Greetings and Basic Expressions in Māori

In Brief

Use tēnā koe for one person, tēnā kōrua for two, and tēnā koutou for three or more. Kia ora is a flexible everyday greeting and can also express thanks or acknowledgement. For parting, ka kite means “see you,” while āe and kāo mean “yes” and “no.”

Overview

Kupu mihi are words and expressions used to greet, acknowledge, welcome, and thank people. They are among the first things you learn at A1 because even a short exchange in te reo Māori can begin and end naturally when you know them. The central expressions are short, but choosing the right one sometimes depends on how many people you are addressing.

That number distinction is especially important in Māori. English uses you for one person and for any size of group; Māori distinguishes a singular form (one), a dual form (exactly two), and a plural form (three or more). You can therefore greet the people in front of you more precisely than you can with English hello.

Greetings also do social work. They acknowledge the other person and help establish a respectful connection. A quick kia ora suits many everyday encounters, while tēnā koe, tēnā kōrua, and tēnā koutou make the audience explicit. In more formal settings, a greeting may be only the opening of a longer mihi (an acknowledgement or speech of greeting), but the beginner expressions in this article remain useful in both conversation and public life.

How It Works

Greeting by number

The words koe, kōrua, and koutou are pronouns—words that stand for the people being addressed. Their number determines which greeting to use.

Māori form	Meaning	Use
Tēnā koe.	Hello to you.	Addressing one person
Tēnā kōrua.	Hello to you two.	Addressing exactly two people
Tēnā koutou.	Hello to you all.	Addressing three or more people
Tēnā koutou katoa.	Greetings to you all.	Three or more; katoa emphasizes everyone

The beginner rule is simple: count the people you are speaking to, not the total number of people present. If you and one friend meet another person, you say tēnā koe to that person. If you address two friends together, use tēnā kōrua.

Tēnā has a long vowel in its first syllable, shown by the macron over ē. Kōrua and koutou are different words, not interchangeable spellings. Keep the macrons when writing because vowel length is meaningful in Māori.

The flexibility of kia ora

Kia ora is one of the most useful expressions in contemporary Māori. Depending on the situation and tone, it may function as:

• a greeting: “Hi” or “Hello”;
• thanks: “Thank you”;
• acknowledgement or agreement: “Right,” “cheers,” or “good on you”;
• a wish for health and wellbeing, reflected in its literal structure.

You do not need to select a singular, dual, or plural form after kia ora in a quick everyday greeting. It can be said to one person or to a group. In a speech or group message, however, kia ora koutou (“greetings/thanks to you all”) makes the audience explicit.

Context supplies the English translation. When someone gives you directions, kia ora is likely thanks. When you answer the phone or meet a colleague, it is likely hello. This does not make the phrase vague; it makes it socially versatile.

Saying yes and no

Āe means “yes,” and kāo means “no.” Both contain long vowels and should be written with their macrons. They can stand alone as complete replies:

• Āe. — Yes.
• Kāo. — No.

A bare answer can sound abrupt in English and can do so in Māori too, depending on tone. Add kia ora as acknowledgement, repeat useful information, or follow the answer with a fuller sentence when warmth or clarity matters. At this stage, it is enough to recognise and produce the standalone forms accurately.

Taking your leave

Ka kite is a common way to say “see you.” Ka kite anō adds anō, “again,” giving “see you again.” These expressions are useful when you expect—or simply hope—to meet again.

Māori form	Natural English	Typical use
Ka kite.	See you.	General informal parting
Ka kite anō.	See you again.	General parting with “again”
Haere rā.	Goodbye; go well.	Said by a person staying to a person leaving
E noho rā.	Goodbye; stay well.	Said by a person leaving to a person staying

The direction matters in the last two expressions. Think of haere as “go”: the person who stays tells the other to go well. Think of noho as “stay”: the departing person tells the other to remain well. If you are not yet confident about that contrast, ka kite anō is a safe, widely useful parting.

Other useful first expressions

A small set of fixed expressions makes a greeting into a short exchange:

Māori form	Natural English	Note
Ata mārie.	Good morning.	A morning greeting
Pō mārie.	Good night.	Used at night, especially when parting or retiring
Nau mai.	Welcome.	To one person
Haere mai.	Welcome; come here.	A call of welcome or invitation to approach
Kei te pēhea koe?	How are you?	Addressing one person
Kei te pai.	I’m well; fine.	A common short response
Tēnā rawa atu koe.	Thank you very much.	Stronger, explicit thanks to one person

These are best learned as whole expressions at first. Later, you can analyse their sentence patterns and replace the pronouns for different audiences.

Examples in Context

The translation column gives natural English rather than a word-for-word gloss. Notice how the same expression changes meaning with the situation.

Māori	English	Note
Tēnā koe, Mere.	Hello, Mere.	Greeting one person
Tēnā kōrua!	Hello, you two!	Greeting exactly two people
Tēnā koutou katoa.	Greetings to you all.	Addressing a group inclusively
Kia ora!	Hi!	Everyday greeting
Kia ora, e hoa.	Hello, friend.	e hoa is a term of address
Kia ora mō tō āwhina.	Thank you for your help.	kia ora used as thanks
Āe, kei te pai.	Yes, that’s fine.	Positive reply
Kāo, kāore anō.	No, not yet.	A natural negative reply
Kei te pēhea koe?	How are you?	Asking one person
Kei te pai ahau, kia ora.	I’m well, thank you.	A polite short exchange
Ka kite anō āpōpō.	See you again tomorrow.	Parting with a time word
Haere rā, Hemi.	Goodbye, Hemi; go well.	Speaker remains behind
E noho rā.	Goodbye; stay well.	Speaker is the one leaving
Nau mai, haere mai.	Welcome, come in.	Warm expression of welcome
Pō mārie.	Good night.	Night-time parting

Common Mistakes

Using koe for a group

• Wrong: Tēnā koe, e hoa mā. (when addressing several friends)
• Right: Tēnā koutou, e hoa mā.
• Why: koe addresses one person. koutou addresses three or more. For exactly two, use kōrua.

Skipping the dual form

• Wrong: Tēnā koutou. (to exactly two people)
• Right: Tēnā kōrua.
• Why: Unlike English, Māori has a dedicated dual number for two people. Koutou begins at three.

Dropping macrons

• Wrong: Tena koe. Ae. Kao.
• Right: Tēnā koe. Āe. Kāo.
• Why: A macron marks a long vowel; it is part of standard spelling, not decoration. Learn the written form and pronunciation together.

Treating kia ora as only “hello”

• Misleading assumption: Kia ora always translates as “hello.”
• Better reading: It may mean “hello,” “thank you,” or an approving acknowledgement.
• Why: Its function comes from context. Translate the whole interaction, not the phrase in isolation.

Reversing haere rā and e noho rā

• Wrong: The departing visitor says haere rā to the host who is staying.
• Right: The departing visitor says e noho rā; the host can answer haere rā.
• Why: haere points toward going, while noho points toward remaining.

Copying English word for word

• Awkward strategy: Trying to build every greeting from the English words in “good morning,” “see you,” or “thank you.”
• Better strategy: Learn ata mārie, ka kite anō, and kia ora as complete expressions.
• Why: Fixed expressions rarely match word for word across languages. A natural Māori phrase may cover several English phrases.

Usage Notes

Kia ora is common and adaptable. It works in casual conversation and is also heard in workplaces, public announcements, emails, and speeches. Its broad usefulness does not mean every greeting is socially identical: tēnā koe/kōrua/koutou foregrounds respectful acknowledgement of a specific audience, while a quick kia ora often feels more conversational.

Names and terms of address can follow the greeting: Tēnā koe, Hana or Kia ora, e hoa. The particle e is commonly placed before a name or address term when calling to someone, although names are also often used directly after a greeting.

Māori usage varies among speakers, communities, iwi (tribes), and settings. You may hear other greetings and local preferences. Follow the language practices of your hosts, teachers, or community rather than assuming that one short list covers every occasion. On a marae or during a formal ceremony, greetings belong to a larger cultural and rhetorical sequence; memorising tēnā koutou does not by itself replace learning the relevant protocol.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master formal speech at A1, but you will encounter greetings inside longer acts of acknowledgement. A speaker may greet groups in turn—elders, hosts, visitors, and everyone assembled—using forms such as tēnā koutou. Repetition in that setting can be deliberate and respectful rather than redundant.

The pattern kia + verb extends beyond the everyday formula kia ora. In broader grammar, kia can introduce a desired or intended state or action. That helps explain why kia ora carries a sense of wishing life, health, or wellbeing, although beginners should continue to treat it as a complete conventional expression rather than trying to generate new phrases from it immediately.

Likewise, ka kite contains ordinary grammar: ka is a tense/aspect particle (a small word that helps locate or frame an action), and kite means “see.” As your grammar grows, the expression will stop looking like an indivisible formula. For now, its conventional parting meaning is the useful fact.

More advanced learners should also distinguish a brief greeting from a mihi, which may acknowledge people, place, ancestors, and the purpose of gathering. The language and order appropriate to a formal mihi require cultural context and guidance beyond a beginner list of equivalents.

Practice Tips

1. Practise with visible group sizes. Point to one person, two people, and three people in a photo and say tēnā koe, tēnā kōrua, and tēnā koutou. This builds the number distinction directly instead of translating from English you.
2. Rehearse a ten-second exchange. Say: Kia ora. Kei te pēhea koe? — Kei te pai ahau, kia ora. — Ka kite anō. Change the name, time of day, and final expression once the sequence feels automatic.
3. Listen for function, not just words. Each time you hear kia ora, note whether it opens a conversation, thanks someone, or acknowledges what was said. Also copy the vowel length: record yourself saying tēnā, āe, and kāo, then compare carefully.

Related Concepts

• Foundation: Alphabet and Pronunciation — learn vowel length, macrons, wh, and ng so greetings are pronounced clearly.
• Next step: Personal Pronouns — expands the singular, dual, plural, inclusive, and exclusive distinctions seen in koe, kōrua, and koutou.
• Next step: Basic Questions — build on greetings with questions such as Kei te pēhea koe?
• Next step: Common Action Verbs — understand ordinary words such as kite, haere, and noho inside familiar expressions.