me + verb
What Someone Should Do
Me mau koe i tō pōtae. — You should wear your hat. This is an active me clause with a following subject and i-marked object.
How It Works
Me introduces an advisable, expected or necessary action. English “should” or “must” depends on context. Neither the particle nor the verb inflects for person or number.
A modern active frame places the subject after the predicate and retains object marking: Me mau koe i tō pōtae. — You should wear your hat. With an intransitive verb, Me hoki tāua ki te kāinga. — We two should go home — includes the addressee.
A separate prescriptive transitive frame uses a bare verb, an e-marked agent and a patient without object i: Me inu e koutou te wai. — You should all drink the water. Do not apply either marking pattern universally to all me clauses. Participants may be understood rather than expressed. Verbal me differs from noun-joining me; prohibitions use kaua e.
Examples (4)
- Me mau koe i tō pōtae.
You should wear your hat.
This active frame has koe as subject and an i-marked object.
- Me hoki tāua ki te kāinga.
We two, including you, should go home.
Tāua includes the speaker and addressee.
- Me waea a Hana ki tōna whaea.
Hana should phone her mother.
The named subject follows the predicate; ki introduces the person called.
- Me inu e koutou te wai.
You should all drink the water.
The prescriptive frame has an e-marked agent and a patient without object i; inu remains bare.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Teach me as presenting an action as called for, with strength supplied by context. Introduce the active and separate bare-verb e-agent frames locally, preserving their different participant marking without requiring later passive lessons.
Related Patterns
- Putting the Predicate First
Explains predicate-before-subject order in the active and intransitive examples.
Level 1 - me + nounTogether with
Distinguishes noun-joining me from verbal me.
Level 2 - kia + predicateA Wish or Desired State
Provides a different frame for a desired situation.
Level 2 - kaua eTelling Someone Not to
Expresses an instruction to avoid an action.
Level 2 - Choosing a Viewpoint on an Action
Offers later study of participant roles; the me prescriptive frame has bare verb morphology despite its e-agent marking.
Level 5
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
Practice me + verb in Bubblegum
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