Grammar

Today we'll review the use of the word 'tonu'. Tonu is mainly used to indicate continuous action, and in our examples today translates as the word 'still'.

When using the word 'tonu' in Māori it is placed immediately before the verb. Is this statement True or False  

How would you translate 'Will you still go to Rotorua on Monday?' into Māori?
  • Ka haere tonu koe ki Rotorua a te Mane?
  • Ka haere tonu koe ki Rotorua a te Rāhina?
  • Ka haere koe ki Rotorua tonu a te Mane
  • Answers 1 + 2
  • Answers 1 + 3
 

'Kei te whawhai tonu rāua' in English is '   '.

Which of the following is the correct Māori translation for 'Our friends are still coming over aren't they?'
  • E haere tonu mai ana o mātou hoa nē?
  • Kei haere tonu o rātou hoa?
  • I haere tonu mai o mātou hoa nē?
 

Translate the following sentence into Māori 'He still goes to the pub'.  

Add the word 'tonu' to the following sentence to indicate that 'He is still living in Auckland'. 'Kei te noho ia ki Ākarana'.
  • Kei te tonu noho ia ki Ākarana
  • Kei te noho tonu ia ki Ākarana
  • Kei te noho ia ki Ākarana tonu.
 

Put 'tonu' in the correct place in the Māori sentence to make it correct and a continuous action.  

Which of the following is the correct English translation for 'They're still playing outside'?
  • E tākaro tonu ana rātou ki waho
  • E tākaro ana tonu rātou ki waho
  • E tākaro ana rātou tonu ki waho
 

Translate ' That baby is still crying' into Māori. [*]
  • Kei te tangi tonu tērā pēpi.
 

Place 'tonu' in the following sentence to make the action continuous. 'Kei te pukuriri a Tiare'  

Exercises

Useful Tips

Please ensure that you enter your answers using the correct combination of lower and upper case.

To make it easy to enter macrons, select the box you wish to enter text into, and press the correct macron button below.

background image