Likes and Dislikes in Māori

In Brief

To say that you like something, Māori often describes it as good to you: He pai ki a au te waiata (“I like the song”). Another useful pattern is E rata ana au ki... (“I like...”), whose negative is Kāore au e rata ki... (“I do not like...”). If you are simply evaluating something rather than naming the person who likes it, use expressions such as He tino pai te kai (“The food is very good”) or He rawe! (“Awesome!”).

Overview

English packages preference neatly into the verbs “like” and “dislike.” Te reo Māori offers several ways to express the same territory, and they do not all organize the sentence like English. A speaker may present something as pai (“good”) in relation to an experiencer, use rata ki for feeling positively disposed toward something, or simply react with an evaluative word such as rawe (“excellent, awesome”). The experiencer is the person who has the feeling—in plain terms, the person who likes or dislikes the thing.

This A2 topic builds on Māori stative verbs, often called kupu āhua: words such as pai that describe a state or quality and can do work that English often gives to adjectives. Compare He pai te kai (“The food is good”) with He pai ki a au te kai (“I like the food”). Adding ki a au changes the focus from a general evaluation to the food being good from my point of view.

These patterns are useful in conversations about food, music, weather, activities, places, and people. The beginner goal is simple: learn one positive pattern, one negative pattern, and a few short reactions. The later sections show how to add strength, compare preferences, and avoid translating English word for word.

How It Works

1. Saying that something is good to someone

A central pattern is:

He pai + ki + experiencer + thing liked

• He pai ki a au te waiata. — I like the song.
• He pai ki a Mere ngā pukapuka. — Mere likes the books.
• He pai ki a rātou tēnei wāhi. — They like this place.

Here, he pai presents a positive quality, ki introduces the person experiencing that preference, and the thing liked normally follows. Do not look for a separate Māori word corresponding exactly to English “it” in this pattern. The item itself—te waiata, for example—appears at the end.

The concept example uses ki a au. You will also encounter ki ahau. Both refer to “to me”; variation in pronoun forms is normal in te reo Māori. For a beginner, the safest strategy is to recognize both and consistently use the form favored by your course, teacher, or community.

Experiencer	Meaning	In the pattern
au / ahau	me	ki a au / ki ahau
koe	you, one person	ki a koe
ia	him or her	ki a ia
māua	us two, excluding you	ki a māua
tāua	us two, including you	ki a tāua
mātou	us, excluding you	ki a mātou
tātou	us, including you	ki a tātou
koutou	you, more than one	ki a koutou
rātou	them	ki a rātou

Māori distinguishes number and whether “we” includes the listener. That distinction remains present even in a simple preference: ki a māua means “to the two of us, not you,” while ki a tāua includes the person being addressed.

2. Using rata ki

Rata expresses liking, being fond of, or being favorably disposed toward someone or something. The thing liked is introduced by ki:

E rata ana + experiencer + ki + thing liked

• E rata ana au ki te waiata. — I like the song.
• E rata ana ia ki tēnei tāone. — He or she likes this town.

The frame e ... ana marks an activity or state as current or ongoing. In ordinary learner terms, it lets you describe how someone presently feels. Pronoun placement can vary with sentence pattern and style, but E rata ana au ki... is a clear model to learn.

To negate this construction, use the matching negative frame:

Kāore + experiencer + e rata + ki + thing disliked

• Kāore au e rata ki te ua. — I do not like rain.
• Kāore ia e rata ki taua kiriata. — He or she does not like that film.

Notice what happens to e ... ana: in this basic negative pattern, kāore begins the sentence, the experiencer follows, and e rata appears without ana. This is more than putting a single word meaning “not” in front of a positive English-style sentence; the whole Māori verbal frame changes.

3. Evaluating something without naming an experiencer

Sometimes you are not explicitly saying who likes a thing. You are simply judging it:

He + evaluation + thing

• He pai te kai. — The food is good.
• He tino pai te kai. — The food is very good.
• He rawe te konohete. — The concert is excellent.

These statements can imply approval, but they are not grammatically identical to “I like...” because no experiencer is named. Context often makes the speaker’s attitude obvious. This is why He tino pai te kai may function conversationally as enthusiastic praise, even though its direct meaning is “The food is very good.”

4. Strengthening or softening the response

Tino intensifies the following description:

• he pai — good; likeable
• he tino pai — very good; strongly liked in a suitable context
• He tino pai ki a au tēnei waiata. — I really like this song.

For an enthusiastic stand-alone reaction, He rawe! is natural and compact: “Awesome!” Like English “Great!”, it does not need to name the item when everyone knows what is being discussed.

To give a mild rather than absolute negative opinion, it is often socially useful to say exactly what does not suit you instead of making a sweeping judgment. At beginner level, Kāore au e rata ki... is a neutral, reusable way to state personal dislike. Tone and context determine whether it sounds gentle or firm.

5. Liking, wanting, and enjoying are related but different

The localized concept name contains pīrangi, a word associated with wanting or desiring. Wanting something and liking it often overlap, but they are not interchangeable in every sentence. “I like this food” reports a positive response; “I want this food” asks for or desires it. Use the preference patterns in this article when the point is your response to a thing, and do not automatically replace every English “like” with a form meaning “want.”

English “like” is itself ambiguous. In “I like swimming,” it means enjoyment; in “I would like some water,” it is a polite request. The latter is not simply the same grammar as He pai ki a au.... Before translating, decide whether you mean appreciation, habitual enjoyment, desire, or a request.

Examples in Context

Māori	English	Note
He pai ki a au te waiata.	I like the song.	The item liked follows the experiencer phrase.
He pai ki a koe tēnei pukapuka?	Do you like this book?	Rising intonation can make the statement pattern a question.
He tino pai ki ahau tēnei waiata.	I really like this song.	Tino strengthens pai; ki ahau is a variant of ki a au.
He pai ki a Mere ngā pukapuka.	Mere likes the books.	A named experiencer follows ki a.
He pai ki a rātou tēnei wāhi.	They like this place.	Rātou refers to three or more people.
E rata ana au ki te waiata Māori.	I like Māori music.	Positive rata ki in the e ... ana frame.
E rata ana ia ki ngā ngeru.	He or she likes cats.	The thing liked follows ki.
Kāore au e rata ki te ua.	I do not like rain.	Core negative pattern.
Kāore māua e rata ki taua kiriata.	The two of us do not like that film.	Māua excludes the listener.
Kāore ngā tamariki e rata ki te kai raukikini.	The children do not like spicy food.	A noun phrase can be the experiencer.
He pai te kai.	The food is good.	Evaluation only; no experiencer is stated.
He tino pai te kai.	The food is very good.	Tino adds intensity.
He rawe te konohete!	The concert is awesome!	Strong positive evaluation.
He rawe!	Awesome!	A complete reaction when the context is clear.

Common Mistakes

Copying English word order

• Wrong: Au pai te waiata.
• Right: He pai ki a au te waiata.
• Why: Māori does not form this preference by placing “I” before a direct equivalent of “like.” Learn he pai ki... as a complete pattern.

Leaving out ki after rata

• Wrong: E rata ana au te waiata.
• Right: E rata ana au ki te waiata.
• Why: Rata links to the person or thing liked with ki.

Putting the experiencer in the positive-sentence position

• Wrong: Kāore e rata au ki te ua.
• Right: Kāore au e rata ki te ua.
• Why: In this negative pattern, the experiencer follows kāore and comes before e rata. Learn the whole frame kāore + experiencer + e rata ki... rather than adding a word for “not” to the positive sentence.

Confusing praise with an explicit personal preference

• Potentially misleading: He tino pai te kai for every intended “I really like the food.”
• Explicit: He tino pai ki a au te kai.
• Why: Without ki a au, the sentence evaluates the food as very good but does not grammatically name the person who likes it. Context may make the opinion clear, but the two structures are not identical.

Treating every English “would like” as preference

• Wrong approach: Using He pai ki a au... automatically for a request such as “I’d like a coffee.”
• Better approach: First decide whether you are praising something, expressing a settled preference, stating a desire, or making a polite request.
• Why: English uses “like” in several functions. Māori selects a construction according to the intended meaning, not the English wording alone.

Dropping macrons

• Careless: Kaore au e rata ki nga waiata Maori.
• Right: Kāore au e rata ki ngā waiata Māori.
• Why: Macrons mark long vowels and belong to standard spelling. They can distinguish words and support accurate pronunciation, so type them from the beginning.

Usage Notes

Personal taste versus criticism

He pai ki a au... and Kāore au e rata ki... frame the judgment as someone’s response. That can be more precise than declaring an object universally good or bad. When talking about food, art, or another person’s choice, explicitly marking a personal reaction may also sound less sweeping.

People as the object of liking

Rata ki can express being fond of or well disposed toward a person as well as liking a thing. As in English, context determines whether the feeling is friendship, general approval, comfort, or romantic interest. Do not assume that a bare statement of liking automatically declares romantic love.

Questions and conversational answers

A statement-shaped sentence may become a yes–no question through questioning intonation: He pai ki a koe tēnei waiata? A natural answer need not repeat every word. Āe, he pai ki a au (“Yes, I like it”) or Kāo, kāore au e rata ki tēnā (“No, I don’t like that”) can be enough when the topic is already clear.

The demonstratives tēnei (“this, near me”), tēnā (“that, near you”), and tērā (“that, away from both of us”) let a preference response point accurately within the conversation. Māori makes spatial relationships more explicit than the English two-way contrast between “this” and “that.”

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master all of the following at A2, but these distinctions explain forms you will meet later.

Comparing preferences

The comparative word ake can strengthen or compare a quality, while i introduces the basis of comparison. A useful model is:

• He pai ake tēnei i tērā. — This is better than that.
• He pai ake ki a au tēnei i tērā. — I prefer this to that; this is better to me than that.

This is a natural bridge from simply liking something to choosing between alternatives. Notice that English often uses a new verb, “prefer,” while Māori can build the comparison around pai ake. Keep the comparison clear by naming both alternatives when the context does not already supply one.

Degrees of enthusiasm depend on more than one word

Tino is a common intensifier, but strength also comes from voice, repetition, context, and the choice between a measured personal preference and an exclamation such as He rawe! A literal scale from “like” to “love” does not map perfectly between languages. Listen to how fluent speakers evaluate things in real interactions rather than assigning one fixed emotional score to each expression.

Different negative constructions have different scopes

At this level, Kāore au e rata ki X is the reliable pattern for “I do not like X.” More advanced Māori negation varies according to sentence type, tense or aspect, and what is being denied. Do not generalize the kāore ... e ... frame to every sentence you know. Instead, store each positive structure together with its own negative partner.

Preference, desire, and emotional response form a wider system

As your vocabulary grows, you will meet more precise ways to describe enjoyment, love, aversion, desire, and emotional reactions. The basic structures here remain useful, but a skilled speaker chooses a word that matches the kind and intensity of feeling. The important advanced habit is semantic: identify the exact meaning before choosing the grammar.

Practice Tips

1. Build three versions around one topic. Choose a noun phrase such as te kai and say an evaluation, a personal preference, and a dislike: He pai te kai; He pai ki a au te kai; Kāore au e rata ki tēnei kai. This keeps the structures separate.
2. Practice with real choices. Compare two songs, foods, or places using He pai ki a au... and, when ready, He pai ake ki a au tēnei i tērā. Personal answers are easier to remember than invented textbook opinions.
3. Learn positive and negative pairs aloud. Alternate E rata ana au ki... with Kāore au e rata ki.... Pay attention to the changed frame, the presence of ki, and the long vowels in kāore, ngā, and Māori.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Stative Verbs (Adjectives) — explains how words such as pai can describe a quality or act as the main predicate of a sentence.