Kia ora

Greeting people

There are many ways of greeting people. Some are formal greetings and some are less formal. Below are a few that you can practise. If you go to Te Aka Dictionary you should also be able to find audio to hear how to say them.

Kia ora Hello, Goodbye, Thank you - Kia ora literally means 'may you be well' and is used in lots of contexts.

Tēnā koe Good day/Hello to one person (Formal) Can also be used to say 'Thank you'

Tēnā kōrua Good day/Hello to two people (Formal) Can also be used to say 'Thank you'

Tēnā koutou Good day/Hello to 3 or more people (Formal) Can also be used to say 'Thank you'

Ata mārie Good morning

Mōrena Good morning (transliteration)

Pō mārie Good night - usually said at the end of the evening as a way of saying goodbye

Ka kite anō See you later/again - important to include the 'anō' and not shorten to 'ka kite'

Mā te wā See you later lit. in time

Tēnā koe i tēnei ata Good morning - the 'koe' can be replaced by 'kōrua' or 'koutou' according to who you are speaking to

Tēnā koe i tēnei ahiahi Good afternoon - the 'koe' can be replaced by 'kōrua' or 'koutou' according to who you are speaking to

Tēnā rawa atu koe Thank you very much

ka nui te mihi (ki a koe/kōrua/koutou) Thank you very much

E hoa! Addressing people

There are two ways that are used to address specific people

1. Using personal names

If the name is a short one e.g. 2 syllables or less - Pita, then you need to put an ‘e’ before it e.g. Tēnā koe e Pita

If it is a longer name or a pākehā name then just use the name e.g. Tēnā koe Anne or Tēnā koe Hariata.

The relative ages of the people talking and who they are addressing influences how these are used. So, for example, a man of 60 may use ‘e tama’ to a 50 year old he is talking to!

If more than one person is being addressed, then you can add ‘mā’ to the end e.g. Kia ora e hoa mā

2. Using special terms of address

Often used instead of names . Use ‘e’ with these as well e.g.

e hoa - used when talking to someone you consider a friend

E kare - used when talking to someone you consider a more intimate friend

E hine - used when talking to a girl or young woman

E tama - used when talking to a boy or young man

E kui - used when talking to an older woman. However, this is also used as a term of endearment and can be used for younger women in some iwi.

E koro - used when talking to an older man

Read the book below and practise the dialogue by listening to the recording and reading it out loud.

Identify all the greeting words.

What new vocabulary is in here that you don't know?

Greetings at different times of the day

These three greetings can be used when you meet people and also when you leave them.

Te ata - morning

Ata mārie = Good morning.

Literally 'peaceful' morning

Te ahiahi - afternoon

ahiahi mārie = Good afternoon.

Literally 'peaceful' afternoon

te pō = evening/night

Pō mārie - goodnight

Literally 'peaceful' evening/night

The top 4 phrases here are all ways of saying goodbye informally - see you later, see you again.

You would say 'Haere rā' to someone who is leaving if you are staying, and 'e noho rā' to someone who is staying as you are leaving. These are more formal.

Ka kite anō! - My kaiako at level 1 said that you should always add the ‘anō’ although we often hear people just say ‘ka kite’. She said that her grandmother said you always need to use the ‘anō’ to indicate that you will see them ‘again’.

Asking about who someone is.

Ko wai tō ingoa? = What is your name?

Ko wai koe? = who are you?

Whilst we learn these questions in classes nowadays, these phrases are not quite accurate. The old people were more likely to use the question;

“Nā wai koe?” “Who do you belong to?” But, literally, “From whose waters do you descend?” (see more about this on the Pepeha page)

Asking who someone is, is quite a pākehā thing to do. However, it has become common practice nowadays.

The response to 'Ko wai tō ingoa?' is 'Ko (name) tōku ingoa' as in the picture above. 'My name is ....'

The response to 'Ko wai koe?' would be 'Ko (name) ahau'. I am (name).

To ask about other people you use the word 'ia' e.g. Ko wai ia? (Who is he/she?) Or 'Ko wai tōna ingoa?' (What is his/her name?)

Use these images to practise the sentences e.g.

Ko wai ia? Ko Chris Hipkins ia.

Ko wai tōna ingoa? Ko Damian McKenzie tōna ingoa.

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