kau
1. (particle) alone, by oneself, solitarily, bare, empty, naked, without hindrance, unreservedly, to no purpose, purely and simply, solely, exclusively, only, merely, just, idle, inactive, for no particular reason, in vain, to no avail, helplessly, none at all, very, seriously, totally - a manner particle indicating the absence of other factors. Where kau follows a verb in the passive it will take a passive ending also, usually -tia. In this situation the passive ending may be dropped from the verb, but not from kau. As with other manner particles in Māori, while having a general overall meaning, kau can be translated in a variety of ways, depending on the context.
(Te Pihinga Textbook (Ed. 2): 91-92;)
Rapu kau ana a Tāwhiri-mātea, kua hunaia e Papa-tū-ā-nuku ana tamariki. / Tāwhiri-mātea searched everywhere, but Papa-tū-ā-nuku had hidden her children.
Ka whaowhia te kūmara ki roto, kī tonu, kore rawa he wāhi i āputa, arā i takoto kau noa iho, kī tonu (JPS 1926:95). / The kūmara were put in it, and filled it up, there was no open space remaining, that is it was absolutely full.
Synonyms: katoa, tata, tika, tou, noa, noa iho, tōkeke, noa ake, tonu, ia, ia rā, heipū, mārie, mārika, mārire, kāhore kau, anake, anahe, nahe, ake, kiri kau, kirikau, tahanga, hahake, pakiwhara
2. (particle) as soon as, no sooner had - a slight variation from the general meaning above where kau is used to indicate immediacy.
Utua kautia te moni tuatahi ki a Te Teira me tōna iwi, tukuna atu ana e te kāwanatanga ngā kairūri (TTR 1990:291). / As soon as the first payment was made to Te Teira and his people, the government sent in the surveyors.
