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#112: If I was a goldfish I'd live in a lily pond

mehemea, mēnā, mena

If (using mehemea) — mehemea, mehe, mēnā If using ki or mehemea — ki, mehemea

In te reo Māori, mehemea (often shortened to mēnā) means “if” and introduces conditional sentences. It links a condition with a result, commonly using the pattern mehemea/mēnā … ka …. It can refer to past, present, future, or hypothetical situations and may appear at the beginning or middle of a sentence.

Video

Vocabulary

ā • āe • ahau • āhua • ake • ake, ake, ake • āku • āna • ātaahua • atu • au • āwangawanga • e hoa mā • e tū • engari • haere mā raro • haunga • hiahia • hiainu • hiakai • hiamoe • hīkoi • hoa • hōhā • hōiho • hou • i • ia • iho • iti • ka • kaha • kāore • katoa • kau • keke • kēkē • ki • kia • Kia kaha! • kia ora • kino • ko wai • koe • koro • kōrua • koutou • kōwhai • kua • mā • mai • māua • māuiui • ngenge • noho • nui • ō • oma • ora • pai • pango • pēhea? • rā • rātau • rāua • rūma moe • taku • tama • tamaiti • tamariki • tana • tātou • tāua • tere • tino • tō • wāhine • waiata • whaea • whero

Grammar

If (using mehemea) — mehemea, mehe, mēnā If using ki or mehemea — ki, mehemea

← #111: Right, let's go then!

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#113: If it rains we will stay home →