Possessive Pronouns

What are 'Possessive Pronouns'?

These are the words that denote possession - we use them a lot - my pen, your book, his/her friend, our cat, your Mum, their ball.

In te reo Māori they are a wee bit complicated though! Mostly we learn them through learning simple sentences that they are in but as you go further and learn more, you do need to understand why they take the form that they do. But let's start with looking at the basic translations for possession.

You will notice that there are two forms for each possessive pronoun - one spelled with an 'ō' and one with 'ā'. So, how do you know which to use? This is a really important kaupapa within te reo Māori and it does take a bit of time to get your head around. As Paraone Gloyne says in a Taringa Podcast - even experienced speakers of te reo Māori don't always get it right! So don't stress if you don't get it!

You can find more information on this website and some practice activities

https://animations.tewhanake.maori.nz/te-kakano/te-wahanga-tuawaru/94

If you like a visual approach, these posters help to show you who is speaking and who is listening to the kōrero. Why not have a go at making your own as a way of understanding these?

NOTE: In the 1st and 2nd person examples you can see that only the 'ā' form is used.

In the 3rd person example 'ō' has been used.

Find out more about 'ā' and 'ō' on the next page.

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