rātau
1. (personal noun) they, them (three or more) - eastern dialect variation of rātou.
(Te Kākano Textbook (Ed. 2): 13, 31-32, 52-56, 64-65;)
Ka mutu tēnei ka haere atu rātau ki te pāra ki te haina i ō rātau ingoa ki te pukapuka a te wahine a te Kāwana (TPH 7/6/1898:6). / When this ended they went to the parlour to sign the book of the Governor's wife.
See also rātou
wā rātau
1. (determiner) their (plural) - variation of ā rātou.
Nā konei i rahua ai te whai mahi a te tangata, te noho tika a te whānau i te kāinga, tae atu ki te kore haere o ngā kaipiri me wā rātau tamariki i te kura (TTR 1998:148). / As a consequence, the employment and domestic arrangements of the adherents and the schooling of their children were all disrupted.
ā rātau
1. (particle) (determiner) their (three or more people and more than one thing) - a possessive determiner.
I te pō, ka tū a Kihi rātau ko tōna whānau ki te poroporoaki ki a mātau, ki ngā mea e hoki ana ki te tiki mai i ā rātau wāhine, me ō rātou hūnuku katoa (TTT 1/3/1930:2003). / That night Kihi and his family stood to farewell us, the ones returning to fetch their wives and all their family dependants.
2. (particle) (determiner) they have, they had (plural).
E waru tekau ā rātau kau e kutētē ana rātau (HP 1991:17). / They had eighty cows they were milking.
