Writing (Tuhituhi)
Writing (Tuhituhi)
The Writing domain assesses short written texts in te reo Māori: messages, descriptions, letters, and narratives. Marks come from communication, grammar, spelling and macrons, punctuation, and register.
Core rules and concepts
- Start with the verb in verbal sentences: Ka haere a Hine ki te toa - not Hine haere ki te toa.
- Choose tense and aspect accurately: i for past, ka for narrative or future, kua for completed, e ... ana for ongoing.
- Use a before personal names as subject: ka kai a Tama.
- Possessives follow a/o categories: taku whare (a), tōku whānau (o).
- Negate with kāore + i (past) or e ... ana (present): Kāore a Hine i haere.
- Punctuate and macronise consistently; rā and ra are different words.
Worked example
Write: 'Yesterday, Hine went to the shop to buy bread.' Model: Inanahi, ka haere a Hine ki te toa ki te hoko i te parāoa. Reasoning: Inanahi sets past time; ka haere carries narrative past; a Hine marks the subject; ki te toa gives destination; ki te hoko i te parāoa gives purpose and object. The second ki te is purpose, not direction.
Traps that cost marks
- Literal English word order and missing tense markers.
- Mixing ka and i in the same past sentence.
- Omitting the subject particle a before a name.
- Wrong possessive category (taku for tōku).
- Missing macrons or inconsistent spelling.
- Shifting register mid-text, for example a formal opening followed by slang.