kāore he

There Is None

Level 4

Kāore he + noun phrase means “There is no …” or “There are no …”.

How It Works

Put kāore he before the noun phrase naming what is absent. A descriptive modifier follows its noun. English may use a singular, plural or mass noun; he remains unchanged in this frame. Kāore he tūru wātea can therefore mean there are no available chairs.

Context supplies the setting. Kāore he kai may concern kitchen supplies rather than food everywhere. Compare Kāore te kai i konei, “The food is not here,” which denies the location of identified food. No English-style “have” verb is required. Indefinite nouns also occur in longer negative clauses, but their full construction must be preserved: kāore anō he tangata kia … expresses “nobody has … yet”. That separate pattern does not license attaching arbitrary verbal material to a bare kāore he phrase.

Examples (3)

  1. Kāore he kai.

    There is no food.

    Denies food’s availability in context.

  2. Kāore he tūru wātea.

    There are no available chairs.

    The modifier follows the noun.

  3. Kāore he pātai.

    There are no questions.

    The English plural does not require ngā in this frame.

How It Connects

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

kāore heLevel 4There Is None

Learn This First

Introduce kāore he before the kind of item unavailable in the relevant situation. Food, chairs and questions demonstrate that he remains unchanged and that the denial concerns contextual availability rather than an identified item's location.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.