wahine / wāhine
Vowel Length in a Plural
Te wahine means the woman; ngā wāhine means the women.
How It Works
For the ordinary woman/women noun contrast, use singular wahine and plural wāhine. The plural's first vowel is long. This pair belongs to the small group of nouns with distinct plural forms.
Compare Kei te toa te wahine., “The woman is at the shop,” with Kei te toa ngā wāhine., “The women are at the shop.” Article and noun form both express number; the location predicate stays unchanged.
Demonstratives combine with the corresponding forms: tēnei wahine means “this woman,” and ēnei wāhine means “these women.” Preserve the plural's macron in ordinary orthography; it marks vowel length. The lesson concerns noun number in these phrases and supplies no general rule for lengthening plural nouns or altering compound and attributive forms.
Examples (4)
- Kei te toa te wahine.
The woman is at the shop.
Singular wahine has a short first vowel.
- Kei te toa ngā wāhine.
The women are at the shop.
Plural wāhine has a long first vowel.
- Kei konei tēnei wahine.
This woman is here.
Tēnei combines with wahine.
- Kei konei ēnei wāhine.
These women are here.
Ēnei combines with wāhine.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Learn another individually established vowel-length number pair, then apply it with articles and demonstratives. Keep the claim scoped to the ordinary woman–women noun contrast.
Related Patterns
Practice wahine / wāhine in Bubblegum
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