How to Quiz
Reference

Tense markers

There are six tense markers:

Marker

Tense

The action, experience or state:

I

Simple past

happened in the past

I te

Past continuous

was happening

Kua

Past perfect

'has' been completed (often recently)

E...ana

Present continuous

is happening

Kei te

Present

is happening

Ka

Further

will happen

Here are some English examples of each tense:

English examples

Tense

Simple past

I ran
We slept
They ran

Past continuous

(makes the verb 'ing')

I was running
We were sleeping
They were going

Past perfect

(puts ‘has’ or ‘have’
in front of the verb)

I have run
We have slept
There have gone

Present continuous

(makes the verb 'ing')

I am running
We are sleeping
They are going

Present

I am running
We are sleeping
They are going

Future

I will run

We will sleep
They will go

Let's look at each Māori tense markers in more detail.

I

'I’ marks the past tense

Place ‘I’ before the verb to say that something happened in the past

I pānui te tama

I

pānui

te

tama

(past)

read

the

boy

The boy read

I kai te pēpi

I

kai

te

pēpi

(past)

ate

the

baby

The baby ate

I noho te kurī

I

noho

te

kurī

(past)

sat

the

dog

The dog sat

I moe te kōtiro

I

moe

te

kōtiro

(past)

slept

the

girl

The girl slept

I pānui te tama

I

pānui

te

tama

(past)

read

the

boy

The boy read

I kai te pēpi

I

kai

te

pēpi

(past)

ate

the

baby

The baby ate

I noho te kurī

I

noho

te

kurī

(past)

sat

the

dog

The dog sat

I moe te kōtiro

I

moe

te

kōtiro

(past)

slept

the

girl

The girl slept

I te

'I te’ marks the past continuous tense

The past continuous makes English verbs ‘ing’. ‘She ran’ is past tense, ‘She was running’ is past continuous tense.

Place ‘I te’ before the verb to say that something was happening in the past

I te pānui te tama

I te

pānui

te

tama

(past
+'ing')

reading

the

boy

The boy was reading

I te kai te pēpi

I te

kai

te

pēpi

(past
+'ing')

eating

the

baby

The baby was eating

I te noho te kurī

I te

noho

te

kurī

(past
+'ing')

sitting

the

dog

The dog was sitting

I te moe te kōtiro

I te

moe

te

kōtiro

(past
+'ing')

sleeping

the

girl

The girl was sleeping

Kua

‘Kua’ marks the past perfect tense

Place ‘kua’ before the verb to say that something has happened

Kua pānui te tama

Kua

pānui

te

tama

('has')

read

the

boy

The boy has read

Kua kai te pēpi

Kua

kai

te

pēpi

('has')

eaten

the

baby

The baby has eaten

Kua noho te kurī

Kua

noho

te

kurī

('has')

sat

the

dog

The dog has sat

Kua moe te kōtiro

Kua

moe

te

kōtiro

('has')

slept

the

girl

The girl has slept

Kua can be a tricky tense marker for new learners...

Think of it as the ‘have/has’ tense. It marks actions that ‘have’ just been completed. As opposed to actions that 'were' completed in the past.

If you want to say that some action ‘has’ happened or that some actions ‘have’ happened, use ‘kua’.

That is all we need to learn at this level but be aware that ‘kua’ is used in other ways that are not directly translatable as ‘has’. In fact, ‘kua’ doesn’t always indicate that something happened in the past.

I don’t have enough knowledge to explain this well, but 'kua’ can also indicate that something has changed from some state to another. There is sometimes a sense that the change, or completion of an action, is connected to a something happening in the present of the future.

I only mention this now, because when you are exploring dictionaries such as Te aka or Williams or listening to podcasts, you will hear ‘kua’ used in ways that don’t simply translate into ’something has happened’.

Do not worry about it; stick to using it in the ‘has/have’ tense, and the rest will come as you get deeper into te reo.

Kei te

Kei te’ marks the present tense

Place ‘kei te’ before the verb to say that something is happening now

Kei te pānui te tama

Kei te

pānui

te

tama

(now)

reads

the

boy

The boy is reads

Kei te kai te pēpi

Kei te

kai

te

pēpi

(now)

eats

the

baby

The baby eats

Kei te noho te kurī

Kei te

noho

te

kurī

(now)

sits

the

dog

The dog sits

Kei te moe te kōtiro

Kei te

moe

te

kōtiro

(now)

sleeps

the

girl

The girl sleeps

E <verb> ana

‘E…ana’ marks the present tense

Place ‘E’ before the verb and ‘ana’ after the verb to say that something is happening now

E pānui ana te tama

E

pānui

ana

te

tama

(now+
'ing')

reading

the

boy

The boy is reading

E kai ana te pēpi

E

kai

ana

te

pēpi

(now+
'ing')

eating

the

baby

The baby is eating

E noho ana te kurī

E

noho

ana

te

kurī

(now+
'ing')

sitting

the

dog

The dog is sitting

E moe ana te kōtiro

E

moe

ana

te

kōtiro

(now+
'ing')

sleeping

the

girl

The girl is sleeping

Unlike any of the other tense markers, this one goes around the verb. ‘E’ before the verb and ‘ana’ straight after the verb.

Again, the tense marker ‘E…ana’ is placed like this: ‘E’ <verb> ‘ana'

'Kei te' or 'E...ana'?

Both ‘Kei te’ and ‘E…ana’ mark the present tense. In many cases, you can choose the one you prefer.

'Kei te waiata ahau' and 'E waiata ana ahau', can both be translated as 'I am singing'.

There are regional preferences, some speakers typically use 'Kei te' and others use ‘E…ana’.

However, there are some important differences, and we only use 'E…ana' for some kinds of sentences or constructions. I will point these out when they come up in other sections of the site.

From now on, when I translate Māori into English, I will use the English present continuous for the tense marker ‘kei te’ in most cases.

For example, I will translate 'Kei te pānui te tama’ as ‘The boy is reading’ rather than ‘The boy reads’. (I will also translate ‘E pānui ana te tama’ as ’The boy is reading'.)

This has nothing to do with the rules of Te reo Māori, and the use of 'Kei te' and 'E…ana'. It is because, in modern English, we tend to prefer the English present continuous (‘ing’) tense. The present tense often sounds old fashioned. If I am asked ‘What is the boy doing?’ It sounds more natural to say, 'The boy is reading’ rather than 'The boy reads'.

Ka

‘Ka’ marks the future tense

Place ‘ka’ before the verb to say that something will happen in the future

Ka pānui te tama

Ka

pānui

te

tama

(future)

read

the

boy

The boy will read

Ka kai te pēpi

Ka

kai

te

pēpi

(future)

eat

the

baby

The baby will eat

Ka noho te kurī

Ka

noho

te

kurī

(future)

sit

the

dog

The dog will sit

Ka moe te kōtiro

Ka

moe

te

kōtiro

(future)

sleep

the

girl

The girl will sleep

Like 'kua', 'ka' does a lot more heavy lifting than simply marking a tense. It can indicate the beginning of something new or that something is about to happen.

For now, just focus on the tense marker and the rest will come in time.

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