Kia ora and welcome to lesson 1 in this series on learning te reo Māori.
We are going to begin by learning the simplest sentence you can say: "I am good".
There are many different ways to be and many ways to express how you are.
A very common response to kei te peahea koe? is:
Kei te ngenge ahau.
I am tired.
We say this, in te reo Māori with the sentence:
Kei te pai ahau.
I am good.
Kei te means "at the moment". This is called a tense marker and indicates when somethng is happening.
The word pai means "good". You may have heard this when people say ka pai! ("It's good!)
The word ahau means "me", or "I".
So kei te pai ahau means: "at the moment, good I am".
You can also say:
Kei te pai au.
I am good.
The words au and ahau mean the same thing and you can use either one.
Whenever I go to the supermarket and the person at the checkout says: "How are you?" I always reply by saying: Kei te pai ahau! I am good thank you!"
You can modifty this sentence in two ways. You can say that you are somewhat good by adding ahua:
Kei te ahua pai ahau.
I'm sort of good.
Kei te ahua ora ahau.
I'm kinda well.
Kei te ahua harikoia au.
I'm sort of happy.
Or you can say you are really good by adding tino:
Kei te tino pai.
I am really good.
Kei te tino ora au.
I am really well.
Kei te tino harikoa ahau.
I am really happy.
Kei te tino riri au.
I am really angry.
I have said that words like ora and pai are adjectives. However, this isn't technically true. In fact, Māori doesn't have adjectives.
The words pai and ora and the others we have used in this lesson are actually statives. We're going to look at these in detail in a future lesson and explain what they are and how they work.
But in this lesson, we just want to begin with something simple and say to understand. I am good. I am well.
But I do need to flag that initially we are trying to explain the Māori language in terms of English grammar.
Instead of saying you are good, you can also say that you are well. The word for well or healthy is ora. This is a common word - Health New Zealand is called Te Whatu Ora, and there are other agencies with names like Whānau Ora (Healthy Famnilies) and Kāinga Ora (Healthy Homes).
And, of course, you certainly would have heard people say:
Kia ora!
Be well!
So, you could say:
Kei te ora ahau.
I am well.
The word for I, in Māori, is ahau.
The words for "at the moment" are kei te.
The word for "good" is pai.
So you could say: "ahai kei te pai" - "I am good"... but this would be wrong.
It would be wrong because the order of words in Māori is different from the order of words in English. In English we say: "I am good", but in Māori we would say: "At the moment, good, I".
There are lots of examples of where the order of words is different in other languages. For example, in English we say "the blue sky" or "the strong woman" or the "fast car". But in many languages, French,m Spanish, Irtalian, IUrish, Arabic, Hindi, Swahili - and Māori - it is said the other way round: "the sky blue", "the woman strong", "the car fast".
So we can't assume that how things are said in English is going to be how things are spoken in another language. So what we can't do it to take an English sentence and simple relace each of the English words with a Māori word. That won't work. We can't say "ahau kei te pai" - "I am good" - because that's not how it is said in Māori.
We need to learn the sentence structures and the way of thinking in Māori, and use that.
So, to say "I am good" in Māori we say:
Kei te pai ahau.
At the moment, good, I.
I am good.
Thed word for "fast" is tere.
The word for slow is pōturi.
When you are talking about yourself, you can either use the word au or the word ahau - they both mean exactly the same thing.
For example, you can say;
Kei te pai ahau
I am good.
Or:
Kei te pai au.
I am good.
They are the same.
The Māori word for you, when you are talking to just one person, is koe.
This pronounced like "queer" without the "r" on the end.
You can say:
Kei te pai koe.
You are good.
And you also ask this as a question:
Kei te pai koe?
Are you good?
You have probably heard the word koe in the expression:
Tēnā koe!
This is a formal greeting which literally means "there you are!". If you meet a friend, you will probably say kia ora, but if you meet someone for the first time, or someone important then you will probably say tēnā koe. And the koe part means "you".
You have also probably heard people ask:
Kei te pehea koe?
How are you?
Kei te means "at the moment".
Pehea is the word for "how".
Koe is the word for "you" when you are talking to just one person.
If someone asks you: Kei te pehea koe? you can answer with:
Kei te pai ahau.
I am good.
When we are talking about one person, we use one of the singular personal pronouns. In English, they are: I, you, he and she, and: me, him and her.
In te reo Māori the singular personal pronouns are: au or ahau, koe and ia.
1
Kei te tino ora!
I am in very good health!
2
Kei te tino pai.
I am very good.
3
Kei te āhua pai.
Pretty good.
4
Kei te pai koe?
You're okay?
5
Kei te ngenge au.
I'm tired.
6
Kei te ora au.
I'm well.
7
Kei te māuiui au.
I'm sick.
8
Kei te pōuri au.
I'm sad.
9
Kei te hiainu au.
I'm thirsty.
10
Kei te hiakai au.
I'm hungry.
11
Kei te hiamoe au.
I'm sleepy.
12
Kei te riri au.
I'm angry.
13
Kei te āhua pai au.
I'm somewhat good.
14
Kei te āhua ngenge au.
I'm somewhat tired.
15
Kei te āhua ora au.
I'm somewhat well.
16
Kei te āhua māuiui au.
I'm somewhat sick.
17
Kei te āhua pōuri au.
I'm somewhat sad.
18
Kei te āhua hiainu au.
I'm somewhat thirsty.
19
Kei te āhua hiakai au.
I'm somewhat hungry.
20
Kei te āhua hiamoe au.
I'm somewhat sleepy.
21
Kei te āhua riri au.
I'm somewhat angry.
22
Kei te tino pai au.
I'm very good.
23
Kei te tino ngenge au.
I'm very tired.
24
Kei te tino ora au.
I'm very well.
25
Kei te tino māuiui au.
I'm very sick.
26
Kei te tino pōuri au.
I'm very sad.
27
Kei te tino hiainu au.
I'm very thirsty.
28
Kei te tino hiamoe au.
I'm very sleepy.
29
Kei te tino āhua riri au.
I'm very angry.
30
Kei te pai au.
I'm okay.
31
Kei te pai koe.
You're okay.
32
Kei te āhua pai ahau.
I'm pretty good.
33
Kei te āwangawanga au.
I'm worried.
34
Kei te tino hiakai au.
I'm very hungry.
35
Kei te hiainu koe?
Are you thirsty?
36
Kei te āwangawanga ahau...
I'm concerned...
37
Kei te hiakai koe?
Are you hungry?
38
Kei te māuiui koe?
Are you sick?
39
Kei te pai ahau.
I am good.
40
Kei te ora ahau.
I am well.
41
Kei te hiakai ahau.
I am hungry.
42
Kei te hiainu ahau.
I am thirsty.
43
Kei te ngenge ahau.
I am tired.
44
Kei te hiamoe ahau.
I am sleepy.
45
Kei te māuiui ahau.
I am sick.
46
Kei te āwangawanga ahau.
I am worried.
47
Kei te harikoa ahau.
I am happy.
48
Kei te riri ahau.
I am angry.
49
Kei te pōuri ahau.
I am sad.
50
Kei te wera ahau.
I am hot.
51
Kei te makariri ahau.
I am cold.
52
Kei te ora koe.
You are well.
53
Kei te hiakai koe.
You are hungry.
54
Kei te hiainu koe.
You are thirsty.
55
Kei te ngenge koe.
You are tired.
56
Kei te hiamoe koe.
You are sleepy.
57
Kei te māuiui koe.
You are sick.
58
Kei te āwangawanga koe.
You are worried.
59
Kei te harikoa koe.
You are happy.
60
Kei te riri koe.
You are angry.
61
Kei te pōuri koe.
You are sad.
62
Kei te wera koe.
You are hot.
63
Kei te makariri koe.
You are cold.
64
Kei te āhua pai ahau.
I am somewhat good.
65
Kei te āhua ora ahau.
I am somewhat well.
66
Kei te āhua hiakai ahau.
I am somewhat hungry.
67
Kei te āhua hiainu ahau.
I am somewhat thirsty.
68
Kei te āhua ngenge ahau.
I am somewhat tired.
69
Kei te āhua hiamoe ahau.
I am somewhat sleepy.
70
Kei te āhua māuiui ahau.
I am somewhat sick.
71
Kei te āhua āwangawanga ahau.
I am somewhat worried.
72
Kei te āhua harikoa ahau.
I am somewhat happy.
73
Kei te āhua riri ahau.
I am somewhat angry.
74
Kei te āhua pōuri ahau.
I am somewhat sad.
75
Kei te āhua wera ahau.
I am somewhat hot.
76
Kei te āhua makariri ahau.
I am somewhat cold.
77
Kei te āhua pai koe.
You are somewhat good.
78
Kei te āhua ora koe.
You are somewhat well.
79
Kei te āhua hiakai koe.
You are somewhat hungry.
80
Kei te āhua hiainu koe.
You are somewhat thirsty.
81
Kei te āhua ngenge koe.
You are somewhat tired.
82
Kei te āhua hiamoe koe.
You are somewhat sleepy.
83
Kei te āhua māuiui koe.
You are somewhat sick.
84
Kei te āhua āwangawanga koe.
You are somewhat worried.
85
Kei te āhua harikoa koe.
You are somewhat happy.
86
Kei te āhua riri koe.
You are somewhat angry.
87
Kei te āhua pōuri koe.
You are somewhat sad.
88
Kei te āhua wera koe.
You are somewhat hot.
89
Kei te āhua makariri koe.
You are somewhat cold.
90
Kei te tino pai ahau.
I am very good.
91
Kei te tino ora ahau.
I am very well.
92
Kei te tino hiakai ahau.
I am very hungry.
93
Kei te tino hiainu ahau.
I am very thirsty.
94
Kei te tino ngenge ahau.
I am very tired.
95
Kei te tino hiamoe ahau.
I am very sleepy.
96
Kei te tino māuiui ahau.
I am very sick.
97
Kei te tino āwangawanga ahau.
I am very worried.
98
Kei te tino harikoa ahau.
I am very happy.
99
Kei te tino riri ahau.
I am very angry.
100
Kei te tino pōuri ahau.
I am very sad.
101
Kei te tino wera ahau.
I am very hot.
102
Kei te tino makariri ahau.
I am very cold.
103
Kei te tino pai koe.
You are very good.
104
Kei te tino ora koe.
You are very well.
105
Kei te tino hiakai koe.
You are very hungry.
106
Kei te tino hiainu koe.
You are very thirsty.
107
Kei te tino ngenge koe.
You are very tired.
108
Kei te tino hiamoe koe.
You are very sleepy.
109
Kei te tino māuiui koe.
You are very sick.
110
Kei te tino āwangawanga koe.
You are very worried.
111
Kei te tino harikoa koe.
You are very happy.
112
Kei te tino riri koe.
You are very angry.
113
Kei te tino pōuri koe.
You are very sad.
114
Kei te tino wera koe.
You are very hot.
115
Kei te tino makariri koe.
You are very cold.
116
Kei te hōhā au.
I am bored.
117
Kei te hiamoe au.
I am sleepy.
118
Kei te māuiui koe?
Are you sick?
119
Kei te ngenge koe?
Are you tired?
Words not used: kei, whakamā
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