Based on a third-year university course Ray Harlow taught for a number of years, this grammar reference book is intended for people whose knowledge of Māori is at that level or higher – advanced learners, native speakers and teachers of Māori.

The book provides explanations and examples of all the important sentence types of modern Māori. It guides readers progressively from the simple to the more complicated, starting with words and particles, proceeding through simple clauses and sentences to transformations of these and to complex sentences with elaborate internal structure.