In Māori, the zero copula can be used in predicative expressions and with continuous verbs (many of which take a copulative verb in many Indo-European languages) — "He nui te whare", literally "a big the house," "the house (is) big;" "I te tēpu te pukapuka", literally "at (past locative particle) the table the book," "the book (was) on the table;" "Nō Ingarangi ia", literally "from England (s)he," "(s)he (is) from England," "Kei te kai au", literally "at the (act of) eating I," "I (am) eating."