DEPENEDENT CLAUSE ANNOUNCERS
In a sentence such as "The land which is green", the dependent clause is the part which hangs off the main sentence. In this case it is "is green", and it hangs off the main clause, which is "The land". In English, there are many dependent clause announcers, and they include "which", "that" and "who". Similarly, in Tahitian, you have similar types of announcers. In the example above, "the land which is green" becomes Te fenua tei matie. The particle tei announces that what follows is dependent on what comes before. If all this seems a bit strange, look at the examples below to clarify the idea. We'll be taking a quick look at dependent clauses, and the words used in Tahitian to announce them. The main ones are tei and i.
Tei - "that which is", "he who is"
Look at the following examples. It's clear that in Tahitian, like in English, the dependent clause follows the main clause. The dependent clause has in each case been underlined to make the point clearer.
| Te fenua tei matie | "The land which is green" | |
| Ua haere atu i te fenua tei nehenehe roa? | "Have you been to the land which is very beautiful?" | |
| Te táne tei here te mau tiare | "The man who loves flowers" | |
| E parau vau i te táne tei here te mau tiare | "I will speak to the man who loves flowers" | |
| Te aivi tei ni'a roa | "The mountain peak which is far above" | |
| Te pa'uma ra ráua te aivi tei ni'a roa | "Those two are climbing the mountain peak which is far above" | |
| Te vahine tei haere atu i Ma'areva | "The woman who went to Mangareva" | |
| Ua 'ori au me te vahine tei haere atu i Ma'areva | "I danced with the woman who went to Mangareva" |
Try this exercise below. Pair up the separate clauses, using tei, so that they match the pictures. Also, give the English translation. The first one has been done for you.
| Te tiare 'ute'ute e nehenehe tei 'apu i ni'a te mou'a | "The beautiful red flower which grows on the mountain" |
Note that a reverse word order Tei ni'a roa te aiva is also possible without changing the meaning in any way.
I - "(I think) that..."
If you want to say "I think that..." or "He said that..." in Tahitian, you use the particle i to mark the dependent (quoted or thought) clause. Notice that in the third sentence in each of the sets below, the pronoun disappears from the dependent clause marked by tei, just as it does in English.
| Nehenehe roa 'o Tahiti | "Tahiti is beautiful" | |
| Ua parau 'oia i nehenehe roa 'o Tahiti | "He said that Tahiti is beautiful" | |
| Teie te táne tei parau i nehenehe roa 'o Tahiti | "This is the man who said that Tahiti is beautiful" | |
| Aita tána vahine | "He doesn't have a wife" | |
| Ua parau 'oia i aita tána vahine | "He said that he doesn't have a wife" | |
| Teie te táne tei parau i aita tána vahine | "This is the man who said that he doesn't have a wife" | |
| Mai Ra'iatea teie pehepehe | "This song is from Ra'iatea" | |
| Mana'o vau i mai Ra'iatea teie pehepehe | "I think that this song is from Ra'iatea" | |
| 'O vau te ta'ata tei mana'o i mai Ra'iatea teie pehepehe | "I am the person who thinks this song is from Ra'iatea" |
Let's practice this with a short exercise, using the picture below. Pua and Esther are saying and thinking things. Can you write what they think and do? Two examples have been done for you.
| Te mana'o nei 'o Pua i haere atu vau i Mo'ore'a i te ananahi | |
| Te parau nei 'o Esther i "Here roa 'o Pua i te 'ori" |
You could also try mixing tei and i together in one sentence...
| 'O Pua te tamari'i tei mana'o nei i haere atu vau i Mo'ore'a i te ananahi | |
| 'O Esther te vahine tei parau nei i "Here roa 'o Pua i te 'ori" |
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