2. (determiner) the - when referring to a whole class of things or people designated by the noun that follows.
(Te Kākano Textbook (Ed. 2): 48; Te Pihinga Textbook (Ed. 2): 125;)
Kī tonu te wharenui i te tamariki. / The meeting house was full of children.
3. (determiner) Mr, mister, sir - used before people's names to show respect. When used this way it begins with a capital letter.
(Te Māhuri Textbook (Ed. 2): 190-191;)
Kei Te Wharehuia, tēnei te mihi atu mō tō āwhina mai. / Wharehuia sir, thank you most sincerely for your help.
4. (determiner) Used in front of another verb following a stative.
(Te Kākano Textbook (Ed. 2): 58, 99-100;)
5. (determiner) Used in front of another verb following taea.
(Te Kākano Textbook (Ed. 2): 75-76;)
Ka taea e ia tēnei waiata te whakamāori. / She will be able to interpret this song.
6. (determiner) Used before the names for the days of the week.
(Te Kākano Textbook (Ed. 2): 30;)
7. (determiner) Sometimes used before numbers with a following noun.
8. (determiner) Used before ordinal numbers including those using tua-.
(Te Māhuri Study Guide (Ed. 1): 12;)
I piki a Tāne-nui-a-rangi ki te tuangahuru mā rua o ngā rangi. / Tāne-nui-a-rangi climbed to the twelfth realm.
9. .
See also i te, kei te ..., ki te ...
tē
1. (negative) not, no, none - a negative placed before the verb it negates, used most commonly in formal speech in modern Māori.
Tē taea hoki te pēwhea. / Nothing can be done.
Inā ko te pura o te kanohi kia āta tirohia, ā kāti tirohia, tē kore noa iho ai i konā kore noa iho ai. / If you’re going to look them in the eye, look them in the eye, but don’t just sit there doing nothing.
2. (particle) instead of - used with kē. Sometimes ai is also added.
Kei te haere ia ki te kēmu, tē mahi kē ai i ana mahi. / She is going to the game instead of doing her work.
2. (stative) crack, fart.
tē taea te aha
1. nothing could be done, nothing can be done, nothing can be done about it - an idiom to say that a problem is insurmountable, unavoidable or can't be rectified.
Ka mania a ia ki roto i te wai. Ka whakamātau tōna hoa a Rāhera ki te hopu i a ia; tē taea te aha (Te Ara 2017). / She slipped into the water. Her friend Rāhera tried to grab her, but nothing could be done.
te mahi a te ...
1. abundance of, lots of, many, heaps of, in droves - an idiom to comment on an abundance of people or things.
Hoki rawa mai, kua pau ngā hua te kai i te mahi a te tamariki. / When they eventually returned, the many children had eaten all the fruit.
Ānini ana tērā, te pīnati, i te mahi a te kōhimuhimu, te taiaroa e rērere haere nei. / I've got a headache from so much gossip flying around the place.
I hora te mahi a te kai. / Food was in abundance.
Nā konā i mimiti haere ai te kōrerohia o te reo Māori, kātahi ka pā mai Te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao, me te aha, ka riro te mahi a te tāne me ō rātou reo tangatanga ki te reo Māori i te māra a Tū-mata-uenga (Rewi 2005:51). / As a consequence, the speaking of the Māori language declined, and then the Second World War occurred and as a result many men, along with their fluent language, were lost on the killing fields of war.
tini o te hakuturi, te
1. (noun) mythical forest guardians.
Kātahi anō a Rātā ka kite atu e haere mai ana te iwi rā, arā, te tini o te hakuturi; ngā manu whai parirau, me ngā ngārara ngōkingōki katoa o te ngahere (TWK 2:18). / Then for the first time Rātā saw those folk coming, that is the mythical forest guardians; the birds with wings, and all the creepy-crawly beings of the forest.
Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga, Te
1. Ministry of Education.
I noho wātea tonu ia ki te āwhina i ngā tari kāwanatanga, arā, i te Tari Toko i te Ora, i Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga me te Kaporeihana Whare (TTR 2000:232). / He was always free to assist government departments, such as Social Welfare and Education, and also the Housing Corporation of New Zealand.
Atairangikaahu, Te Arikinui Dame Te
1. (personal name) ONZ, DBE (1931-2006) Ngāti Mahuta; leader of the Tainui tribes and the Kīngitanga, she succeeded her father, Korokī, when he died in 1966. Before being anointed as queen, she was known as Piki Mahuta and Piki Paki when she married Whatumoana Paki. Made the first Māori Dame in 1970 and was awarded the Order of New Zealand in 1987. Awarded an honorary doctorate from The University of Waikato in 1973 and an Honorary Doctor of Laws from Victoria University of Wellington in 1999.
(Te Kōhure Textbook (Ed. 2): 26-28, 31-33; Te Kōhure Video Tapes (Ed. 1): ;)
Kooti, Arikirangi Te Turuki Te
1. (personal name) Coates, (?-1893) Rongowhakaata; leader, military leader, prophet and founder of the Ringatū faith.
(Te Kākano Study Guide (Ed. 1): 52-53; Te Māhuri Textbook (Ed. 2): 85-86; Te Kōhure Textbook (Ed. 2): 229-234;)
I te wā o te tangata rongonui i tū ai (arā o Te Mākarini) hei Hupiritene o Ahuriri i tū ai ngā hē a Te Kooti (TW 10/8/1878:397). / At the time that the celebrated man (that is Mr McLean) was appointed Superintendent of Hawke’s Bay, Te Kooti was committing his evils.