NEGATIVES
During the course of the previous lessons, we 've actually seen a great deal of negative statements, which use the word aita (which literally means "no"). Here, very briefly, is how to form negatives in Tahitian. Probably you already know at least two of the ways. The three methods are:
1. Just add aita to the head of the sentence.
2. Just add aita e to the head of the sentence. Since we are using e, it means that everything else follwing is now the dependent clause. The literal translation would thus be "Not that...." (eg: it is not good : "not that it is good")
3. Make aita plus the pronoun the head of the main clause, and let the rest be a dependent clause followed by e. Remove any relevant pronouns from the dependent clause, and add the verb announcers to aita.
| I don't want to go to America. | aita hina'aro vau e haere i Marite | ||
| aita e hina'aro vau e haere i Marite | |||
| aita vau e hina'aro e haere i Marite | |||
| I didn't sleep yesterday. | i te inanahi, aita ua ta'oto vau | ||
| i te inanahi, aita e ua ta'oto vau | |||
| i te inanahi, ua aita vau e ta'oto | |||
| They are not drinking coffee. | aita te 'inu nei rátou i te taofe | ||
| aita e te 'inu nei rátou i te taofe | |||
| te aita nei ratou e 'inu i te taofe |
E'ere
E'ere "not, don't" is also used in place of aita for negatives. Both e'ere and aita can be used without changing the meaning:
| I don't want to go to America. | e'ere hina'aro vau e haere i Marite | ||
| e'ere e hina'aro vau e haere i Marite | |||
| e'ere vau e hina'aro e haere i Marite | |||
| I didn't sleep yesterday. | i te inanahi, e'ere ua ta'oto vau | ||
| i te inanahi, e'ere e ua ta'oto vau | |||
| i te inanahi, ua e'ere vau e ta'oto | |||
| They are not drinking coffee. | e'ere te 'inu nei rátou i te taofe | ||
| e'ere e te 'inu nei rátou i te taofe | |||
| te e'ere nei ratou e 'inu i te taofe |
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