a / o possession using possessive prepositions

(“Of” possession )

If the possessor is a noun (not a pronoun), it may be placed after the thing possessed and is marked with ‘a’ or ‘o’.

The prepositions ‘a’ or ‘o’ denote possession and in this case are equivalent to the preposition “of” in English.

Ko te waka o Hineawe.
The car of Hineawe (Hineawe’s car).

He karaka te pene a Rongo.
The pen of Rongo is orange (Rongo’s pen is orange).

The use of the a/o categories still applies.

In the first example, waka (car) belongs to the ‘o’ category, as it is a form of transport.

In the second example, pene (pen) is a small man-made thing, therefore belongs in the ‘a’ category.

Te Wiki o te Reo Māori
The Week of the Māori Language (Māori Language Week)

te ngeru a Taimana
the cat of Taimana

I kimi ia i te whare o tōna taokete.
He searched for the house of his brother-in-law.

te mōhio o te kaiako
the knowledge of the teacher