Tahitian - English translation

Tahitian to English: recover the event, its timing and its participants

Do not assign a fixed English tense to ra

A Tahitian particle does not always have one English tense as its translation. In Tē reva ra te pahī, the ship can be about to leave. Rendering the sentence as a completed departure simply because ra occurs would misstate the event. The complete construction and the situation determine the useful English wording.

For travel arrangements, distinguish an approaching departure from a vessel that has already gone. In a narrative, also establish the reference time: an activity in progress during a past phone call needs different English tense from an activity occurring as the message is written. Read the surrounding time expressions before deciding between is, was, has or had in the English clause.

Accomplishment is different from a calendar date

Tahitian aspectual marking helps present an event as ongoing or accomplished. That does not mean the source must contain an English-style past-tense verb ending. A result can be relevant to the present even when the action producing it happened earlier, just as English distinguishes ‘is being repaired’ from ‘has been repaired’.

In an English service update, preserve whether the work remains in progress or the result is available. A bare past form may be natural in some contexts, while a present perfect better connects an accomplished action with the current situation in others. Do not choose between them from a particle alone, and do not add a completion claim merely because the English sentence sounds smoother that way.

English may need a subject the Tahitian clause does not show

Tahitian commonly places its predicate first, and some expressions stand without a separately stated subject. ‘Ua ao conveys that it is daylight. The English it in ‘It is daylight’ is a grammatical requirement of that English sentence, not an extra person or object hidden in the Tahitian source.

Similarly, a Tahitian word's function depends on its construction. A dictionary entry that can name an object may appear in a predicate expressing an action or state. Do not force the first word into the English subject position solely because it is first. Identify the assertion, its actual participants and any complement, then build a natural English sentence around those relationships.

Retain the two-person boundary when it matters

Tāua and māua both concern pairs, but tāua includes the listener and māua excludes that person. English we can erase this distinction. For an invitation, collection arrangement or shared journey, make sure the English reader can tell whether they belong to the pair being discussed.

The larger-group forms tātou and mātou preserve the same inclusion contrast. When the participants have already been identified, ordinary English pronouns may be enough. Where an isolated English we would imply the wrong group, a short clarification is useful. Preserve the information needed to act on the message without inventing identities or repeatedly interrupting the translation with explanations of Tahitian grammar.