Te Reo Māori Lessons

#1: Hello - kia ora

Saying hello in te reo Māori.

#2: Hello friend! - kia ora e hoa

Greeting a friend using "e" as the particle of address.

#3: Hello friends! - kia ora e hoa mā

Greeting more than one person using mā.

#4: Hello sir! - tēnā koe

Use of tēnā koe as a more formal greeting than kia ora.

#5: Hello to all of you! - koutou

The plural personal pronoun koutou.

#6: Goodbye! - haere rā, e noho rā

Saying goodbye - if you are leaving or staying.

#7: I'm good - kei te with adjectives

Simple sentences using kei te and an adjective in the present tense.

#8: I'm tired - adjectives

#9: I'm very sick - tino, āhua

Use of tino and ahua to mean "very" and "somewhat".

#10: You are all beautiful - koutou

#11: I am hungry and tired - hiakai, hiamoe

#12: How are you? - Kei te pēhea koe?

#13: That person is going - kei te with verbs

Simple sentences that describe someone doing something in the present.

#14: I'm not crying. You're crying. - koutou, rātou, rātou, mātou

Plural personal pronouns, including "us but not you".

#15: I'm coming. You're going. - haere mai, haere atu

Direction markers: ake (up), atu (away), iho (down) and mai (towards the speaker).

#16: The dog is running - kei te + verb + noun

Simple sentences in the present tense with a verb and a noun as a subject.

#17: The big man is crying - nouns + adjectives

Simple sentons with a noun and an adjective.

#18: The sheep are standing - plurals

Usually, nouns don't change in the plural.

#19: Your armpit smells delicious - pronunciation - keke vs kēkē

Māori pronunciation.

#20: The women are singing - plural nouns like wāhine

A handful of words change their forms in Māori by lengthening the vowel: wahine becomes wāhine.

#21: The happy children are playing - tamariki as a plural

Tamariki is the plural of tamaiti.

#22: The bird is flying to the tree - ki to indicate direction towards

#23: The children are running from the house to the school - i to Indicate direction from

#24: I am reading the book - i to identify the object of the sentence

#25: I love the woman - ki to identify the object of the sentence

Some verbs, such as arohoa, take "ki".

#26: The children are running in or through the house - i meanig in or through or by

#27: I am reading the book to the children in the house - i and ki in the same sentence

#28: Rangi is reading the book - a - personal particle

Using 'a' as a personal article before a name.

#29: I love you - use of a before personal pronouns

ki a au, ki a koe, but not ki a ahau.

#30: We two (not you) are going - māua, tāua, rāua

Dual pronouncs: me, not you; you and me, those two, you two.

#31: The family were playing the game - past tense using i

#32: Rangi was sick but now he is well - conjunctions: ēngari, ā

#33: I am going, I was going, I went. - past tense: i te

#34: The students listened and learned - ka as a future tense marker

#35: The children played and then they learned - ka as a past tense marker

#36: A police offer chased a thief - tētahi and ētahi

"a" and "some"

#37: I have danced - kua

The tense marker kua is translated with "has" or "have".

#38: Those birds near you are beautiful - tēnei, tēnā, tērā, ēnei, ēnā, ērā

#39: This is a motorbike - categorizing sentences with "he"

#40: Rangi is sad now but is a happy person - the difference between kei te to show temporary situation and he to show characteristic

#41: That motorbike is yellow - colours

#42: I am eating your apple, you are eating my apple - neuter singular possessives: taku, tō, tana

How to say "my", "your" and "his/her".

#43: We are going to his house - Neutral plural possessives: aku, o and ana.

#44: The brother was walking to the sister - Older and younger siblings, brothers and sisters

#45: I have a cup of tea - Possession using he... taku

#46: The man's dog is eating the woman's cat's food - Simple possessives using a and o (the house of Sarah)

#47: The woman is sleeping at the man's house - things in the 'o' category: where you live

#48: Rangi's bed is big - O category: your body and things associated with it, such as a bed

#49: His car is red - Tōna and tāna- belonging to him or her

#50: Our car is yellow

#51: Our tomato is red - All the singular personal possessives in the a and o categories

#52: Your horse is fast

#53: My tummy is sore

#54: Their mothers are angry

#55: The chair my father made is good

#56: The ladies of the court of King Karaticus

#57: I love my boss

#58: My wife meets my girlfriend

#59: Everything in the o category

#60: My mother is cake baking

#61: Their father was, is or will be shouting

#62: Have you heard the bird that is singing in the morning? - e... ana as a subclause

#63: You should talk to your mother - me

#64: She is always swimming in the sea - Use of "ai" as habitual action

#65: Brian is a father, Brian is my father - he versus ko

#66: Mere is a girl, Mere is the girl - ko

#67: Tararua is a mountain (ko) - Ko versus he

#68: Colonel Musard in the ballroom wirh the dagger - He versus ko

#69: Who is the woman singing? - ko wai?

#70: What is it that they are wanting? - He aha?

#71: I am supermarketing - Kei as a locative

#72: Where were the children? - Kei hea? I hea?

#73: The cat is on the table - Kei runga

#74: The spoon is to the left of the plate - Runga, raro, mua, muri

#75: The family are eating at the beach - tātahi

#76: Mua the moa and Muri train station - mua, muri

#77: In the future, the children will tidy their room - ā for the future

#78: Rangi has been to Taupō on his friend's helicopter - mā runga

#79: I went to the shop in order to buy food - ai, he aha ai?

#80: Why did Mere drive to the supermarket? - he aha... i... ai?

#81: What has happened to cause you to cry now? - He aha ____ i ____ ai? in the present

#82: Why will their dog eat our cat's food? - he aha ___ e ___ ai?

#83: Why are the children laughing? - He aha ____ e ____ nei?

#84: Why is the baby sleeping? - he aha te take e ____ ana ____?

#85: Which is the right road? - ko tēhea?

#86: 86. You're eating what?! - kei te aha?

#87: How many pens are there? - e hia?

#88: Five golden rings - counting people and things

#89: 2025 - counting over 9

#90: Sarah came first in her ceramics class - Ordinal numbers

#91: Let there be one cup of sugar (kia) - kia

#92: Chop the vegetables - Commands using passives

#93: Tidy your room! - commands using the passive

#94: Cause the book to be open! - whaka-

The causative prefix whaka-

#95: The cake was eaten by me - passive sentences

#96: Rangi is reading. The book is being read. - active and passive sentences

#97: Is Rangi helping Mere, it is Mere helping Rangi? - active and passive sentences

#98: I am being eaten by the cake. - i and e in active and passive sentences

#99: Give me those! - hōmai and hōatu

Give something to be issuing hōmai and give something to someone else using hōatu.

#100: That aforementioned thing - taua, aua

Using taua and aua to refer to something or things you have previously talked about.

#101: We are arguing. No we're not! - Negative kei te

Kāore subject i te verb.