red ball’.

Compare Kotahi te kapu, ‘There is one cup’, with the noun phrase he kapu, ‘a cup’. The counting clause explicitly supplies the number. It does not by itself add the restriction ‘only’; that interpretation needs further context or wording.

Kotahi counts a single person as well as an object. Higher personal counts have the useful toko- series. In a bare counting sequence, use tahi. Established ordinal forms such as tuatahi, ‘first’, also contain that shorter form. Learn these conventional formations rather than substituting kotahi into them.

Examples (4)

  1. Kotahi te kapu.

    There is one cup.

    The quantity precedes a singular definite noun phrase.

  2. Kotahi te pōro whero.

    There is one red ball.

    The descriptive modifier follows its noun.

  3. E hia ngā pouaka? Kotahi.

    How many boxes are there? One.

    The short answer supplies the quantity alone.

  4. Kotahi te kaiako.

    There is one teacher.

    Kotahi also counts a single person.

How It Connects

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

kotahiLevel 2One in Counting

Learn This First

Introduce kotahi as the explicit quantity one, without numerical e in this basic predicate. Distinguish it from merely introducing an item and from bare tahi in counting sequences or conventional compounds; one does not automatically mean only one.