taea
1. (verb) to be able, accomplished, possible - although this word derives from tae and its passive ending -a, it has developed a feature distinct from the normal passive construction, in that the action of which someone is said to be capable is preceded by te and no preposition. Unlike other verbs in the passive which do not take a passive ending when following me, taea may occur after me. If taea is modified by a base and/or a particle, which would normally take a passive ending after a verb in the passive, then that base or particle also has a passive ending (usually -tia).
(Te Kākano Textbook (Ed. 2): 75-76;)
Ka taea ēnei kōrero e ia te tuhi. / He is able to write down this account.
Kīhai i oti i a ia tana tohu paetahi; ahakoa i taea ngāwaritia noatia e ia te nuinga o ngā mahi (TTR 1996:66). / He did not complete his BA; although he was able to do most of his subjects quite easily.
Synonyms: kaha, tare, āhei, waewae kai pakiaka, tareka, kei a [koe] mō te ..., toa, ringa rehe, Kei a ... mō te ..., riwha
e taea te aha
1. nothing could be done, nothing can be done, nothing can be done about it - an idiom to say that a problem is insurmountable, unavoidable or can't be rectified.
Engari e taea te aha, kua puta, kua kore ia e taea te whakahoki atu ki tōna rua i puta ake ai (HJ 2012:21). / But nothing can be done, it's out and can no longer be returned to its lair that it emerged from.
Synonyms: e kore e taea te pēhea, kāore (hoki) e taea te pēhea, ūā ana, tē taea te aha, kāore (hoki) e taea te pēwhea, e taea (hoki) te pēhea, e taea (hoki) te pēwhea
tē taea te aha
1. nothing could be done, nothing can be done, nothing can be done about it - an idiom to say that a problem is insurmountable, unavoidable or can't be rectified.
Ka mania a ia ki roto i te wai. Ka whakamātau tōna hoa a Rāhera ki te hopu i a ia; tē taea te aha (Te Ara 2017). / She slipped into the water. Her friend Rāhera tried to grab her, but nothing could be done.
Synonyms: e taea te aha, e kore e taea te pēhea, kāore (hoki) e taea te pēhea, ūā ana, kāore (hoki) e taea te pēwhea, e taea (hoki) te pēhea, e taea (hoki) te pēwhea
e taea (hoki) te pēwhea
1. nothing can be done about is, it can't be helped - an idiom to say that a problem is insurmountable, unavoidable or can't be rectified.
Kua pae mai he kauika upokohue ki uta. E taea hoki te pēwhea? Kua mate kē te nuinga. / A pod of pilot whales has been stranded. Nothing can be done about it. Most of them are already dead.
Synonyms: e taea te aha, e kore e taea te pēhea, kāore (hoki) e taea te pēhea, kāore (hoki) e taea te pēwhea, e taea (hoki) te pēhea, ūā ana, tē taea te aha
kāore (hoki) e taea te pēwhea
1. nothing can be done about it - an idiom to say that a problem is insurmountable, unavoidable or can't be rectified.
Kāore e taea te pēhea ināianei, i te mea kua hipa te wā tika kia tae mai ngā tono. / There's nothing that can be done now because the time has passed for applications.
See also kāore (hoki) e taea te pēhea
Synonyms: e taea te aha, e kore e taea te pēhea, kāore (hoki) e taea te pēhea, e taea (hoki) te pēhea, e taea (hoki) te pēwhea, ūā ana, tē taea te aha
kāore (hoki) e taea te pēhea
1. nothing could be done, nothing can be done, nothing can be done about it - an idiom to say that a problem is insurmountable, unavoidable or can't be rectified.
Kāore hoki e taea te pēhea, i te kaha o te mamae o tōna ngākau mō tona tamāhine tūturu. / Nothing could be done because of her extreme grief for her own daughter.
Synonyms: e taea te aha, e kore e taea te pēhea, ūā ana, tē taea te aha, kāore (hoki) e taea te pēwhea, e taea (hoki) te pēhea, e taea (hoki) te pēwhea
e kore e taea te pēhea
1. nothing could be done, nothing can be done, nothing can be done about it - an idiom to say that a problem is insurmountable, unavoidable or can't be rectified.
Ka utua e te kāpene o te tima ruku, "E kore e taea te pēhea he mea whakahau mai ahau kia whakatotohutia ngā tima e rere ana i ngā takiwā rerenga tima ki ngā tāone taha tai o te Ingarihi." (TKO 15/10/1916:8). / The captain of the submarine replied, "There as nothing I could do because I was ordered to sink the ships sailing in the shipping lanes to the coastal towns of England."
Synonyms: e taea te aha, kāore (hoki) e taea te pēhea, ūā ana, tē taea te aha, kāore (hoki) e taea te pēwhea, e taea (hoki) te pēhea, e taea (hoki) te pēwhea
2. (verb) (-a) to reach.
Kua tīmata anō te wahine ki te mau roroa i te panekoti. E tika ana anō, i te mea kua tae kē ngā panekoti o nāianei ki runga ake i ngā turi (TTT 1/9/1929:1064). / Women have again started wearing longer skirts. And that's appropriate because currently skirts have reached above the knees.
3. (verb) (-a) to extend to, as far as, until.
Nā, kia rongo mai koe; kāore rawa ā Te Urewera whenua i tae mai ki konei (W 1971:355). / Now, you should hear what I'm saying; Te Urewera's lands do not extend to here.
4. (verb) (-a) to overcome, take, prevail over.
E rua ngā āhua o tēnei whaiwhaiā, he tangata kāore i tae ki te wahine, he tangata i tae tonu ki te wahine i moea hei wahine tūturu māna (TPH 31/8/1904:2). / There are two functions of this witchcraft, for a man who is not able to take a woman and for a man who has taken a wife in a permanent relationship.
Synonyms: where, pāpā, wikitōria, whakatina, tārū, hinga, poke, raupatu, takapapa, pārure, whakatūoi, mate, whara, poko, kake
2. (determiner) the - when referring to a whole class of things or people designated by the noun that follows.
(Te Kākano Textbook (Ed. 2): 48; Te Pihinga Textbook (Ed. 2): 125;)
Kī tonu te wharenui i te tamariki. / The meeting house was full of children.
3. (determiner) Mr, mister, sir - used before people's names to show respect. When used this way it begins with a capital letter.
(Te Māhuri Textbook (Ed. 2): 190-191;)
Kei Te Wharehuia, tēnei te mihi atu mō tō āwhina mai. / Wharehuia sir, thank you most sincerely for your help.
Synonyms: Mita
4. (determiner) Used in front of another verb following a stative.
(Te Kākano Textbook (Ed. 2): 58, 99-100;)
5. (determiner) Used in front of another verb following taea.
(Te Kākano Textbook (Ed. 2): 75-76;)
Ka taea e ia tēnei waiata te whakamāori. / She will be able to interpret this song.
6. (determiner) Used before the names for the days of the week.
(Te Kākano Textbook (Ed. 2): 30;)
7. (determiner) Sometimes used before numbers with a following noun.
8. (determiner) Used before ordinal numbers including those using tua-.
(Te Māhuri Study Guide (Ed. 1): 12;)
I piki a Tāne-nui-a-rangi ki te tuangahuru mā rua o ngā rangi. / Tāne-nui-a-rangi climbed to the twelfth realm.
9. .
See also i te, kei te ..., ki te ...
tareka
1. (verb) (-tia) to be attained, accomplished - in modern Māori this word is used in grammatical constructions in the same way as taea.
I te mutunga ake o ngā kōrero nui kē nei, i tareka e Baker ngā āpiha o ērā atu o ngā hokowhitu te nuku kē atu ki ō rātou tūranga tika ake nei i te raki (TTR 2000:14). / After considerable discussion Baker was able to persuade the other battalion commanders to move north into their correct positions.
Synonyms: waewae kai pakiaka, kei a [koe] mō te ..., toa, ringa rehe, Kei a ... mō te ..., riwha, taea
me
1. (particle) must, had better, should - used before verbs to form a weak command. When used in passive sentences, the verb does not take a passive suffix, with the exception of the word taea.
(Te Kākano Textbook (Ed. 2): 15, 84;)
Synonyms: hōpurupuru, rawa, mātua
2. (particle) must be, a must, has to be, have to be - also used before nouns and adjectives.
Me kawhe. / Coffee is a must.
Me reka ngā kai. / The food must be tasty.
Me whā rawa? / Does it have to be four?
3. (particle) how should it be done - when used before pēhea and followed by a clause of purpose.
Kātahi au ka whakaaro, me pēhea e kitea ai, e mau ai te tangata nāna i tāhae. / Then I wondered how I could discover and catch the person who stole it.
See also me pēhea?
