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pouako.bsky.social
I’m employed by a tertiary education institution in Aotearoa New Zealand, where I teach te reo Māori at a foundational level. I’m not a certified translator, so please don’t ask me to translate your stuff.
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With most words referring to shouting, it’s the mouth (waha), not the person, who does the shouting. I te hāparangi mai te waha o Trump, Putin rānei? Was it Trump or Putin shouting at me? #tereoMāori #tereo #kikorangi

submitted 3 days ago • 1 comment

To ask “What…?”, we use “He aha…?”. “He aha tēnei (What is this)?” Kairīpoata: Kua kōrero tahi kōrua ko te Pirimia mō te AUKUS? Donny: He aha te tikanga o tēnā? Journalist: Have you discussed AUKUS with the prime minister? Donny: What does that mean? #tereoMāori #tereo #kikorangi

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

“Ki te … ka…” is used to say that if something happens, something else will result (like “if… then…” in English). Example: Ki te whakaekea e Rūhia tōu whenua, ka toa a Amerika. If your country is invaded by Russia, America will win. #tereoMāori #tereo #kikorangi www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/5...

submitted 5 days ago • 0 comments

If you want to express disgust at something, “Ka ruaki te poaka” is a colourful way to do it. Nā wai tēnei tina i tuku ki te kura? Ka ruaki te poaka! Who sent this lunch to the school? A pig would vomit! #tereoMāori #tereo #kikorangi

submitted 7 days ago • 1 comment

To ask about the name of a place, we use “ko hea”. “Ko” is an identity particle (no English equivalent), “hea” means “where”. Ko hea te tāone matua o te Whenua Tūhake o Kireara? Ko Mar-a-Lago. What is the capital of the Republic of Gilead? Mar-a-Lago. #tereoMāori #tereo #kikorangi

submitted 12 days ago • 2 comments

Passive sentence structure: (Tense) (passive form of verb) (object) e (subject). [Ko wai te roro kau e whakaaro ana] i tīmatahia te pakanga e Ukareinga? [Who is the idiot (lit. “cow brain”) who thinks] the war was started by Ukraine? #tereoMāori #tereo #kikorangi

submitted 12 days ago • 0 comments

Kei (locative) i (place) (subject) — location-emphatic structure. Kei roto i ngā rorohiko te atamai hangahanga engari kei roto i te Whare Mā te atamai tipatipa (Artificial intelligence is in computers, but fake intelligence is in the White House). #tereoMāori #tereo #kikorangi

submitted 14 days ago • 2 comments

“And” has many forms, depending on what is being joined. E.g. objects are joined by “me”, people by pronouns, sentences by “ā”, etc. Example: I kōrero tahi a Donny rāua ko Vlad, ā, i whakahauraro a Donny (Donny and Vlad talked together, and Donny surrendered). #tereoMāori #tereo

submitted 18 days ago • 3 comments

Need to ask permission? Ka āhei i (subject) te (verb) ….? The rest follows the active sentence structure. Example: “Ka āhei i a au te taraiwa i tēnei tīpa ki runga i te arawhata o te Pāremata (May I drive this jeep onto the Parliament’s steps)?” #tereoMāori #tereo #kikorangi

submitted 21 days ago • 1 comment

Given that the Super Bowl is today, I thought I’d share something relevant — an active sentence expressed as a question. (Tense) (subject) i (object)? To this we add “tēhea” (which): “E tautoko ana koe i tēhea kapa (Which team are you supporting)?” #tereoMāori #tereo #kikorangi

submitted 22 days ago • 0 comments

To negate “He” statements, we use “ehara”. Positive: He (adjective/noun) (subject). Negative: Ehara (subject) i te (adjective/noun). “Ehara a Elon Musk i te Poa (Elon Musk is not an Afrikaner).” #tereoMāori #tereo [There’s a lot of misinformation on Bluesky today.]

submitted 22 days ago • 0 comments

To talk about going somewhere: (Tense) haere (subject) ki (place). We can add the means of transport (mā runga (vehicle)) and/or purpose (ki te (purpose)). Example: “I haere au ki Akaroa mā runga waka rererangi ki te whakamoke (I went to Akaroa by plane to hide).” #tereoMāori #tereo #kikorangi

submitted 24 days ago • 3 comments

To ask where something is, we use “Kei hea…?” Example: “Kei hea tāku hopuoro (Where is my microphone)?” #tereoMāori #tereo #kikorangi

submitted 27 days ago • 7 comments

If your GPS mentions a Māori street name, you can bet that’s not the way it’s pronounced. #tereoMāori #tereo #kikorangi

submitted 27 days ago • 1 comment

“Tākehoko tāwāhi”, also written as “tāke hoko tāwāhi”, means “tariffs”. Example: “E whakamahi ana te emepara pōrewarewa i ngā tāke hoko tāwāhi hei mānuka (The mad emperor is using tariffs as a weapon).” #tereoMāori #tereo #kikorangi

submitted 30 days ago • 0 comments

“I nē” can be used to express amazement, and sometimes disbelief. “Nā Vincent van Gogh tērā whakaahua i peita (Vincent van Gogh painted that picture).” “I nē? (Really?/Is that so?)” #tereoMāori #tereo #kikorangi

submitted 31 days ago • 0 comments

“Ngutu” (noun) means lips. It can be combined with other words to make useful terms: Ngutu huia (know-it-all) Ngutu tere (gossiper) Ngutu pī (chatterbox) Ngutu kopi (non-talkative person) Ngutu atamai (quick-witted) Ngutu maioro (fault finder) Ngutu komekome (moaner) #tereoMāori #tereo #kikorangi

submitted 32 days ago • 2 comments

To compare two things in terms of a particular quality, we use the structure “He (adjective) ake (thing 1) i (thing 2).” Example: “E ai ki te kaitōrangapū, he pai ake te taimiri i ngā rongoā āraimate (According to the politician, heroin is better than vaccines).” #tereoMāori #tereo #kikorangi

submitted 33 days ago • 0 comments

A usual word for earthquake is “rū”: “I rongo koe i te rū?” (Did you feel the earthquake?). More colourful is “kumekume a Ruaumoko”, referring to the atua of earthquakes. “Hika mā! I whakaoho te kumekume o Ruaumoko i a au (Goodness! The earthquake woke me up)! #tereoMāori #tereo #kikorangi

submitted 34 days ago • 0 comments

That was a nasty bit of shaking. #eqnz www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/2...

submitted 34 days ago • 0 comments

In te reo Māori, the adjective follows the noun it describes. Thus, while “Kua tīmata te tāne karaka i te pakanga tauhokohoko” refers literally to the “man orange” and the ”war trade”, it translates correctly to “The orange man has begun the trade war.” #tereoMāori #tereo #kikorangi

submitted 35 days ago • 2 comments

In English, orange can mean a fruit as well as a colour. In te reo Māori, different words are used for each. The fruit is ārani, while the colour is karaka. Kei te kai te tāne karaka i tētahi ārani (the orange man is eating an orange). #tereoMāori #tereo #kikorangi

submitted 38 days ago • 1 comment

Kei noho… ka… This is an idiom that means “Don’t you dare….” Example: Kei noho koe ka haere mai ki tōku whare, Mita Seymour (Don’t you dare come to my house, Mr Seymour). #tereoMāori #tereo #kikorangi

submitted 38 days ago • 0 comments

How to ask and answer who did something: Q: Nā wai (object) i (verb)? A: Nā (subject) (object) i (verb). Example: Q: Nā wai te ngota i weherua (Who split the atom)? A: Nā Tā Ernest Rutherford te ngota i weherua (Sir Ernest Rutherford split the atom). #tereoMāori #tereo #kikorangi

submitted 41 days ago • 0 comments