(b) A personal pronoun following the verb in the nominative will very seldom take a before it; e. g., Whakangaromia iho ratou. It would not be correct to say a ratou.
To this rule there are a few exceptions, e. g., tu ana ratou, a ia tangata a ia tangata, they stood each man.
(c) Proper names are not subject to the above rule; e. g., it would not be correct to say, Whakangaromia iho Ngatipaoa. It should be a Ngatipaoa.
(d) When a question is asked in reference to a preceding remark, a will precede the pronoun, e. g., E ki na koe. A wai? A koe ra, You assert—who? You, forsooth.
17. The articles, definite and indefinite, are always repeated in Maori, as in French, before every substantive in the sentence; e. g., Ko te whakapono te take o te aroha, raua ko te pai, faith is the root of love, and good works.
18. Adjectives used substantively require the article; e. g., He tika rawa te he ki a ia, the wrong is perfectly right in his opinion.
19. Frequently, also, the article is prefixed to what would be a participle in English; e. g., Kei te noho, he is at the sitting, i. e., he is sitting; ka tata te maoa, the being cooked is near.
Note.—It is, however, probable that all such words as noho, &c., should, in constructions like the above, be regarded as substantives. We shall have to treat on this hereafter. (Vid. Verbs.)
Note 2.—Further remarks on the articles we shall reserve to the next chapter.
[33] Convertible terms, we need not remind the learned reader, are those, the meaning of which is so similar, that they may be substituted one for the other.