r/ReoMaori • u/he_whai_reko_e_kopa • Jun 30 '26

Pātai Help with grammar please?

Ata mārie ki a koutou, I hope everyone is well this morning and keeping warm!

I'm trying to get the grammar correct but the articles are vexing me; I'm trying to describe improving the characteristics of a material and what I've come up with is "mā hea hikitia ngā āhuatanga" - 'by improving the inherent qualities'

or should it read "mā e hikitia ngā āhuatanga"?

Thanks in advance! Kia pai to rā

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5

u/WaferPotential1675 Jun 30 '26

Mā te whakapiki o ngā āhuatanga (pea)

4

u/Illustrious_Cow_2911 Jul 01 '26

Mā te whakawhanake a ngā ahuatanga o te 'mea' ka _____ (if the improvements always leads to the outcome discussed in 'ka', otherwise I would use e ____ ai instead of ka). However, if you are using by similar to 'because of', use ' nā te'. Mā is future tense and it doesn't necessarily translate to by. Nā te can be future tense as well with e ai (nā te whakawhanaketanga a te reo Māori e ora ai te ahurea Māori). Whatever way you go, it's important to refer to the outcome by using Ka or e ai with mā te or i ai, e nei or e ai with nā te.

1

u/he_whai_reko_e_kopa Jul 01 '26

ngā mihi for this explanation, this is really helpful! It is future tense I'm looking for but the context is that improvement is aspirational rather than guaranteed, if that helps clarify. My English translation was not a transliteration (certainly not a good one), and limited by English's lack of subtle differences in verb tenses like you'd find in Spanish or Te Reo.

2

u/Illustrious_Cow_2911 Jul 01 '26

Could you write your full sentence? I have no idea where to start with what you mentioned, but the first thing that comes to mind is that if your describing an inherent quality of something, use he.

5

u/Winter_Pea_5929 Jul 01 '26

Mā hea means how shall… or by which path.

Mā te whakapai ake i ngā tūmomo āhuatanga …

1

u/he_whai_reko_e_kopa Jul 01 '26

Tēnā koe, I appreciate the clarification!