tāna / tōna
Their Possession for One Person
Tāna and tōna identify one item belonging to one third person.
How It Works
Tāna pukapuka is one person’s book; tōna whare is one person’s house. English may translate the possessor as his, her or their, but Māori does not mark that gender here.
Tana without a macron is a neutral determiner and needs a following noun. Do not erase macrons from marked tāna as if the forms always had exactly the same distribution.
Examples (3)
- Kei konei tāna pukapuka.
Their book is here (one possessor).
- He nui tōna whare.
Their house is big (one possessor).
- Kei te moe tana pēpi.
Their baby is sleeping (one possessor).
How It Connects
Learn This First
Introduce one item related to one third person, preserving a/o marking without assigning gender. Contrast marked tāna with neutral tana, which must accompany a noun.
- tāku / tōku / takuMy and Possessive Categories
Marked and neutral first-person possession provides the structural comparison for tāna, tōna and noun-accompanying neutral tana.
Level 1 - koe / iaYou and They for One Person
Singular third-person reference without grammatical gender helps learners interpret English his, her or their without treating the Māori possessor as plural.
Level 1
Related Patterns
Practice tāna / tōna in Bubblegum
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