Basic Prepositions in Māori

In Brief

Use ki for movement toward a destination, kei for someone's or something's present location, and i for past location, time, and the object of many verbs. Mō commonly means “for” or “about,” while nō commonly marks origin or a source of belonging. These words do not match English prepositions one for one, so learn each one as part of a complete Māori pattern.

Overview

Prepositions are short words that show relationships such as direction, place, time, purpose, or origin. In English, words such as “to,” “at,” “in,” “for,” and “from” do this work. Māori also uses short relationship words, but their boundaries differ from English. The same English word may require different Māori forms depending on whether a situation is present or past, stationary or moving.

At A1, the most useful contrast is simple: ki points toward a destination, kei locates something now, and i can locate something in the past. Two other high-frequency forms, mō and nō, let you speak about intended recipients, topics, origins, and certain kinds of belonging. Learning these five forms immediately makes everyday sentences about travel, home, school, gifts, and identity much easier.

One complication is that i and kei have other grammatical jobs. The i before a verb can mark past tense, while an i after a verb can mark its object (the person or thing affected by the action). Likewise, kei te can begin either a present-progressive verb phrase or a location phrase. Position and the following word show which pattern is meant.

How It Works

The beginner map

Form	Core beginner use	Basic pattern	Example
ki	to, toward	verb + ki + destination	Haere ki te toa. — Go to the shop.
kei	at, in; present location	Kei + place + subject	Kei te kura a Mere. — Mere is at school.
i	at/in in the past; time; object marker	I + place + subject; verb + i + object	I te kāinga ia. — He/she was at home.
mō	for, intended for; about	mō + person/topic	He koha mōu. — A gift for you.
nō	from; belonging to/from a source	nō + place/possessor	Nō Rotorua au. — I am from Rotorua.

A noun phrase is a noun together with words that identify it, such as te kura (“the school”). With ordinary noun phrases, the preposition normally comes directly before the article: ki te kura, i te whare, mō te hui.

Ki: movement and direction

Use ki when an action is directed toward a goal:

• haere ki — go to
• hoki ki — return to
• rere ki — fly or travel to
• titiro ki — look at
• whakarongo ki — listen to

The English translation will not always contain “to.” Māori verbs determine which relationship word follows them, so titiro ki te maunga means “look at the mountain,” not “look to the mountain.” Treat combinations such as whakarongo ki as units.

Before a personal name or a personal pronoun, Māori normally adds the personal particle a:

Ordinary noun phrase	Person or personal pronoun
ki te kaiako — to the teacher	ki a Mere — to Mere
ki ngā tamariki — to the children	ki a koe — to you

Kei: present location

A basic present location sentence begins with kei, followed by the location and then the person or thing being located:

Kei + location + subject

• Kei Ākarana ia. — He/she is in Auckland.
• Kei te tēpu te pukapuka. — The book is on the table.
• Kei konei au. — I am here.

This order may feel reversed to an English speaker. Māori presents the location first: roughly, “At Auckland, he/she.” There is no separate equivalent of English “is” in this pattern.

Do not confuse a location phrase with the present-progressive marker kei te:

• Kei te kura a Hēmi. — Hēmi is at the school. Here te kura is a noun phrase.
• Kei te ako a Hēmi. — Hēmi is studying. Here ako is an action word.

The spelling is identical, but the type of word after te changes the structure.

I: past location, time, and objects

For a location that held in the past, i can replace present-location kei:

• Kei te kāinga ia ināianei. — He/she is at home now.
• I te kāinga ia inanahi. — He/she was at home yesterday.

I also introduces many time expressions:

• i tērā wiki — last week / in that week
• i te Rāhina — on Monday
• i te ata — in the morning

After many active verbs, i marks the direct object (the person or thing directly affected or perceived):

• I kai au i te parāoa. — I ate the bread.
• I kite au i te kurī. — I saw the dog.

This can produce two instances of i in one sentence. In I kite au i te kurī, the first I, before the verb, marks past tense; the second i, after the subject, introduces the object. With a person or personal pronoun, use i a: I kite au i a ia (“I saw him/her”).

Not every Māori verb takes an object in the same way as its nearest English equivalent. Learn the frame with the verb: kite i (“see”), but whakarongo ki (“listen to”).

Mō: intended for and about

Use mō for something intended for someone, for a purpose, or concerning a topic:

• He koha mō te kaiako. — A gift for the teacher.
• He kai mō āpōpō. — Food for tomorrow.
• Kei te kōrero rātou mō te hui. — They are talking about the meeting.

With singular pronouns, mō often combines with the pronoun rather than standing separately:

Form	Meaning
mōku	for me
mōu	for you (one person)
mōna	for him/her

These forms belong to the Māori o-category possession system. At beginner level, it is enough to recognise and use common expressions such as mōu. The broader choice between mā and mō depends on the type of relationship and is introduced later with possessive categories.

Nō: origin and source-based belonging

Use nō to identify where somebody or something comes from:

• Nō Rotorua au. — I am from Rotorua.
• Nō hea koe? — Where are you from?
• Nō Aotearoa tēnei pukapuka. — This book is from New Zealand.

It can also present a possessor in the o-category:

• Nōku tēnei whare. — This house is mine.
• Nōna te motokā. — The car is his/hers.

Common contracted forms include:

Form	Basic meaning
nōku	from me; mine
nōu	from you; yours
nōna	from him/her; his/hers

Do not assume nō is the universal word for “of” or “belongs to.” Māori possession has two major categories, traditionally called a-category and o-category, and the intended relationship determines whether a form with nā or nō is appropriate.

Examples in Context

Māori	English	Note
Kei te haere au ki te kura.	I am going to school.	ki marks the destination.
Ka hoki mātou ki te kāinga āpōpō.	We will return home tomorrow.	mātou excludes the listener.
Titiro ki te maunga.	Look at the mountain.	English “at” corresponds to ki after titiro.
Kei Ākarana ia.	He/she is in Auckland.	Present location with kei.
Kei te tēpu te pukapuka.	The book is on the table.	Location comes before the item located.
Kei konei ngā tamariki.	The children are here.	konei means “here.”
I te marae rātou inanahi.	They were at the marae yesterday.	Past location with i.
I haere au i tērā wiki.	I went last week.	The first I marks past; the second introduces time.
I kai te tamaiti i te āporo.	The child ate the apple.	The second i marks the object.
I kite au i a Mere.	I saw Mere.	Use i a before a personal name.
He koha tēnei mōu.	This is a gift for you.	mōu means “for you.”
Kei te kōrero māua mō te hui.	We two are talking about the meeting.	mō introduces the topic; māua excludes the listener.
Nō Rotorua au.	I am from Rotorua.	nō marks origin.
Nō hea tō kaiako?	Where is your teacher from?	nō hea asks about origin.
Nōku tēnei pukapuka.	This book is mine.	O-category possessive predicate.

Common Mistakes

Using kei for movement toward a place

• Wrong: Kei te haere au kei te kura.
• Right: Kei te haere au ki te kura.
• Why: The first kei te marks an action happening now. The school is the destination, so it takes ki.

Copying English “at” without checking the meaning

• Wrong: Titiro kei te maunga.
• Right: Titiro ki te maunga.
• Why: After titiro (“look”), the target of looking is introduced by ki. English “at” does not automatically mean Māori kei.

Leaving out the object marker

• Wrong: I kite au te kurī.
• Right: I kite au i te kurī.
• Why: With an active verb such as kite, i introduces the direct object.

Forgetting a before a person

• Wrong: I kite au i Mere.
• Right: I kite au i a Mere.
• Why: A personal name takes the personal particle a after i. The same pattern appears in ki a Mere and i a ia.

Treating i as only a past-tense marker

• Wrong idea: Every i means “past.”
• Right analysis: I kai au i te ika contains past-tense I before kai and object-marking i before te ika.
• Why: Position matters. Look at what follows each particle and what role the phrase plays.

Using nō for every kind of ownership

• Wrong: Assuming nōku always translates any English sentence with “mine.”
• Right: Learn Nōku tēnei whare as an o-category pattern, but check whether other possessions require an a-category form.
• Why: Māori organises possession by the relationship between possessor and possessed item, not simply by ownership in the English sense.

Usage Notes

Macrons matter. Write mō and nō with their long vowels. A macron, called a tohutō in Māori, marks vowel length and is part of correct spelling. Do not reduce these forms to mo and no in careful writing.

Place names may appear directly after ki, kei, i, or nō: ki Pōneke, kei Ākarana, nō Rotorua. With people, however, the personal particle a is normally visible: ki a Hana, i a ia. This person/place contrast is worth practising as a pair.

English often relies on one flexible preposition, while Māori may choose according to motion, time, or the verb itself. Compare “at school” in Kei te kura au with “to school” in Ka haere au ki te kura. The English noun phrase stays almost unchanged, but Māori clearly distinguishes being located from moving toward a destination.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master the full possessive system at A1, but mō and nō are only the o-category members of larger sets. Māori contrasts them with mā (“for,” in an a-category relationship) and nā (“belonging to/from,” in an a-category relationship). The choice is not simply optional style: it reflects how the relationship is understood. Study this systematically with A- and O-category possession rather than guessing from English.

The forms in this article also participate in longer structures. Location words such as runga (“above/on top”), raro (“below”), roto (“inside”), and waho (“outside”) commonly occur in phrases such as kei runga i te tēpu (“on the table”) and kei roto i te whare (“inside the house”). Here kei locates, while the later i links the relational location word to its reference point.

At higher levels, direction is made more precise with particles such as mai (toward the speaker), atu (away), ake (upward), and iho (downward). In Haere mai ki konei (“Come here”), mai gives the speaker-centred direction and ki konei names the goal. These particles add detail; they do not simply replace ki.

Finally, verb patterns remain important. Some Māori constructions that translate as an English active sentence use different marking, especially passive clauses and experiencer expressions. The safest long-term habit is to record a new verb together with its usual particle and one whole example, not as an isolated English equivalent.

Practice Tips

1. Make three location cards for one place. For example: Kei te kura au (“I am at school”), I te kura au inanahi (“I was at school yesterday”), and Ka haere au ki te kura (“I will go to school”). This fixes the contrast between present location, past location, and destination.
2. Mark every instance of i in a sentence. Label it “past,” “time/location,” or “object.” Start with I kite au i a Mere i te Rāhina and explain each occurrence aloud.
3. Learn verbs with their partners. Keep pairs such as haere ki, titiro ki, whakarongo ki, kite i, and kōrero mō. Then replace the noun phrase to create several natural sentences.

Related Concepts

• Next step: Places and Location Words — combine kei, ki, and i with words such as runga, raro, roto, and waho.
• Later extension: Directional Particles — add mai, atu, ake, and iho to show direction relative to the speaker or landscape.