ki runga / i raro

Spatial Relations

Level 2

Ki runga i te pouaka means onto the box; i raro i te moenga means under the bed.

How It Works

Runga expresses upper position and raro lower position. These locative bases follow their particles directly, without an ordinary article: ki runga, i raro, and kei raro. Neither base is restricted to the particle displayed in the entry key.

Ki introduces a destination; kei introduces a present location predicate. Compare ki runga i te pouaka, ‘onto the box’, with kei runga i te pouaka, ‘on the box’. The following i phrase identifies the reference object in these patterns. Do not replace it universally with o.

Within an activity clause, i raro gives its spatial setting; that locative i does not independently make the event past. English ‘on’ or ‘above’, and ‘under’ or ‘below’, depend on the situation. The relation does not require noun or verb agreement endings.

Examples (3)

  1. Ka peke te ngeru ki runga i te pouaka.

    The cat jumps onto the box.

    Ki runga gives the destination of the jump.

  2. Kei runga i te pouaka te ngeru.

    The cat is on the box.

    Kei frames a present location.

  3. E moe ana te kurī i raro i te moenga.

    The dog is sleeping under the bed.

    I raro gives the setting of the ongoing activity.

How It Connects

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

ki runga / i raroLevel 2Spatial Relations

Learn This First

Introduce article-free runga and raro after the appropriate opening particle, with an i-marked reference in the taught patterns. Spatial i within an activity does not independently mark past time, and the reference phrase is not universally an o phrase.